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About This Game
History
About This Game:
Rating: Pre-Rating Era. Publisher: Sunsoft. Year: 1990.
If this was given a rating, it would be E for Everyone. This is a fun, kid-friendly action game that all ages will enjoy. It's done in the classic Game Boy style, pre-color. The graphics are limited, as are all Game Boy games, but it's made up for with a real neat presentation. The backgrounds are kept simple enough so you can still see everything. The basic play of the game is pretty simple. You have a jump function and a fire function; that's it. And you can move in the four basic directions.
This game is based loosely on the movie Batman (1989). The good thing is that they do try to include as many references to the film as possible, and in a proper sequence. You start in Gotham City and work your way through the Chemical Factory. The first boss you defeat at the end of Level 1 is Jack (pre-Joker). When he's defeated, he falls into the chemical vat and becomes Joker.
In Level 2, you start in Gotham City and work your way through the Flugalheim Museum. After this level is cleared, there's a short video of the Batmobile driving off. This is the only time you'll see the Batmobile, and it's a shame that it wasn't included as a playable part of the game.
Level 3 is the Batwing portion of the game. It's not much different from the rest of the game, but the character is now the flying Batwing vehicle instead of Batman. The bosses at the end of this level include an airplane and a helicopter. Funny, the Batwing didn't encounter an airplane or a helicopter in the movie. Oh, well, it's still fun! After this level is cleared, there's a short video of Joker.
The final level, Level 4, is Gotham Cathedral. The boss at the end of this level is, of course, The Joker. I think it's funny that Vicki Vale is neither shown or mentioned. Considering that's why Batman goes to the cathedral in the movie, you'd think they make reference to that. She also isn't seen or mentioned in the Flugalheim Museum level. Of course, when you win the game there's a closing video and credits.
It's a short game, and fairly easy to beat, but it's a fun representation of Batman. Amazing enough, the game still holds up well in design to this day. It's very playable, and doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew as far as looks and functionality are concerned. Some Game Boy games make the mistake of being too hard to look at and too complicated to navigate. Batman is a shining example of one of the "good" early Game Boy games.
History: Another game called Batman was released by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System console (NES). This was an entirely different game. The NES game of Batman is much more impressive as a video game. However, it has little to do with the movie. The Game Boy version of Batman is a more faithful adaptation of the film. Although nothing complicated, the Game Boy game of Batman is a great memento for fans of the film, and it's a perfectly safe Batman game for kids to play. Outside of being a movie adaptation, it's still a fun game that's pretty representative of what Batman is about. This is a great game to introduce to Batman fans, young and old.
This game has sometimes been critcized by Batman fans for the fact that he always has some firing weapon. The character of Batman, in all media, is opposed to using guns, yet he always has some firing weapon in this game. That's really a silly thing to debate. Batman is all about gadgets, so he's always had some kind of projectile weapon. If you want to see it as a gun, fine. If you want to see it as a gadget, okay. Basic point of fact, Batman always has weapons.
As a game, it's been praised by many as being one of the original Game Boy's all-time best-designed games. It's beautiful in its simplicity, and plays well. Many nostalgic gamers today still love the game for the fact that it's very easy to get into.
If this was given a rating, it would be E for Everyone. This is a fun, kid-friendly action game that all ages will enjoy. It's done in the classic Game Boy style, pre-color. The graphics are limited, as are all Game Boy games, but it's made up for with a real neat presentation. The backgrounds are kept simple enough so you can still see everything. The basic play of the game is pretty simple. You have a jump function and a fire function; that's it. And you can move in the four basic directions.
This game is based loosely on the movie Batman (1989). The good thing is that they do try to include as many references to the film as possible, and in a proper sequence. You start in Gotham City and work your way through the Chemical Factory. The first boss you defeat at the end of Level 1 is Jack (pre-Joker). When he's defeated, he falls into the chemical vat and becomes Joker.
In Level 2, you start in Gotham City and work your way through the Flugalheim Museum. After this level is cleared, there's a short video of the Batmobile driving off. This is the only time you'll see the Batmobile, and it's a shame that it wasn't included as a playable part of the game.
Level 3 is the Batwing portion of the game. It's not much different from the rest of the game, but the character is now the flying Batwing vehicle instead of Batman. The bosses at the end of this level include an airplane and a helicopter. Funny, the Batwing didn't encounter an airplane or a helicopter in the movie. Oh, well, it's still fun! After this level is cleared, there's a short video of Joker.
The final level, Level 4, is Gotham Cathedral. The boss at the end of this level is, of course, The Joker. I think it's funny that Vicki Vale is neither shown or mentioned. Considering that's why Batman goes to the cathedral in the movie, you'd think they make reference to that. She also isn't seen or mentioned in the Flugalheim Museum level. Of course, when you win the game there's a closing video and credits.
It's a short game, and fairly easy to beat, but it's a fun representation of Batman. Amazing enough, the game still holds up well in design to this day. It's very playable, and doesn't try to bite off more than it can chew as far as looks and functionality are concerned. Some Game Boy games make the mistake of being too hard to look at and too complicated to navigate. Batman is a shining example of one of the "good" early Game Boy games.
History: Another game called Batman was released by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System console (NES). This was an entirely different game. The NES game of Batman is much more impressive as a video game. However, it has little to do with the movie. The Game Boy version of Batman is a more faithful adaptation of the film. Although nothing complicated, the Game Boy game of Batman is a great memento for fans of the film, and it's a perfectly safe Batman game for kids to play. Outside of being a movie adaptation, it's still a fun game that's pretty representative of what Batman is about. This is a great game to introduce to Batman fans, young and old.
This game has sometimes been critcized by Batman fans for the fact that he always has some firing weapon. The character of Batman, in all media, is opposed to using guns, yet he always has some firing weapon in this game. That's really a silly thing to debate. Batman is all about gadgets, so he's always had some kind of projectile weapon. If you want to see it as a gun, fine. If you want to see it as a gadget, okay. Basic point of fact, Batman always has weapons.
As a game, it's been praised by many as being one of the original Game Boy's all-time best-designed games. It's beautiful in its simplicity, and plays well. Many nostalgic gamers today still love the game for the fact that it's very easy to get into.