But it was so nice to hope.

LEGO Batman still has the co-op issues that have plagued the series since 2005. We gave them a pass back then because, hey, it's the first game and nobody expected a goddamn LEGO game to be any good. Much less a LEGO Star Wars game. And then we gave LEGO Star Wars II a pass because, hey, it's really just the same engine and it's really late in the generation and this is the trilogy that we all wanted in the first place.

Now here we sit. Suffering through three-year-old design flaws because we fucking love Batman. Or, more specifically, Killer Moth.

Already, in just four levels, we've watched helplessly as Player Two gets "turned off" because Player One walked too far ahead. Or Player One gets pinned behind something because Player Two has camera control. Or Player One gets stuck in an infinite fall because he keeps respawning directly on top of a inclined plane over a bottomless pit. It's so unclean.

But if you can possibly set that aside, LEGO Batman is just as good as LEGO Star Wars II. Good puzzles, good platforming, good unlockables, cute-as-hell characters. Obviously I'm more into this because it's right up my flagpole, being DC Comics.

Clark and I took today off to go get the game. We arrived at the mall an hour before it actually opened, because I'm too terrible to actually know when that happens. So we watched some seniors do some line dancing and then went to a nearby park.

When we got back to GameStop, I overheard some distraught customers complaining about the preorder bonus. You were supposed to get your pick of one of four LEGO keychains... Batman, Robin, Joker or Catwoman. But this branch received nothing but a pile of Robins. So I had to prep Clark a little on this, as he knew about the choice and was set on getting Batman. Weeks ago he did select Robin as his second choice, but when you're three a "second choice" is so far out of reach as to be entirely mythical.

The manager apologized to everybody; she was pissed too. Although honestly, you can go buy a real Batman LEGO set any day of the week. So not getting a Joker mini-fig keychain really isn't a big deal. For $20 or under you can probably have your pick of the LEGO Batman cast, plus some doofy vehicle or playset to build.

Clark was still disappointed, so I offered to take him to Toys R Us to do just that: buy an actual Batman LEGO set. Unbelievably he said "No. Let's go straight home, daddy."

We fired it up and burned through a couple of levels before naptime. It's blatantly too complicated for him to truly play, but he walks around and jumps/punches well enough. I have to coach him through the tricky bits, like when you're expected to grapple to a higher platform and creep along a tightrope. He likes the batarangs, but is confused by the game's method for deploying them. (You can't throw them at nothing, you have to select a target.)

He hates the idea of Batman changing costumes, the little purist. You're supposed to swap Bats into a bomb suit or a heat-resistant suit or whatever at certain points. All of these look a little different than the stock black-and-gray batsuit, and Clark just wants Batman to stay looking like Batman. In the first level, you need the bomb suit to clear away some debris. After much complaining, I borrowed his Batman and placed the bombs... and I had to immediately switch Batman back to the normal costume before handing him the controller. Later on I was doing a level by myself and I had Batman in the sonic suit, and Clark walked in and accusingly asked "Why him blue?"

Clark excelled at the first driving level, which is a top-down demolition derby through the streets of Gotham. He enjoyed driving the Batmobile so much that he was frustrated when the next level was back to Batman and Robin.

The main event is after Clark goes to bed, when Rhonda and I can play for reals. We completed both LEGO Star Wars games to 100%, and I have every expectation to be just as awesome in LEGO Batman. Maybe awesomer.