Topic: Lego games on vita

I recently purchased lego batman 3 for vita (due to a random bout of nostalgia for the original lego star wars!) and I have to say it has really surpassed my expectations given the general regard in which lego games on vita seem to held. Personally I find the game really enjoyable and was interested to get people's perspective on this game and all the lego games on vita in general - are any really as bad as they are made out to be? Most are available on amazon for around £10 - are they worth picking up for that price?

I think the bad rep they have is in relation to the console versions. Oh, and the fact that the Vita version is a port of the 3DS version.

For me the main problem with Lego Batman 2 was that while it isn't the worst games in the world, I know the Vita is capable of a hell of a lot more than that, and could probably handle something similar to console versions, as opposed to the lazy 3DS ports with cinematics shoehorned in where they don't even make sense.

It's another good indicator of how the Vita is doing really. While it could handle something much closer to the better console versions, devs know it isn't worth their time and money developing that as it's not going to sell anyway. Shame really.

It guess the thing is that the majority of vita owners also own a home console so can directly compare both versions of lego game, but as a vita owner whose only other console is a 3DS, and whose only other experience with a lego game was the original lego star wars, I have so far found lego batman 3 to be really enjoyable on vita. Then again judging from what i've read on a few vita sites the general concensus seems to be that lego batman 3 is comfortably the best lego game on the system. Does anyone have experience with the lego games that were made differently for the handhelds, for example the hobbit or marvel superheroes? Do they work better than the more traditional style games?

I don't know about the Vita versions since I dont own a Vita but my main problem with the Lego games is that they just seem like the same thing with a different coat of paint. I guess if your a fan of Legos or they franchise its based on then you will enjoy them. My favorites have been the first Lego Batman cause they pulled alot from the BtAS for that game which I am a huge fan of, Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Marvel. Other then that I passed most of them up.

Since the Vita gets cast off 3DS ports, they're usually quite poor in comparison to their console brethren.

The direction that the TT fusion team take now is an odd one. The PSP lego games are essentially just graphical downgrades of the console games rather than being dumbed down for handheld. Loved Lego Batman 3, tickled my fanboyism (to the max!) good and proper. Seen it running on Vita and just looks no fun.

Yeah the more I read about this the more strange it seems, particularly as I presume the 3DS is capable of running near console quality versions of the games as well as the vita. Have the console lego games really progressed that much since the PS2 games (which worked on psp) that they are know beyond the capabilities of handhelds? (This is a genuine questions as the last console lego game i played was lego star wars 1!)

In terms of sheer size and freedom, Marvel and Batman 2 would be challenging since they have big free roam cities to play around in. Lego Batman 3 is based around a levels/hub set up, so I really don't see the need to be so restrictive.
I think it's now more of a game size issue. The 3DS/vita versions (or at least tinkered versions) are going to find their way to ios and android soon enough, a game bigger than 3 or 4 GB would present a problem there. In built storage now generally being 16/32GB is quite limiting. IPhones/pads can't expand that storage and since kitkat android needs root access to move apps to a mounted sd card.
There are a couple of large games around, but I don't think many on android top 2GB on the initial install.

That's actualy really interesting, so are the lego games currently released on ios/android? If that really is the reason that the current gen handheld versions are relatively limited then it's a somewhat sad situation!

3DS could easily cope with smaller scale 'proper' Lego games, just like the Vita could. But they don't. Not because Vita is 'reduced' to a 3DS port but because TT go back to the old fashioned different version of a game on handheld devices. Have to remember theses games also comes to phones and tablets and are developed by a different team from the console versions. Personally I enjoy the Vita games just as much and some times more than the consoles ones. Lego Movie and Hobbit are better games on the Vita. They're also made for more quick pick-up-and-play style gaming. It's not a "sad situation" more two different versions of the same game. I'd much rather studios did this - as they actually understand handheld gaming - than try and cram a full PS4 game on Vita as it just doesn't work. Look at why Nintendo have dominated every handheld gaming generation, they get what people want and TT are one of the few who understand it to (something Sony don't).

There's no part of Lego Batman 3 on PS4 that wouldn't be just fine on a handheld. Missions are short, puzzles are easy and it's built around hubs and fast travel.
Not to be contrary, but the PSP was one of the most accomplished handhelds ever, with a quite amazingly diverse (and good) catalogue of games, cracking hardware too. While Nintendo were busy releasing their prototype...

Fair point, to be honest I just meant it was a shame if development of a game on one system was held back by the existence of the game on other systems - then again I suppose you could make this point about any multiplatform game to some extent! I'm interested that you preferred lego marvel and hobbit on vita as opinion on the direction those games were taken in seems to really vary, what was it about them you preferred to the console versions?

I absolutely hate every Lego game that's come to Vita. I mean the Vita is clearly capable of running any PS3-quality Lego game- Uncharted and Killzone showed us it's got that power. And I wouldn't be so mad that they're direct ports of the 3DS versions if they weren't so lacking in creativity and freedom. Lego Indiana Jones on the DS was my favorite handheld Lego game ever- I found and bought everything and played it so much that I currently have over five billion studs(I used multipliers of course). I still dive into it sometimes. It was true to the movies and it was a good DS game, period. It didn't need to be compared to its console counterparts, it stood on its own. The 3DS and Vita Lego games could and should be far better, not only from a technical standpoint, but from a content one as well.

By 'prototype' you mean the biggest selling handheld console of all time, even more than the Game Boy, the Nintendo DS? Yeah, okay. I'll just go call the ward for you

You think the PSP was better than DS then that's your call and no-one can argue with you, much like I think PSP is probably the second worst handheld I've ever owned (behind the N-Gage). Doesn't make you or I right. But to try and dismiss the most successful handheld machine ever as a prototype is just sheer lunacy. DS trumped PSP in every single important way possible when we look back on them both (support, sales, quality of games, diverse range, legacy) . "Home console quality!" was the big selling point yet that's what every other pretender has offered and why they failed. Miserably.

Problem is they didn't sell anywhere near as much as the current ones do. Money talks. As I've said though I'm happier with it this way as I don't want to play the game again, I want a different spin on it. Like the difference between a book and a film.

@rastamadeus Yeah I understand it's probably because of money, but I wouldn't compare it to books and movies. That would only make sense if the movie was comprised of randomly-picked chapters of the book that were sometimes out of order and always had terrible CGI, in which case, why would you want to see that movie?