Batman

"Wow...a GOOD video game based on a movie!"

Batman was released by Sunsoft in January of 1990. It follows the plot of the movie pretty closely (I think) in that Gotham City is planning to celebrate its 200th anniversary. The Joker has spread nerve gas all over Gotham, for no real reason other than to terrorize the citizens. Batman's purpose in defeating the Joker is twofold: Save the city, and avenge his parents' death at the Joker's hands.

Graphics: 9/10- The graphics, especially the backgrounds, are really well done for an NES game. The backgrounds are really nicely detailed, and the enemies are animated well. The Batman character is fairly small, though, and why is he PURPLE (Yes I know it's probably so you don't lose him in the black backgrounds of the game. Nonetheless...purple??)!?

Sound: 8/10- The sound is also pretty nice. The music is catchy and more or less suits the mood of whatever place you happen to be in. The sound effects aren't bad either, with the sound of your punch flying through the air, the sounds of your gun discharging, or of the Batarang flying through the air.

Control: 8/10- Batman controls prety well. You can control the height of his jumps, and the Wall Jump is very easy to execute--just press A near a wall. Three minor complaints though: 1. You can't control Batman's direction once he starts jumping (You CAN if he FALLS, though. Weird). 2. Start accesses weapons, Select pauses. The other way around would've been better. 3. Punching is kind of hit or miss, especially against moving targets.

Story: 5/10- The awesome "Avenge your parents' death" is canceled out by the "Save the City from the Evil Meanie(tm)" cliche. Also, there's a lot of killing in this game. Batman never killed ANYONE, save one person, in the comics and movies (I don't think). Not that this can be avoided, nonetheless....

Challenge: 10/10- Probably one of the hardest games you'll ever play. The bosses are tough, and some of the non bosses aren't any easier (The hopping guys in level 3-1 for instance). Limited continues also add to the challenge.

Replay Value: 7-10- I'm not sure how much you'll want to play this after beating it, but until you do you'll keep coming back.

Overall: 8/10- This is one of a few Movie-to-Game conversions that didn't royally suck (Willow being another, and that's not for everyone). If you like tough action games, you'll probably be satisfied with this game, especially since you can find it cheap nowadays.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/09/00, Updated 01/09/00