Holy Team-Up, Batman!: Talking about The Brave and the Bold Video Game [Updated]

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What do you think it is about Batman that allows him to be interpreted in so many different ways throughout the decades?

Batman is the defining dark hero of modern comics, and really of all forms of media. His story is so pure and almost fable-like (an orphaned child who dedicated his life to stopping crime) that the specifics of him can be adjusted to fit whatever era he’s currently a part of. You had the sillier interpretations of Batman in the 1960s, the brutal, dark versions of the 1980s, and now (with this game) you get a blend of everything.

So few games offer interoperability between the DS and the Wii. Why did you guys decide to implement the Batmite feature? Did you have to jump through any special hoops with Nintendo in order to implement the feature?

In the cartoon, Bat-Mite is the only character aware that he’s in a cartoon, so it made sense that he would be the only character aware that he’s in our videogame. Without spoiling it, we actually use Bat-Mite in a few different ways in the game, where he basically forces himself into the software to cause mischief. With the wireless connectivity feature, we decided to use the character’s magical abilities to create something completely unique for gamers that bought a copy of both the Wii and DS game.

Connecting the two versions allows a third player to control Bat-Mite in the Wii game, using the DS and stylus. As Bat-Mite, the player can fly anywhere onscreen, and drop health, energy, bombs, and anvils. These objects affect both heroes and enemies, so (just like the character himself) it’s up to the player whether to be a help to their friends, or a nuisance.

It was surprisingly easy to get that feature up and running. We had a very specific, simple design in mind, and one of our programmers (Daniel Kellogg) got the basic functionality working in just a few days. It’s surprising that more games out there haven’t featured this sort of Wii-to-DS connectivity. Nintendo responded very positively to the idea, and supported us in getting everything functional.

What other DC characters would you like to translate into a video game form?

To be honest, most of my dream characters made it into this game! I’ve been working on superhero games at WayForward for over five years, and if you told me that we’d be getting The Rogues, Guy Gardner and Booster Gold into one game, I never would have believed you! That’s what is so great about Batman: The Brave and the Bold the TV show: nearly every character in the DC Universe is fair game. You’re dealing with all sorts of heroes and villains, not just those typically associated with the dark knight.

Looking beyond the show’s roster, it would be pretty interesting to work on a game featuring characters from DC’s adult Vertigo imprint, like John Constantine, Shade, or the Endless. But that’s all I can really think of, since the bulk of the DC Comics mainstream roster was already made available to us on this game.

What are the special challenges you face in making a family-friendly game? Do you have to make the animation look a certain way or make sure the control scheme is relatively easy to pick up?

Absolutely. The greatest challenge in developing this game was creating an experience that was easy enough for young gamers to play, yet deep and challenging enough for the game enthusiast crowd, and Batman fans in general.

Ultimately we took an ‘easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master’ approach with the combat. To start, the game is low risk, with the player losing coins rather than lives each time their health is drained. Coins are earned by defeating enemies, and more coins are earned by defeating enemies rapidly, and in close succession. Collected coins are then spent on unlocking new gadgets, and upgrading existing gadgets, which give the players new attack maneuvers, or access to new areas in each stage. So younger gamers can fight their way through the episodes, and that’s enough challenge for them, while older gamers can strive to perform incredible chains of attacks, to earn the most points possible for their upgrades.

We made an effort to support both gamer types throughout the title, with our coin combo system, and with more advanced combat maneuvers (like air-juggling) that will appeal primarily to the advanced gamers. It’s a delicate balance, but I feel the end product is something that Bat-fans of all ages will be able to appreciate.

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