Quite shocked I never was able to get around to these games back when I was still undergoing my Batman phase as a child, but the best thing that Batman: Arkham Asylum did for me was remind me of how great it felt to have underwent that phase back then.

The great attention to detail put into the world of Arkham Asylum, turning it into a labyrinth makes the exploration of the enclosed setting feel like its own world, but it also creates a perfect atmosphere for the game too. It would be easy enough to take a character like Batman and make him the star of just about any other superhero video game, but instead what's been brought out here is a straight-up horror game - never afraid to go even more twisted as it goes on.

But above all, it's also very briskly paced, while feeling very free enough to that point it actually feels bigger than it actually is. Impressive stuff.