Batman: The Video Game

Review

by Jonathan Sutyak

The comic book character known as Batman saw his parents murdered when he was a child. From that day on he dedicated his life to fighting crime without ever using guns. This video game, which is loosely based on the movie Batman, features a gun as the main weapon. This may seem unimportant, but for a Batman fan such as myself, it makes no sense to see Batman using a gun. The whole character is based around him not using guns. Batman should have been a punch-and-kick type of game rather than a shooting game.

Most gamers won't view that as an issue, but it is a good example of how companies get a license and ignore the attributes of the main character. Outside of that issue, the game is okay, but taking away the Batman license will give you just another action game. Controls simply have you jump or shoot. Progress through the levels by shooting all of the bad guys. There are four stages in all, one of which places you in control of the Batwing. The Batwing is Batman's airplane; here your weapons are missiles that can be fired endlessly at the enemies. On all of the levels there are blocks that can be shot which will sometimes reveal power-ups.

Your main objective is to reach the Joker. You begin the game with three lives and can find extra lives hidden in the levels. Enemies are not very difficult but that does not mean the game is not. Your biggest challenge is to make accurate jumps so you don't fall to your death.

Background graphics are okay but the characters don't look very good. Batman is small and looks more like the Bat-Mite, a character from the comic book series, not the movie. More impressive graphics are featured in cinematic screens that are viewed between the levels.

Batman is a standard platform shooter but it does not make effective use of the Batman license. The addition of the Batwing was a good idea but having Batman use a gun was not.