FROM TV SCREEN TO GAME BOY SCREEN COMES HEROIC CRIME FIGHTING ADVENTURE. Everyone's tuning in to Batman - The Animated Series. Now, for the first time, this hit TV series becomes an intense video game adventure. The Dark Knight and his partner Robin fight Gotham City's most infamous fiends in five original episodes of sizzling crime fighting action. Batman's strategic use of the grappling hook is crucial for surviving the onslaught of evil enemies. And Robin relies on his hang-from-the-ceiling skills to escape certain doom. Both of our heroes possess fists of amazing strength and must try to find weapon power-ups scattered throughout the mayhem.
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Batman: The Animated Series for the Game Boy attempts to capture the dark, stylish tone of the iconic cartoon but is ultimately hampered by the system's limitations. The gameplay is simplistic, focusing on basic platforming and combat, while the repetitive level design and brutally high difficulty lead to frustration. While it features some recognizable characters and decent visuals for the Game Boy, the experience lacks depth and feels unforgiving even by retro game standards.
I was enjoying this game until I got to the Mister Freeze fight which is utter bullshit, I would feel so cheated if I got to that point with the only three lives they give you. Nora's gonna stay a popsicle if you're gonna be like this, Victor.
This game was really fun and I would recommend it if it didn't have two rather annoying quirks.
First of all, the good things:
The gameplay is fun. It's not particularly complex, but it works.
The graphics are also really impressive.
Instead of a story, there are several individual episodes, as in the series, in which the focus is on one or two of Batman's antagonists.
In the first level, for example, this is the Joker. Smaller interludes tell the story of the episode.
Unfortunately, the game has a life system in which you have to start all over again if you lose all your lives, a maximum of three.
When you start a new level, the lives are not replenished. If I have no lives left after the first level, it's the same for the rest of the game.
Unfortunately, there is also no password system or memory banks..
First of all, the good things:
The gameplay is fun. It's not particularly complex, but it works.
The graphics are also really impressive.
Instead of a story, there are several individual episodes, as in the series, in which the focus is on one or two of Batman's antagonists.
In the first level, for example, this is the Joker. Smaller interludes tell the story of the episode.
Unfortunately, the game has a life system in which you have to start all over again if you lose all your lives, a maximum of three.
When you start a new level, the lives are not replenished. If I have no lives left after the first level, it's the same for the rest of the game.
Unfortunately, there is also no password system or memory banks..
A simple action-platformer without a whole lot of variety to the moves or mechanics, but what is there is well-tuned and satisfying – unsurprising for Konami during this period.
The art is quite good – nice big sprites of the characters, especially – and while that can be the death knell of lesser Game Boy side-scrollers (including another Batman title, Sunsoft's RETURN OF THE JOKER), Konami wisely slows the action down to a more methodical pace to keep things legible.
Unfortunately, the game’s difficulty is a problem. The moment-to-moment gameplay itself isn't particularly challenging or unfair, but you only get three lives to beat the entire game with, and from what I can tell there's no way to get any more. Levels are long and packed with enemies, so even getting near the halfway point of the game with only three tries can be tough. This is a real shame, as fans of the series will want to see all the levels and villains, but only the most dedicated will be able to do so.
Overall, a minor success, and one of the better Batman games from the era.
The art is quite good – nice big sprites of the characters, especially – and while that can be the death knell of lesser Game Boy side-scrollers (including another Batman title, Sunsoft's RETURN OF THE JOKER), Konami wisely slows the action down to a more methodical pace to keep things legible.
Unfortunately, the game’s difficulty is a problem. The moment-to-moment gameplay itself isn't particularly challenging or unfair, but you only get three lives to beat the entire game with, and from what I can tell there's no way to get any more. Levels are long and packed with enemies, so even getting near the halfway point of the game with only three tries can be tough. This is a real shame, as fans of the series will want to see all the levels and villains, but only the most dedicated will be able to do so.
Overall, a minor success, and one of the better Batman games from the era.