I’ve been running a bit short on toy-related topics recently (the oft-mentioned backlog of posts that I have require a significant amount of writing and photo-taking, and so I’ve been a bit lazy about getting to them), so instead, today you get a review of a toy-related videogame.

Like most kids for decades now, I grew up with Lego, though all I ever had were the basic blocks. Since then, Lego has made a fortune licensing all sorts of brands, from Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Batman. In another brilliant move, someone came up with the idea of creating videogames based on the Lego sets, and lo and behold, they were lots of fun.

Some of the reviews for Lego Batman have been tepid, lamenting that the game offered nothing really new from the earlier Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones games. Having only played one of the Star Wars games, I guess I’m not as burned-out on the concept as others might be. (I think IGN may just have felt obligated not to break Batman’s epic run of mediocre-to-terrible videogames.)

I think the game is a blast. I bought it on Thursday and have already spent a good six or seven hours beating the first half of it. Like the other Lego videogames, it’s broken down into “episodes”; there are three superhero episodes and three supervillain episodes.

While the earlier Lego games had enough characters that each could have a specialty–R2D2 unlocked doors, Luke could use the Force–in Lego Batman you can only choose from Batman and Robin. To provide variety, each member of the dynamic duo has a number of specialized suits to choose from. My favorite is what I call Mad Bomber Batman (coming soon from Mattel! –j/k), which allows Bats to place bombs and detonate them from a distance. Robin’s suits are weirder, including one with electromagnetic boots for walking up vertical metal surfaces and a vaccuum-machine for sucking up extra Lego parts and dumping them into a processor that turns them into something useful.

Perhaps the best endorsement I can offer of the game is the fact that Dr. Mrs. Ghostal played it for hours over the weekend–almost as much as I did. (It helped that we’ve got the Xbox 360 plugged into our brand-new 40″ HDTV, too.) Seriously, she’s addicted. I bet she can’t wait to get home tonight and play it again.

The game is full of great humor, and the gameplay is just fun. If you love Batman and enjoyed the previous Lego videogames, or are just looking for a fun family game, check out Lego Batman.