Day 300, Game 300 - Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

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Sure, Gotham City is an awesome fictional city. In my humble opinion, it is one of the most robust, dynamic and iconic cities in all of the comic book universes, and definitely adds as much character to the Batman franchise as many of the characters- especially the villains - themselves. But while it plays host to dozens of memorable and instantly recognizable characters, it is big enough to hold many, many more DC comics characters within its city limits, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is proof of that. 

Given the overall success of the first Lego Batman game, in sales, reviews and general reception from the fans, it was a given that they had to explore the Batman universe, and Gotham, some more. This time, however, they decided they needed to spice up the Batman storyline a bit, and introduce one of the most iconic and beloved storylines from DC Comics.

Yes, the Batman versus Superman story arch would be on full display, but of course with the quirky and humorous spin on it that only a Lego game could deliver. And what better place for this epic collision and eventual tag-team of super heroes than Gotham City?

Lego Batman 2 had everything the first game had, but multiplied it tenfold by adding all of the beloved characters from the DC universe into one game, as the heroes band together (reluctantly in the case of Batman with Superman) to foil the evil plan of the treacherous tandem of the Joker and Lex Luthor. The actual plot of the game takes a lot of actual cannon from the comics and mixes it together to make a coherent story in order to involve all the characters, but many basic story elements are familiar to fans. 

When it comes down to it, the game depicts Batman in a way most fans aren't used to seeing him. He is, essentially, jealous of the Man of Steel, for good reasons, as Superman is quite cocky, whether it is intentional or not. Regardless, Batman doesn't take to kindly of this situation, with a new and flashy super hero is taking the spotlight in Gotham, despite Batman not wanting it in the first place. Without spoiling more, it's a great story arch that goes back and forth, but ultimately results in what every fan loves to see, the formation of the true dynamic duo. 

I actually beat this game twice on two different systems, and while I got the Platinum trophy for the Vita version, the console version was just so massive and open that collecting and doing everything for all the trophies was way more of a grind than I could handle. Going back and playing it though, it was fun to see just how big the game is and how it allowed huge open world games from Lego, like Lego City Undercover, to exist. 

With Batman playing such an odd role, it is easy to see Superman as the superstar of this game. Sure, all the other characters are great additions, but the writing and depiction of Superman is far and above any other character. With no good Superman video game to speak of, it would fair to label Lego Batman 2 as the best Superman game ever. 

Only in Gotham. 

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