Batman: Vengeance

"More liek Batman's first failure."

Batman Vengeance is one of the most primitive Bat Man games I ever played, rivaling that of the Batman series for the NES in terms of simple game play. Of course, this being one of the first Batmen game for the GBA I'll cut it some slacks but if you compare this game to Batman Begins, this game seems to be very elementary.

First thing you notice about this game straight off the bat is the graphics. Like, oh my god! The graphics for this game is very small by today's standard, which is four years latter. Our hero stands about 1/10 of the height of the screen, where he should be standing more to 3/10 or even 4/10. Why? Because the character is central to the game play therefore you want to see the character as close up as possible. I guess this is blamed on the game developer's hindsight.

Ok, lets dig into the game play. Like I said, Mr. Batman combat skills in this game is very limited to punches and kicks; no combo in this game … well, not real combos anyway. Let me explain: when you usually do combos in the game, it's a combination of grapping, punching and kicking. Instead in this game all Batman does is right hook, left hook, and he keeps repeating the same thing. Also the lack of grappling move in this game brings disappointment.

Oh well. As you know, Batman has some weapons in his belt (that's what he wears it for. He doesn't need a belt for tights.) And he has a grappling hook in which he can use to climb into places, bang rang and a smoke book. You're thinking, ha, this is all fine and dandy right? Wrong! Because in the game you only have one smoke bomb per level and five bang rang in total. So there is a limited use for these tools.

The enemies AI in the game is very primitive, because all they do is basically one programmed attack and nothing else. For example, in the first level of the game there is a clown holding a rocket that shoots out a projectile every 3 seconds or so; he doesn't do anything else; therefore you can time his attack and move in and punch him out like the little clown he is. I was hoping there would be more, you know, intelligent in the enemies, such as them blocking my punches, or retreating or running around in circles or something and call for him. But it isn't the case for this game.

And for those of you who don't know yet, this is a adventure platform game that requires you to jump and glide a lot in this game; falling down into the abyss in this game can lead to death, which I find and utter annoyance because I don't like jumping around so much – where is the action at? Therefore, this game isn't that fun but rather frustration for some people like me who don't like this all jumping around business.

In closing, while I realized this game was released back in 2001 and is elementary, compared to Batman Begins, I still expect the game developers to be innovating and unique, but instead they give me something I have all too often see: reused, recycled game play. However, the graphics for the game is semi-good so I'll give them a little credit for it. If you want to buy a Batman game, try Batman Begins for the best bang for your money.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/21/05