Worth the wait?
As it's been stated on the bombcast and in many different places this is a game that's development has spanned many years for one reason or another. In the end the product they delivered was polished, but a little disappointing. When I played it at pax in the past I always enjoyed the game in short bursts. The mini game where you collect gold blocks and deliver them to the safe seemed simple and yet deep enough to turn into a really fun party game. Then seeing it year after year lead to larger expectations. The question remained would it live up to the hype.
When the game finally plopped last week I picked it up on day one and couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it. The opening cinematic only made me crave more. As Jeff states in the quick look the art style, voice work, and cinematic are all fantastic. The voice acting in this game is top notch. Even if you don't find the dialog to be well written you can't argue that it's not delivered perfectly.
I finished a few levels and had a moment where I asked "Is that all?". I'm not sure what I expected. The core game play for the story mode is a puzzle platformer. It supports 2 player co-op, or you can go it solo. Levels change slightly if you play with a partner. Each chapter has 9 stages followed by a set of 2 or 3 timed "boss" stages. In typical fashion the first 9 stages in the chapter will usually introduce a new mechanic (usually in the form of a new block), and the boss stages will put those to use in some challenging ways. The controls are tight and some of the later puzzles are challenging. They never quite reach Super Meatboy levels of precision, but some parts get close.
The battle modes consist of 7 different mini games that range from basketball to fighting to the death. Most are meant to be played 2v2 and should really not be played with less. The games supports online matchmaking but I had trouble getting in games (ranked or unranked). When I finally got into a game as soon as one team started winning the other would exit out. I could see this being fun with 4 people in the same room, but I have yet to try it like that.
Summary
Overall I think Battleblock Theatre is a game worth playing in the right circumstances. If you have a partner that wants to do the co-op story mode, or if you have 4 friends wanting to play some silly mini-games then Battleblock should be on your short list of games to consider. If you are going it solo and craving a platformer you might want to wait until you've exhausted other options.