I do not want to give false hope to those thinking the Turbografx 16 game is comparable to Sunsoft's excellent side-scrolling action game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, so I will warn up-front: this Batman is more Pacman-inspired, and in all fairness falls short of the Nintendo title's success in most categories. Those who have not played the Nintendo Batman game should stop reading and check that one out first, probably.
Okay, now that false hope has been eliminated (hopefully, lol) I wanted to point out that this game is not all bad. This one was also made by Sunsoft and the excellence of the music found on the Nintendo has carried over. I love the music in this game, and if you are going to guide Batman through somewhat bland Pacman-esque levels it is important to have some rockin tunes.
The gameplay, while not as memorable as the NES classic, scores points by being easy to get into, yet consistently rewarding. I would generously describe it as a time-waster with almost a hypnotic quality--by grinding through short levels with a low level of challenge, the player gets a feeling of progression and accomplishment while avoiding the sorts of frustrations that go along with dying, getting stuck in a difficult spot, or other mainstays of many games of this era. The levels consist of walking around maze-like areas viewed from overhead, taking out enemies with his bat-boomerang while sometimes performing helpful Batman tasks inspired from the movie, such as cleaning pieces of art in the Gotham museum. While I already praised the music, I must do so again just to try to explain why the low level of challenge or depth is somewhat forgivable. The one punishing part of the game, from what I can remember, is that while the player is rewarded as he goes with upgrades such as speed upgrades and batarang range upgrades, it is a little frustrating and disappointing to have to start from scratch, upgrade-wise, if one lucky foe sneaks by your bat defenses and takes you out. If you pay attention hopefully you can avoid this from occurring.
Overall, if you have been persuaded to adopt my forgiving perspective on this interesting Pac-Man clone, by all means check it out! Just know in advance what you are getting into.
I do not want to give false hope to those thinking the Turbografx 16 game is comparable to Sunsoft's excellent side-scrolling action game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, so I will warn up-front: this Batman is more Pacman-inspired, and in all fairness falls short of the Nintendo title's success in most categories. Those who have not played the Nintendo Batman game should stop reading and check that one out first, probably.
Okay, now that false hope has been eliminated (hopefully, lol) I wanted to point out that this game is not all bad. This one was also made by Sunsoft and the excellence of the music found on the Nintendo has carried over. I love the music in this game, and if you are going to guide Batman through somewhat bland Pacman-esque levels it is important to have some rockin tunes.
The gameplay, while not as memorable as the NES classic, scores points by being easy to get into, yet consistently rewarding. I would generously describe it as a time-waster with almost a hypnotic quality--by grinding through short levels with a low level of challenge, the player gets a feeling of progression and accomplishment while avoiding the sorts of frustrations that go along with dying, getting stuck in a difficult spot, or other mainstays of many games of this era. The levels consist of walking around maze-like areas viewed from overhead, taking out enemies with his bat-boomerang while sometimes performing helpful Batman tasks inspired from the movie, such as cleaning pieces of art in the Gotham museum. While I already praised the music, I must do so again just to try to explain why the low level of challenge or depth is somewhat forgivable. The one punishing part of the game, from what I can remember, is that while the player is rewarded as he goes with upgrades such as speed upgrades and batarang range upgrades, it is a little frustrating and disappointing to have to start from scratch, upgrade-wise, if one lucky foe sneaks by your bat defenses and takes you out. If you pay attention hopefully you can avoid this from occurring.
Overall, if you have been persuaded to adopt my forgiving perspective on this interesting Pac-Man clone, by all means check it out! Just know in advance what you are getting into.