Batman: The Video Game is a collection of platform games that are different in gameplay and story depending on the platform it released for, developed and published by Sunsoft.
The first version released for the NES in 1989 and is a side-scrolling platformer with features like the grappling hook, wall jumps and projectile weapons like the batarang and batdiscs.
The version I played, the Game Boy version, released on April 13, 1990 and is much less ambitious in both graphics and gameplay. It features Batman with a gun and is also a side scrolling platformer.
There are two other versions for the Sega Genesis, a game I will play as we move further along in 1990, and a PC Engine version which released in Japan-only and is an action-puzzle game.
Each game ties in to the movie from 1989 starring Jack Nicholson as the Joker to varying degrees, with the Game Boy version having the "least relation".
STORYTELLING
There is almost none present. Each "chapter" starts and ends with a very brief cutscene involving Joker and Batman. It would have been nice to have a bit more here or, as I will discuss later, more of a Batman feel in the level and/or graphic design, because while the game was fun, it could have been called anything but Batman and no one would have batted an eye.
GAMEPLAY
A lot of fun. If you are looking for platformers from this time and are looking for a game that is easier than usual for this period (1), that has more generous hit boxes (2), doesn't take too long (3) and has some variation (4), you'll find a pretty good game in the GameBoy version of Batman: The Video Game.
This is a side scrolling platformer with your usual dangers. There are enemies that simply follow a pre-determined route and will damage you if you touch them. Later on, they start shooting at you as well. Plus you can of course fall down to your death as well. You control Batman who is pointing a gun forward at all times. Batman using a gun already doesn't seem quite like Batman, but so be it. You can find a bunch of power-ups as you go through levels which alter your damage output and the way your gun shoots. Some give you more power but reduce your range, some make the bullet fly in half circles up and down. Stages are different enough that specific bullets (each different bullet variation is marked with a letter like "N" or "S) will be required to go through them without taking any damage, or perhaps even go through them period. One stage for example has enemies covering a whole platform and can't be shot at with the low-range bullet, so you have to jump on top of it and sacrifice some of your health. If your health is too low at that point, you're basically guaranteed to die. But each level allows you the opportunity to switch to a more usable bullet.
Shooting and platforming becomes more and more tricky as the game goes on, but it doesn't really become hard until about Chapter/Stage 3. I immediately noticed how hit boxes were really the opposite of what I came to expect out of games from 1990. Bullets could touch your sprite and you sometimes would take no damage. Especially when crouching down, bullets would touch your head but it wouldn't register as a hit. Conversely, bullets that barely scrape the enemy still hit them. Pretty much all the other games need you to be way more specific and give you way less leeway there, so this was a welcome surprise. As you will find out over the course of this game, that does make the game simpler, but it's hardly easy throughout. It's simply actually beatable without spending dozens of hours perfecting later stages. If you are a side-scrolling platform veteran however, this game will not scratch that hardcore challenge itch that you might have.
There is also a bat mobile shmup type level which offers some nice variety and is pretty challenging as more and more enemies and bullets start flying around you.
Boss fights are not that plentiful and end up being bullet-sponge fests more than anything, so they were a bit of a let down.
But overall, gameplay wise I had a lot of fun with this, even if the last stage and boss fight did my head in.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Sound design was average, which is good for the time, but the firing sound could have done with a little bit more 'oomph'. This gun holding animation-starved Batman could have definitely used it to give him at least some sort of badass vibes.
I liked the music but only because it pretty much sounds like any other soundtrack of its time, and most 8 bit soundtracks were bangers, but as with most of this game, it didn't give off any Batman vibes.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
The Game Boy games of this time weren't particularly nice to look at, and that is no different here. Many magazines and reviews of the time I found call this game one of the better looking Game Boy games of the time, so I'm going to believe them here. Still, there isn't much here, you could have put any character in here instead of Batman and it would have done the same, minus the presence of Joker in cutscenes (his in-game character also looks like a random detective-like NPC though).
