Batman

"This one is a real cave dweller..."

Those of you who have read my other reviews will know that I have a love/hate relationship with Sunsoft. The quality of their games ranges from the very best I’ve seen on the NES to absolutely horrible, and to put a twist on a Forrest Gump saying, “Sunsoft games are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Well, if I had to put Xenophobe on the very bottom of the scale, and Gremlins 2 and Blaster Master at the top, this one would be teetering dangerously close to the Xenophobe end of the spectrum. It does have a couple appealing elements, but for the most part, Batman is a real cave dweller, sure to go unnoticed in it’s absence after being played a couple of times. As for being tied into the movie as it claims to be, well...don’t get me started. Here’s my take on how Batman fares:

Story 6/10

Well, I liked the Batman movie, and if cut scenes are any indication of how accurately a game portrays a movie, this game would be making out pretty good. I do have some issue with the enormous differences between what we see in the movie, though and what’s in the game. Does anybody else remember the part where Batman was in the sewers battling the giant ape-like mutant Jaders, or where he battles the guy who resembles Wolverine in the caves beneath Gotham? Also, I don’t remember the whole thing about Joker being able to summon lightning down upon Batman by raising his hand, but maybe I fell asleep during that part or was in the kitchen. I did also notice that, while the cut scenes remain true for the most part, since when does Batman THROW the Joker off the building at the end after he’s already been beaten? I mean, I know that Batman has psychological issues, and that Joker has been a real pain in the arse thus far, but heck, he wasn’t THAT vengeful. Revisionist history is what I call that. Anyway, enough about the story. If you don’t know it, here it is: Batman saves Gotham from the Joker and his thugs. ‘Nuff said.


Gameplay 5/10

Well, this isn’t quite what I expected from this game, but I guess expectations were made to be shattered. Batman appears quite small in this game, as do most of the enemies. Strangely, his animation is very smooth, and he appears to be quite well animated, if a little poorly detailed. I noticed right away how his cape sways a little bit when he stops running, and the many frames used for his punching and throwing actions. That aside, very few of the enemies you’ll encounter resemble enemies from the movie. True, there were mostly just a bunch of generic thugs in the movie that Batman had to fight, but there’s quite a huge difference between them and some of the far out freaks you fight on the game. Everyone or everything Batman beats up vanishes in a puff of flame, and consequently, so does some of the realism of these encounters. Batman is equipped with three different throwing weapons that all use draw from a single store of weapon energy when used. You will probably be using these frequently, as Batman’s only unlimited attack is an ineffectual punch with almost no range on it, which is sadly inadequate in this environment that often demands more from our hero. Most of the bosses will sap your entire store of weapons and still keep on fighting, often leaving you unable to defeat them with your meager hand to hand combat. The game also requires that you master the triangle jump, which permits Batman to leap from wall to wall to gain higher ground where there are no platforms around. This must be mastered early on, as you will quickly be thrown into situations requiring complicated use of this jump, with the cost of failure frequently being death. Batman can be somewhat difficult to control at times, which makes some of the especially hazardous areas that much more difficult to navigate. Already by level 2 and 3 you will begin to experience environmental frustrations that will sap your desire to continue on, and if you make it to the final stage, the ultimate in mind boggling, trap dodging hell, you’ll be ready to hang up your cape and cowl and spend a nice evening at home, washing your tights. The Joker redefines B.S., as he can take you out with only a shot or two of his ridiculous gun, and if you manage to dodge those, well, it’s lightning from above all over your arse, buddy! The trouble involved in repeating the most difficult traps in the game to reach Joker every time he kills you are sure to prevent you from reaching him with full health, and you probably won’t fight him long enough to get to develop a strategy against him. Oh, yeah...did I mention that there’s a ridiculously tough boss you have to defeat RIGHT BEFORE you fight the Joker? Gimme’ a break! You’re sure to feel more like the dorky old Adam West Batman than the cool movie one by the time you’ve watched yourself erupt into flame a few dozen times. Inaccurate or not, you’ll be glad to watch the cut scene of you tossing the Joker off the building if you manage to finish this game. I found myself wishing I could toss my whole setup, TV, NES, and all, off the edge of a tall building after playing this game for a few hours. Whoever programmed this game had more than a few bats in the belphry...


Graphics 4/10

As I mentioned before, the animation in this game is all right, but most of the characters are very small. The scenery looks okay, but it’s all rendered in shades of blue and green and brown. I know the NES never boasted a very large color palette, but I know that Sunsoft can do much better than this...I’ve seen their better games before. The cut scenes actually look pretty good for a NES game, and about those I have no complaints. They do manage to make you feel like you’re reliving the movie, except for the inaccurate ending, but that just makes me laugh.

Sound 5/10

It’s my belief that when you make a game based on a movie, you ought to at least try to make music that sounds like something that you could associate with the movie, don’t you think? Well, they didn’t do that here, though I’ll bet they could have if they wanted to. Most of the music is pretty good in this game, and I actually like a few of the tunes quite well. It just seems that if they were able to make good music that wasn’t in Batman the movie that they should have had no problem duplicating some of the movie themed tunes. Oh, well. Me just being too picky I guess. The sound effects in this game are kind of nonexistent, as they are rather weak and unimpressive. They’ll get drowned out by the music, though, so no worries there.

Well, Batman has definitely gotten the short end of the Batarang in this title. For an adaptation of the movie, this game is kind of corny. It might have passed as an unrelated Batman game, but they had to try to cash in on the movie craze, and the fact that the gameplay of this title so vaguely resembles the movie just makes it that much worse. Here’s my list of “does” and “don’ts” in the Batman NES world. DO: “The Adventures of Batman and Robin”, “Batman Forever”, “Batman Returns” (SNES). DON’T: “Batman” (this game), “Batman: Return of the Joker”, “Batman Returns” (NES). Do you see a trend here? What it boils down to is that you just can’t trust a Batman game on the NES. If you want to see the caped crusader really soar, visit him in his adventures on the SNES. If you don’t heed my advice, and do insist on playing this game, well...it’s guaranteed to drive you batty!

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/03, Updated 06/02/03