Batman Returns

"No amount of Michael Keaton prancing about in a Batman costume can make you enjoy this."

In 1992, the long-awaited sequel to the 1989 smash
Hit ''Bat man'' was released. It was suitably called ''Bat man Returns''. Soon, two video games based on this film were out, one for the Super Nintendo and one for the Sega Genesis. Konami was in charge of making the SNES version, while Sega decided to make the Genesis version. This review is about the latter game.

Even though the game is based on the movie, the story is kind of strange. The SNES version of Bat man Returns took place from the start of the movie until the end, but this game takes a different term, and begins after The Penguin pushed the Ice Princess off a building. Now Bat man must clear his name and stop the two villains, The Penguin and the Cat woman, because now the townsfolk of Gotham think that Bat man pushed the princess. The story is really confusing, and some of the best bits of the movie are before Bat man was framed.

But it's the game play that’s the real dog. There are 5 ''acts'' in this game, each one of these ''acts'' has 4 or so levels. This game is basically a platform game where you play as Bat man and must try to stop The Penguin and the Cat woman. Bat man is given 5 weapons, Batarangs, smoke bombs, Bats, a grappling gun and homing batarangs. These items are limited to so you need to get more of these. Bat man can also punch and kick, and can also use a grappling hook to get up to a few high places. The game is slow! Slow as hell! Bat man moves like a slug. This game is so sluggish that you'll end up daydreaming. Once that happens, you will keep on losing. And get frustrated. A game that's hard for all the wrong reasons.

And if that isn't enough, Sega decided to neglect the graphics as well. Every thing that is meant to be black is purple! Purple! What were the creators thinking? The backgrounds aren't drawn that well, and the sprites of the characters don't look much like their movie counterparts. The exception there would have to be The Penguin, pity about Bat man and Cat woman! The animation is also very sluggish, as said before. Not good. Not good at all.

Then we arrive at the sound department. The sound…well there's not much to say about it, is there? The music is good but it gets annoying after a while, and the sound effects leave a lot to be desired, nothing more than a bunch of ridiculous crashes, bops and cries. The sound needs to be catchy if creators want the players to keep on playing it. This isn't the case here with this game.

After the brilliant SNES version, you would think that this version would be just as good. Maybe Konami should have made the Genesis version as well. I'm sorry to say this, but Sega has failed in making an enjoyable Bat man game. If you must have a Bat man Returns game, then get the Super Nintendo version because you’re not missing out much here. It's the game itself that is missing a lot.

GRAPHICS: 3. Why is everything purple? Note to creators: Prince performed music in the first Bat man movie.
GAME PLAY: 5. Moves slower than a snail. The only thing fast is the menu selections.
LIFE SPAN: 5. You won't come back to this often.

OVERALL: 4/10. If you can cope with the sluggish speed and terrible graphics, add 3 points to the score.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/13/02, Updated 05/13/02