ATMOSPHERE
It has a typical Game Boy platformer atmosphere and that is totally fine, but again, it doesn't feel at all like Batman. I find this to be a good platformer first rather than a bad Batman game, so it depends on what you value more here.
CONTENT
There isn't much here, but what is here is fun. It took me roughly 4 hours to beat it.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
It's an odd choice to turn this into a generic platformer because Sunsoft's other Batman games in this 'package of platformers' include a lot more of Batman's typical gear, in addition to wall climbing. Here, they just gave BATMAN a gun and said enjoy.
There are four chapters with 3 or 4 stages in each and apart from the final one, which was so long, I enjoyed going through them all. Boss fights also took too long even though they didn't take long to figure out.
But the game gets an additional bonus for putting each level in different locations. For a 1990 Gameboy game, that is commendable.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
From the reactions of 1990 it's clear that this game was one of the better Game Boy games at the time, both graphically and in terms of gameplay, which is good, but not innovative.
REPLAYABILITY
You can play games with about a handful of different 'bullet effects' and of course try to beat your high score, or try to go from start to finish without any continues. The boring and long boss fights and not many gameplay elements overall to take away some from the game's replayability.
PLAYABILITY
The game worked fine at all times.
OVERALL
This is a game that is not notable as a package because it pretty much only does one thing really well or even above-average, but what it does well is be an enjoyable, fair platformer that is atypical for this time where games were supposed to be punishing to artificially increase playing time of otherwise short games. This one does that in its final chapter as well, but even then it is more than beatable and flows well overall, if it weren't for those long and boring boss fight interruptions.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- Steve Harris for Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 14 (Sep 90): "The graphics, by GameBoy standards, are superlative"
- Sushi-X for Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 14 (Sep 90): "Gee Batman, better lose a few pounds and put that gun away and slug it out like you're supposed to" Glad this was addressed back in the day as well. Fyi, he gave the game a 7/10 anyway because this really is a fun game.
- ?? for Mean Machines Issue 3 (Dec 90): "if you're a Nintendo owner, miss this game at your peril."
The first version released for the NES in 1989 and is a side-scrolling platformer with features like the grappling hook, wall jumps and projectile weapons like the batarang and batdiscs.
The version I played, the Game Boy version, released on April 13, 1990 and is much less ambitious in both graphics and gameplay. It features Batman with a gun and is also a side scrolling platformer.
There are two other versions for the Sega Genesis, a game I will play as we move further along in 1990, and a PC Engine version which released in Japan-only and is an action-puzzle game.
Each game ties in to the movie from 1989 starring Jack Nicholson as the Joker to varying degrees, with the Game Boy version having the "least relation".
STORYTELLING
There is almost none present. Each "chapter" starts and ends with a very brief cutscene involving Joker and Batman. It would have been nice to have a bit more here or, as I will discuss later, more of a Batman feel in the level and/or graphic design, because while the game was fun, it could have been called anything but Batman and no one would have batted an eye.
GAMEPLAY
A lot of fun. If you are looking for platformers from this time and are looking for a game that is easier than usual for this period (1), that has more generous hit boxes (2), doesn't take too long (3) and has some variation (4), you'll find a pretty good game in the GameBoy version of Batman: The Video Game.
This is a side scrolling platformer with your usual dangers. There are enemies that simply follow a pre-determined route and will damage you if you touch them. Later on, they start shooting at you as well. Plus you can of course fall down to your death as well. You control Batman who is pointing a gun forward at all times. Batman using a gun already doesn't seem quite like Batman, but so be it. You can find a bunch of power-ups as you go through levels which alter your damage output and the way your gun shoots. Some give you more power but reduce your range, some make the bullet fly in half circles up and down. Stages are different enough that specific bullets (each different bullet variation is marked with a letter like "N" or "S) will be required to go through them without taking any damage, or perhaps even go through them period. One stage for example has enemies covering a whole platform and can't be shot at with the low-range bullet, so you have to jump on top of it and sacrifice some of your health. If your health is too low at that point, you're basically guaranteed to die. But each level allows you the opportunity to switch to a more usable bullet.
