When the twitchy, addictive nature of Diablo first appeared on consoles a few years ago in the form of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, some players saw a cannibalization of Bioware's Baldur's Gate series and Diablo - both games made for PCs. Others saw a customizable, compact package of role-playing with just enough eye candy to make things interesting. Either way, the formula has had enough incarnations since that time - Champions of Norrath, Bard's Tale and X-Men Legends among them - to make players aware of what they're getting. It's a tested formula that now depends on two factors to remain competitive: a compelling setting and some new ideas for new hardware. Justice League Heroes offers a plethora of one and is nearly devoid of the other.

Developed by Snowblind Studios, the same shop that created Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath, JLH leans on the heaviest of heavy hitters from DC Comics: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Flash. The other main character is Zatanna, a magic-user who will be recognized by fans and who has plenty of power to line up with the others, she's just not a household name. They, the Justice League, are all that stand between recurring villain Braniac and his plans to take over the world in decidedly gruesome fashion.

The hack and slash nature of Dark Alliance has been translated to the godly tight-wearing populace of the DC universe, and it works very well. Super powers function the way magic functioned in the fantasy settings of similar games. You can kick and punch all you want, but if you want to attack or defend with super powers you're energy meter (mana) decreases every time before slowly regenerating.

The biggest mechanical change from games like Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath is the removal of potions that heal damage and replenish energy. Those options are simply not in the game, and it changes the way it's played. No longer can you just hang in there and whale away at a boss, chugging potions. You'll have to use a lot of hit and run techniques while your meters fill up.

For about half the game, you'll have your team of two heroes decided for you. The rest of the time, you'll have your choice of who's paired up with whom. You'll control one character at a time, able to switch whenever you like, while the computer does a pretty good job of holding their own and helping out. Still, it's always more fun to have a live player at your side, and JLH is no exception - the game simply works much better with two players.

JLH does a great job of representing the super powers in a diverse and balanced way. Batman, for example, is very dangerous up close with his series of martial arts attacks and from a ranged position with powers that make use of Batarangs. Superman, of course, can pound the daylights out of almost anything and is also made more versatile with heat vision. Zatanna fills the role of mage very nicely with spells that help out everyone, like healing and polymorph - there's nothing like turning enemies into rabbits. Martian Manhunter is faithfully represented as similarly powered to Superman, but with the addition of psionic powers (which function a lot like other ranged powers, except for his ability to phase through objects), and Wonder Woman's lasso and ability to deflect almost anything perform exactly as they should. Even Flash and Green Lantern, who would seem to present a challenge for a game with these mechanics, come off very well.

By all accounts, Snowblind has done an excellent job in the translation of the characters and their super powers. This also holds true for the unlockable characters, like Green Arrow, Aquaman and Hawkgirl. There are enough unique powers amongst them all that no character is a chore to play and none of them could go it alone for long. They all have their own ways of moving from disaster to disaster, busting up the scenery and saving the populace. And by collecting shields scattered throughout the game, you can unlock alternate costumes and versions of characters (yep, Hal included).

It's an easy ride to enjoy, with voice talent like Ron Perlman (Batman), Michael Jai White (Green Lantern), and Ralph Garman (Green Arrow). The story is written by Dwayne McDuffie, who's made a living writing for Justice League Unlimited, Static Shock and Teen Titans animated series'. The story is quick, witty and includes a nicely refined version of the expected superhero banter. The game also makes good, faithful use of villains from all over the DC Universe, like Gorilla Grodd, The Key and even Doomsday.

With the good, there must also be the bad. There would be no Justice League if there weren't a Legion of Doom, after all. The most glaring neglect in JLH is the menu design. They are very hard to read, and if you've played games like this you'll know that a lot of your time is spent in the menus deciding how to upgrade your characters. First of all, the text is very small. This is made worse by the menu layout, which includes a lot of real estate spent on absolutely nothing. Character portraits are full size, take up a third of the screen and are surrounded by blank space, while menu items are crammed into small embedded windows that require far too much scrolling. Figuring out which powers do what is a nightmare.

The menu design is baffling and there's really no reason for it. Games with nearly the same mechanics have refined the interface several times, so it takes a special level of effort to make them work this poorly.

The other major drawback is one that can't be ignored almost a year after the Xbox 360 has been on the market, and many years after Xbox Live. Cooperative play from the same room is nice, but it should include four players. And co-op over the Internet is no longer a shiny new option like power windows twenty years ago - it needs to be part of games in this genre. X-Men Legends II offered it more than a year ago, and the newly released Marvel: Ultimate Alliance has refined the mechanics.

It's a genre that may never be more popular than it is right now - when you see it, you know what you're getting and most players are already decided. But if games like this are going to keep popping up, they'll need to offer new ideas. Even so, JLH is a lot of fun, especially if you're a fan of the major characters.