Teen Titans (Xbox)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.6 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Greg Mueller
• Reviewed on: 12/12/2006
• Released on: 11/13/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Teen Titans (Xbox) Review

The Teen Titans cartoon show was canceled in early 2006, but that hasn't stopped publisher THQ from releasing a budget-priced beat-'em-up based on the license. As bad an idea as that sounds, the game is actually fairly enjoyable, simply because it delivers a lot of solid--if not especially gripping--content for not a lot of money. The most apparent flaws of Teen Titans are inherent to the genre, so if you can accept the shallow repetition of a straightforward button-mashing action game and you enjoy the cartoon it's based on, then you can't go wrong with Teen Titans the game. However, if you're expecting anything more than that, you're better off looking elsewhere.

The Teen Titans television series is based on a comic book series from DC Comics, the folks responsible for Batman, Superman, and countless other superheroes and villains. The Teen Titans are a band of teenage superheroes who use their powers to fight for "truth, justice, and pizza." The show is targeted at younger audiences, with a much greater emphasis on having fun than saving the world from evil, although they still do manage to balance both of those activities fairly well.

The team is made up of five main members: Beast Boy, Starfire, Robin, Cyborg, and Raven. One day, while Cyborg and Beast Boy are playing a video game, they suddenly realize that they have, in fact, been transported into a video game and are being controlled by an unknown villainous entity. The team proceeds to fight through several levels in search of the "Last Boss" of the game. The story isn't coherent most of the time, and it gets pretty hokey when the teens break the fourth wall and start talking at the camera. But the story at least provides a workable excuse to introduce an array of characters from the show. Before story mode is finished you'll face more than a handful of familiar bosses, including Jinx, Gizmo, and Slade.

The gameplay in Teen Titans is divided between two separate but complementary game modes. In story mode, you take control of the five teen superheroes and fight through several levels of enemies and bosses. This mode can be played single-player or with up to three other players cooperatively. In single-player, you control one character at a time, while the artificial intelligence controls the rest of the group. You can switch characters at any time using the D pad, and each character has unique enough moves to make doing so worthwhile. But although each character has special combos and signature moves, they are all fairly well balanced. Each character has a quick attack, a strong attack, and a ranged attack. Any of those attacks can be charged up for an even stronger version of each attack. Beyond that, each character has a unique special move, as well as a super move that can be performed when you find a special power-up item. You can also pick up all sorts of items to be used as weapons, including exploding barrels, concrete slabs, and unconscious enemies. There are team attacks that you can perform by tossing an enemy between characters like a volleyball. So while the characters do play differently, the basic moves and team attacks prevent you from feeling like you're at a disadvantage when using any one character.

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