Shooting and platforming becomes more and more tricky as the game goes on, but it doesn't really become hard until about Chapter/Stage 3. I immediately noticed how hit boxes were really the opposite of what I came to expect out of games from 1990. Bullets could touch your sprite and you sometimes would take no damage. Especially when crouching down, bullets would touch your head but it wouldn't register as a hit. Conversely, bullets that barely scrape the enemy still hit them. Pretty much all the other games need you to be way more specific and give you way less leeway there, so this was a welcome surprise. As you will find out over the course of this game, that does make the game simpler, but it's hardly easy throughout. It's simply actually beatable without spending dozens of hours perfecting later stages. If you are a side-scrolling platform veteran however, this game will not scratch that hardcore challenge itch that you might have.
There is also a bat mobile shmup type level which offers some nice variety and is pretty challenging as more and more enemies and bullets start flying around you.
Boss fights are not that plentiful and end up being bullet-sponge fests more than anything, so they were a bit of a let down.
But overall, gameplay wise I had a lot of fun with this, even if the last stage and boss fight did my head in.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Sound design was average, which is good for the time, but the firing sound could have done with a little bit more 'oomph'. This gun holding animation-starved Batman could have definitely used it to give him at least some sort of badass vibes.
I liked the music but only because it pretty much sounds like any other soundtrack of its time, and most 8 bit soundtracks were bangers, but as with most of this game, it didn't give off any Batman vibes.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
The Game Boy games of this time weren't particularly nice to look at, and that is no different here. Many magazines and reviews of the time I found call this game one of the better looking Game Boy games of the time, so I'm going to believe them here. Still, there isn't much here, you could have put any character in here instead of Batman and it would have done the same, minus the presence of Joker in cutscenes (his in-game character also looks like a random detective-like NPC though).
ATMOSPHERE
It has a typical Game Boy platformer atmosphere and that is totally fine, but again, it doesn't feel at all like Batman. I find this to be a good platformer first rather than a bad Batman game, so it depends on what you value more here.
CONTENT
There isn't much here, but what is here is fun. It took me roughly 4 hours to beat it.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
It's an odd choice to turn this into a generic platformer because Sunsoft's other Batman games in this 'package of platformers' include a lot more of Batman's typical gear, in addition to wall climbing. Here, they just gave BATMAN a gun and said enjoy.
There are four chapters with 3 or 4 stages in each and apart from the final one, which was so long, I enjoyed going through them all. Boss fights also took too long even though they didn't take long to figure out.
But the game gets an additional bonus for putting each level in different locations. For a 1990 Gameboy game, that is commendable.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
From the reactions of 1990 it's clear that this game was one of the better Game Boy games at the time, both graphically and in terms of gameplay, which is good, but not innovative.
REPLAYABILITY
You can play games with about a handful of different 'bullet effects' and of course try to beat your high score, or try to go from start to finish without any continues. The boring and long boss fights and not many gameplay elements overall to take away some from the game's replayability.
PLAYABILITY
The game worked fine at all times.
OVERALL
This is a game that is not notable as a package because it pretty much only does one thing really well or even above-average, but what it does well is be an enjoyable, fair platformer that is atypical for this time where games were supposed to be punishing to artificially increase playing time of otherwise short games. This one does that in its final chapter as well, but even then it is more than beatable and flows well overall, if it weren't for those long and boring boss fight interruptions.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- Steve Harris for Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 14 (Sep 90): "The graphics, by GameBoy standards, are superlative"
- Sushi-X for Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 14 (Sep 90): "Gee Batman, better lose a few pounds and put that gun away and slug it out like you're supposed to" Glad this was addressed back in the day as well. Fyi, he gave the game a 7/10 anyway because this really is a fun game.
- ?? for Mean Machines Issue 3 (Dec 90): "if you're a Nintendo owner, miss this game at your peril."