Batman, that DC Dark Knight. He's been making comics and money for years. This game is based off his 1989 movie, and while the game loosely follows part of the plot, you kind of don't mind. Is this what made the movie game awesome - that it used creative liberty with some of the stages, introduced bosses not present in the movie - and other touch-ups? Quite possibly! This game boils down to being Batman, and trying to stop the Joker. Thats all its about, forget Bruce Wayne, forget Vicki Vale - forget Commish Gordon or that annoying reporter guy, Alfred -nope! Its just Batman's nonstop crusade to crush the Joker's plans and eventually the clown prince of crime himself.
This game will give you a Batman at his best when he's rapidly punching - seriously, wail on that button when you're close up - you'll often freeze your foe with the rapid-fire attack. There is a small selection of ranged weapons too, batarangs (of course) and a gun and throwing star weapon. Actually its a bit of overkill, and I found myself using the batarangs almost for every situation as its cheap and racks up multiple hits.
Graphics: 9
The dark, brooding graphics are perfect for this character, and match Tim Burton's depiction of a gloomy Gotham. The liberal use of light and shadow is fantastic, and enemies are well sculpted. You may not be able to tell exactly what it is - I don't remember remote control mines in the movie - or those funny box robots - but you won't mind. Batman is purple, which at first seems kinda weird, but no, he's totally awesome once you start seeing him punch the daylights out of bad guys. The wall spring, the excellent bat-shaped fireball our hero goes up in when he loses his life -- its great touches like that that make this game so fun.
Sound: 9
But good graphics are not all! The music and sound effects are excellent, above and beyond. Sunsoft was a developer that really had a great composers and musicians - even oddball titles like Fester's Quest had good music. The first two stages music are very appropriate and good, if you don't mind a heavy drum beat. As befitting a great sound team, the sound effects are on point - I mentioned Batman's death being a fireball shaped like a bat - it also has catchy tune that plays over that. Even Batman's punches have a sound as they strike the air. I was so close to giving this a ten, it really only lacks one thing, and the fact its a movie tie-in makes it noticeable. It doesn't have any of Elfman's score for the movie, which had an iconic Batman theme that the team just didn't slip into the game.
Addictiveness: 9
Who doesn't want to play as Batman? He's awesome! You will likely die a lot, so this game forces you to push yourself better and better. Fortunately, its not a long game - so its quite beatable. The bosses are creative and require you to think and often punch/batarang as fast as you can before seeking safety.
Story: 6
Well, its lacking - as it only follows a couple scenes from the movie, then makes some up. But some additions are great for a video game - such as adding minor d-list enemies of Batman like Killer Moth, Firebug and Electrocutioner as bosses working for Joker. The Axis Chemical factory is present, as is the giant bell tower at the finale of the movie - but the rest is kind of thrown on. It works though, but since its based off the movie, I feel the need to mark it down just a bit. The cut scenes that play are short and don't do really much. A batmobile shooting down a garage door (yet you never control it in the game) uh.. ok?
Depth: 6
The difficulty will add some time to your role as the caped crusader. Once you lose your lives, you can start over at a boss, so its a bit forgiving - but the enemies sometimes have tricky positioning. And as I've said, Batman can punch with the best of them, but he needs more. Fortunately, this game gives us that. I like that you also get to use Batman's batarangs, as well as a gun and some thrown glaives of some kind. They add much-needed range to his punch-happy arsenal at the cost of using some of his special attack bullets. He can carry 99, but each weapon takes 1, 2 or 3 with each shot. Its not that bad as enemies drop new ones. There's no secret stages or secret characters - you already have Batman what more could you want - but the challenge will add most of the depth.
Difficulty: 8
This is a pretty hard game. But its short, only 5 stages. Electrified walls and floor, poisonous vats you can fall in, there's many dangers in the environment, not just your enemies. Some stages have a mini-boss, or even sub-boss on them, but with practice, you will meet the Joker, who well, he's doing some things not seen in the movie, but at least you get to beat the daylights out of him.
