Ok, brief synopsis - The Justice League was formed many moons ago when a group of superheroes realized that by teaming up they could thwart threats that otherwise would not be stopped by a lone hero. In fact, many fans tuned in when in the late 90's, DC revived the Justice League when a group of white Martians (i.e. very powerful villains) arrived on Earth disguised as new heroes and tried to enslave the planet. It was comic-book storytelling at its finest and the four-part series still sells well at comic book stores across the land. Then, a few years back, the Cartoon Network created the Justice League cartoon and instead of the cheesy feel of the late 70's/early 80's Super Friends, this cartoon tried to embrace the popularity of the comic books. Some characters were as brooding, wise alleck-y and arrogant as their literary cousins. 

So now we have a game that has tried to embrace the popularity of a group of heroes that only comes together when danger on a global scale erupts. And to start off, the game does a pretty descent job of using the core characters, with the exception of one. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter, The Flash are all aces in my book; the comic books usually have Aquaman round out the team. The cartoon on TV has Hawkgirl as their seventh, but in this game, the seventh core player is the magician Zartana. I would have preferred Aquaman, and would have tolerated Hawkgirl, but the selection of Zartana has me scratching my head. For the most part, even casual comic book fans would recognize the above lot, but with Zartana, you get a character who as far as I know, never had a hit comic series and has no real fan base.

"Who says ya can't catch a cab in this town?" 

So when you get down to the nitty gritty, Justice League plays an awful lot like the very popular Untold Legends series. Players start off playing the big blue boyscout himself, Superman. Supes has Batman with him as they proceed to beat the snot out of a bunch of robots terrorizing the city and attacking S.T.A.R. labs. It's fairly easy stuff, using the control nub you move around and use the face buttons to unleash a series of attacks and combos. Pulling the left trigger allows you to use your individual's super powers. For example, Superman has heat vision, super breath and a power punch, things we all know Superman has. This style of gameplay is used on all the heroes and while The Martian Manhunter has martian vision and Superman has heat vision, they both look an awfully lot alike. The same could be said about several of the other characters. Still, the use of these powers is limited to a energy meter if you will and I'm not so sure I care for this as they are finite and do run out quite quickly. Waiting will recharge your powers as does finding certain dropped or hidden icons scattered about the levels but I just wasn't sure I cared for this style of gameplay. I mean, if Superman can't throw his mega punches all the time, then you are doing the character a disservice. Being able to repeatedly launch robots into a brick wall, shooting his heat vision and generally whooping butt, is what makes him Superman. You see, when not using the special powers, Supes hits things as hard as Batman does and we all know that this is not right. 

Now I take this with a grain of salt - the idea of limiting the heroes powers by utilizing a power meter - and I realize it could prove to be very difficult to make a game that had the correct physics and remain faithful to the core license. But you know you want to play it and with the popularity of Marvel's Ultimate Alliance title, we all know it can be done. To me, they could have just leveled the playing field by saying the initial robots were so tough that it takes Superman several hits to destroy them and then couple that by having Batman use his explosive batarangs in a similar fashion. I mean a punch from Superman would be like a hand grenade right?  

Of course on the flip side of the coin, I understand the developers may have needed to make the game this way because the game would be way too easy if all you did was play as Superman and beat the snot out of any and every thing. Heck, even the characters that can fly, do so all throughout the game and you control them doing it. So don't think it's a badly controlled or implemented game, just take it with a grain of salt.

 
"Left, right, left, right."

The game is viewed from a sort of automatically rotating sky-cam perspective. You know, exactly like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. I enjoy this style of game as it is normally heavy on the action and storyline. As you adventure, your characters will begin to level up from all the people you have saved and baddies you have stopped. When you level up you are given a point in which you can use to boost existing powers or use them to activate new powers. Again, pretty standard fare, but it does help when you start increasing your character's recovery ability and when you really start boosting the super powers.

I liked the fluid looking in-game animation the game received, it has a certain look to it that tells you that this was a well-developed game. The levels all have a good bit of variance to them, jumping on the roofs of buildings battling in the JLA watchtower; I like how color becomes very prevalent in the visuals. The dynamic over-head camera, rotates to try and give you the best possible view, but does trap you sometimes by not allowing you to see a baddie who is standing under an archway and begins pelting you. Lighting effects are pretty crisp and there is a good use of shading. Some slight pixilation when particle effects are used and I noticed some skipping when watching the cutscenes, which by the by, look fabulous.

Ron Perlman of Hellboy fame leads the cast of voice actors. I don't know if his voice fits the mantle of Batman but he does the character with a generous amount of dread and brooding. Superman seemed a little too light in the voice; I guess some of us expect some weight when it comes to voicing the heroes. The voice cast from the TV show is nowhere to be heard but by and large the voice work is done professionally. There is some humor, some smarminess and some downright danger to the voicework. The sound effects are pretty decent even though you can tell it is the same whack and explosion type sounds you have heard earlier in the game.

If there is a 400-pound gorilla lying around, it would be the fact that there is a non-existent multiplayer function. The game seems tailor made for a multiplayer fight fest since you spend a good deal of the game running around with an A.I.-controlled partner anyway. Factor in the fact that not only do you get to play as the core Justice League members but as you play along secondary league members become available. Heroes like Hawkgirl and Green Arrow become part of the rotation and for me this just was the nail in the coffin. Imagine, a game where you play as the elite team of superheroes and you can't even ad-hoc up with your buddy to go whup Gorilla Grod's backside - sad.

Gameplay: 7.6
I still take issue with the fact that as you adventure along, your powers both increase in strength and you get new ones. I should mention that when you are playing with your A.I. partner you can switch between the two. The game also automatically does this when the character dies during battle. Of course, all you have to do is make it to the end of the level with the remaining hero and both will magically appear at the start of the next level. 

Graphics: 8.4
The heroes all look pretty good and the environments do a good job of making you realize you are adventuring/fighting in distinctly different areas. No recycled environments here. The explosions and lack of slow-down when the action gets intense is a bonus. This is one of the best-looking games I have seen on the PSP in a while.

Sound: 7.8
While I appreciate the voice talents of Ron Perlman and Michael Jai White, I - like others - miss the voices from the TV show. Sound effects and soundtrack are above par. 

Difficulty: Medium
The game presents itself with some good challenges but nothing you won't make it through. Interestingly though the game encourages you to really think strategically and not just punch your way through every scenario.

Concept: 7.9
It's a difficult enough challenge making a superhero game that does a good job of making the heroes both fun to play and not stray to far from their comic book cousins. Well Snowblind Studios should be proud of themselves for meeting that challenge and making the only Batman and Superman game that I didn't look away from in disgust. 

Overall: 8.1
Overall I'd say that the game is fun to play; it's engaging, it's dealt with the DC license in an acceptable way and it manages to make you want to kick a little butt while wearing tights.