Batman

"A solid game of the movie that finally did away with that horrid blue and grey spandex"

Bruce Wayne is a man who likes to dress up as a bat. I'm sure someone could inform him that wearing spandex is not a good way to achieve this. For as long as I can remember, Batman has been fighting crime. It started out as a comic, then it turned into a cheesey TV series (comic still existed), and then came the movies. There are four Batman movies, directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher. This game closely follows the story of the first of these movies, Batman (1989, directed by Tim Burton).

When I was a young boy, I was caught up in the hype of the Batman movie. I collected the bubblegum cards, I had the comics, I even had my own Batman costume (made by my mum ^_^). But thanks to my mum deciding to be sensitive over the issue of violence, I didn't get to see Batman in the cinema. Once I saw the movie, I loved it. We all know the story of the game to movie conversion. A movie does well, and a game is rushed out immediately to try and scoop some of that money. Of course, with stellar movies, come average games.

Most of the time.

I didn't play the Megadrive version of the Batman game until sometime in 1992, and I was presently suprised. Despite the fact it was a little too hard towards the end, I thoroughly enjoyed almost every minute of it. Its just as dark as the movie, and is actually pretty fun. It is far more well made than other movie to game titles (Total Recall on the NES anyone? Universal Soldier? Hehe).

The 1989 version of Batman is set in Gotham City, just before the 200th Anniversary celebrations. Boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) is running the city into the ground through his ring of organised crime. Lately, several reports of a 'bat man' have been going around the city. Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) discounts them all. With problems of his own, Grissom sends his #1 agent, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) on a job. Napier runs into Gordon and his men at the Axis Chemical Factory, and a shootout takes place. In the midst of this shootout, Batman (Michael Keaton) appears. He gets into a struggle with Napier, who ends up falling into a vat of toxic waste, and later emerging as The Joker. It's just before these events where the game begins.

Batman suffers slightly in the graphical depatment, because essentially it is a port of the NES version (except Batman is black now, instead of purple :P). Batman is quite well detailed, down to the various muscles in his suit. The villians, however, are VERY generic, as they are poorly drawn, and consist of very basic coloruing, which was a real disappointment. It is fitting however, seeing that most of the Joker's goons wore the same outfit. The game sticks close to the movie in its dark appearance, one factor which I really like. The backgrounds, whilst sparing on some details, are quite pleasing, accurately capturing the feel of the movie. All the locations from the movie are here, with the exception of Wayne Manor, but then again, did any action happen at Wayne Manor? (besides between Bruce and Vicki ;))

The soundtrack is probably the best aspect of the game. Atmospheric, catchy, and entirely suitable to each level, the soundtrack is one of my favourites on the Megadrive. Mainly consisting of typical console rock, the music changes to suit the situation (the boss music in the first level is great). Sound effects, while a little limited, are still pretty good. Gun shots, explosions, and the ever-so-great fist against flesh are all present, and all clear. No digitised voices to speak of, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

The gameplay is pretty much standard action fare, with a few Batman style gizmos and gadgets thrown into the mix. The game starts in the streets of Gotham, where Batman must pummel his way through the hordes of thugs occupying the streets. He moves on to the Axis Chemical Factory, where he runs into Napier, and so on, leading up to the grand finale atop the Gotham Cathedral (great part of the movie). It's more than a standard left to right scrolling beat em up. Batman has all his usual gadgets, such as the Batterang. Then, there's the vehicle levels, with the Batmobile, and the Batwing. These vehicles are a much needed change to the mix, and let the player have a breath of fresh air from the standard beat em up style. There's about 8 stages in all, which start off fairly easily, but get difficult quickly. Batman is not an easy game. Thankfully, Batman is an easy game to control. The A button will use the selected Bat gadget. The B button while make the Caped Crusader punch. The C button will make Batman jump. As per usualy, the D-pad will make Batman move around. Thankfully, there are few, if any, collision detection errors.

As with most 16-bit action games, lastability is quite minimal. Although the 8 stages are quite tough, once you are done with them, I seriously doubt that you'll be back for more. There is no two player mode, but that is rather fitting, seeing this movie was a solo adventure for Batman (no Boy Wonder to be seen here). The vehicle sections are quite fun, and may draw you back, but I doubt it.

On to that all-important breakdown...

Graphics: 7.6

Just as dark as the movie. Batman is well drawn and animated, but his enemies suffer from that overly generic disorder. Backgrounds give a good feel of the locations that were seen in the movie.

Soundtrack: 9.1

One of the best soundtracks on the Megadrive, very catchy and atmospheric. Boss music is classic. Sound effects are crystal clear, and fairly well varied, but a little limited, due to 16-bit hardware.

Story: 9.1

The movie was great, and this game follows the same story as the movie. Too bad the last Batman movie stunk a lot, but we'll save that rant for another day.

Gameplay: 8.4

Standard beat 'em up/platforming action broken up by levels where you get you fly the Batwing and drive the Batmobile. Batman's gadgets are a good feature too.

Control: 9.0

Fantastic control. Easy to get a grip of, and no collision detection errors.

Lastability: 6.3

The levels may be difficult, but there is only 8 of them, so I doubt that many people will be back for more.

Movie to Game conversion: 9.9

It's about as good as it gets when it comes to movie to game conversions, only one or two games do it any better.

Pro's

- Great movie to game conversion
- Excellent soundtrack
- Good gameplay mix
- Keeps the feel of the movie, thanks to good graphical work
- Easy to control

Con's

- The enemies look too plain
- Only 8 levels

Does this game belong in my collection? Yes

For fans of Batman, this is a must-buy. For those who hate Batman, try before you buy. If you want an example of what a movie to game conversion should be, buy it. Might be a little hard tracking it down these days, so good luck.

Overall: 8.4 (Adjusted to 8 due to the limitations of the GameFAQs rating system)

The movie was great, and now (for once), the game is pretty good too. A solid game of the movie that finally did away with that horrid blue and grey spandex. A few extra features really could have helped the game along (could have been just that little bit longer) to a rating of 9, but this is more than enough to make any fan happy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/01, Updated 08/22/01