Final score: 9.2
This is a fantastic NES game, with a killer soundtrack and moody graphics to match the tone of the movie. Love it for that, just don't be expecting to play a lot of scenes from the film. Batman, that DC Dark Knight. He's been making comics and money for years. This game is based off his 1989 movie, and while the game loosely follows part of the plot, you kind of don't mind. Is this what made the movie game awesome - that it used creative liberty with some of the stages, introduced bosses not present in the movie - and other touch-ups? Quite possibly! This game boils down to being Batman, and trying to stop the Joker. Thats all its about, forget Bruce Wayne, forget Vicki Vale - forget Commish Gordon or that annoying reporter guy, Alfred -nope! Its just Batman's nonstop crusade to crush the Joker's plans and eventually the clown prince of crime himself.
This game will give you a Batman at his best when he's rapidly punching - seriously, wail on that button when you're close up - you'll often freeze your foe with the rapid-fire attack. There is a small selection of ranged weapons too, batarangs (of course) and a gun and throwing star weapon. Actually its a bit of overkill, and I found myself using the batarangs almost for every situation as its cheap and racks up multiple hits.
Graphics: 9
The dark, brooding graphics are perfect for this character, and match Tim Burton's depiction of a gloomy Gotham. The liberal use of light and shadow is fantastic, and enemies are well sculpted. You may not be able to tell exactly what it is - I don't remember remote control mines in the movie - or those funny box robots - but you won't mind. Batman is purple, which at first seems kinda weird, but no, he's totally awesome once you start seeing him punch the daylights out of bad guys. The wall spring, the excellent bat-shaped fireball our hero goes up in when he loses his life -- its great touches like that that make this game so fun.
Sound: 9
But good graphics are not all! The music and sound effects are excellent, above and beyond. Sunsoft was a developer that really had a great composers and musicians - even oddball titles like Fester's Quest had good music. The first two stages music are very appropriate and good, if you don't mind a heavy drum beat. As befitting a great sound team, the sound effects are on point - I mentioned Batman's death being a fireball shaped like a bat - it also has catchy tune that plays over that. Even Batman's punches have a sound as they strike the air. I was so close to giving this a ten, it really only lacks one thing, and the fact its a movie tie-in makes it noticeable. It doesn't have any of Elfman's score for the movie, which had an iconic Batman theme that the team just didn't slip into the game.
Addictiveness: 9
Who doesn't want to play as Batman? He's awesome! You will likely die a lot, so this game forces you to push yourself better and better. Fortunately, its not a long game - so its quite beatable. The bosses are creative and require you to think and often punch/batarang as fast as you can before seeking safety.
Story: 6
Well, its lacking - as it only follows a couple scenes from the movie, then makes some up. But some additions are great for a video game - such as adding minor d-list enemies of Batman like Killer Moth, Firebug and Electrocutioner as bosses working for Joker. The Axis Chemical factory is present, as is the giant bell tower at the finale of the movie - but the rest is kind of thrown on. It works though, but since its based off the movie, I feel the need to mark it down just a bit. The cut scenes that play are short and don't do really much. A batmobile shooting down a garage door (yet you never control it in the game) uh.. ok?
Depth: 6
The difficulty will add some time to your role as the caped crusader. Once you lose your lives, you can start over at a boss, so its a bit forgiving - but the enemies sometimes have tricky positioning. And as I've said, Batman can punch with the best of them, but he needs more. Fortunately, this game gives us that. I like that you also get to use Batman's batarangs, as well as a gun and some thrown glaives of some kind. They add much-needed range to his punch-happy arsenal at the cost of using some of his special attack bullets. He can carry 99, but each weapon takes 1, 2 or 3 with each shot. Its not that bad as enemies drop new ones. There's no secret stages or secret characters - you already have Batman what more could you want - but the challenge will add most of the depth.
Difficulty: 8
This is a pretty hard game. But its short, only 5 stages. Electrified walls and floor, poisonous vats you can fall in, there's many dangers in the environment, not just your enemies. Some stages have a mini-boss, or even sub-boss on them, but with practice, you will meet the Joker, who well, he's doing some things not seen in the movie, but at least you get to beat the daylights out of him.
Final score: 9.2
This is a fantastic NES game, with a killer soundtrack and moody graphics to match the tone of the movie. Love it for that, just don't be expecting to play a lot of scenes from the film. |
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