game-worn

The Best of the Bats? (1)
After so many years, I finally get to review this game on Amazon.com (wondering what took them so long to add this game). Let's get something straight right off the bat... er, whatever: if you have never played this game or even seen videos or screenshots and you want to play a game that faithfully creates an interactive experience of the 1989 movie, you're better off with the Genesis or Arcade version. What you'll get in the NES version is a story very loosely based on the movie with many stages and enemies you never saw in the movie. You'll fight robots, ninja turtles with flame throwers, spiky robotic bugs, tanks, a red ninja who looks somewhat like Ryu from Ninja Gaiden, a monkey that throws crescents at you, moving boxes, some guy with a jet pack in front of the Gotham Courthouse who throws fireballs and dives at you, some weird-ass machine, and ... this could go on for quite a while. While some of the stages may look slightly familiar (Gotham City streets, the Axis Chemicals factory, and the Cathedral), most look nothing like the movie: caves, power plants, the sewer, and an "art museum" that looks absolutely nothing like a museum, much less the one in the movie. The cathedral itself doesn't resemble the one in the movie much either, but at least you get to fight The Joker in the end, and yes he does look like The Joker.

So, in case you're still reading, you may be wondering why I rated it four stars. Because it's a hell of a lot of fun! That's why! As unfaithful to the movie as it is, this game is a blast to play with all the wall-jumping (don't worry; there's not too much of it), flying fists of fury, and enough challenge to make the game not too easy. You'll get infinite continues when you run out of lives and they only set you back to the first stage in the current chapter, not the beginning of the entire game.

The music? It's one of my favorite soundtracks, but it's nothing like the movie. If you've played other SunSoft games on the NES, you should know what to expect.

Inclusion of stages where you drive the batmobile and/or batwing would have secured a fifth star, but no game is perfect.

If you consider yourself a fan of old-school 2D action with some platform jumping thrown in, you owe it to yourself to give this a try. Otherwise you might want to consider a different hobby from video games.

One of the Best
Batman for the nes is quite possibly one of the best sidescrolling games based off of a comic book liscense and sheer quality of this game is not often found with old games that are usually rushed to coincide with a movie's release date. Thiat is not the case here, what we have is a fun and challenging game that is leaps and bounds better than most of the nes competition.
For a game that's over twenty years old, the graphics are very detailed with lots of nice background effects like buzz saws spinning on the ground and the joker's face appearing on the computer moniters. Another cool effect is the spinning gears in the clock tower which also happens to be one of the most epic last levels in 8 bit. The only real problem graphically is that many of the middle levels don't really match the Batman theme very well and appear to be lifted from another game entirely whcih is really less of a complaint and more of a curiosity.
The gameplay is pitch perfect and the Batman handles in such a natural way.From the wall jumping to switching your three weapons on the fly, everything is mapped out to perfection. Many times playing this, I forgot I was even holding a controller, it really is that intuitive.
Last but certainly not least, there is the music. Each level has it's own melody that ranges from sweeping thatrical action compositions to moody more subtle sound. One thing is for certain, few nes games can manage to utilize the hardware and make the sound as quality as this. This here is a soundtrack that easily compares to megaman or castlevania and in case your new to 8 bit, that's a huge compliment.
Anyway, if you have an old nes lying around, dust it off and play this little gem. Even if your not a fan of Batman but can appreciate some old school platforming, this is worth checking out. Sunsoft really did a tremendous job on this one and it's a shame more people don't include this in their listmania lists because I would pick this up over super mario 2 any day of the week.

One of two great Batman games
I loved this game when it was new, and still like it many years later. The only thing that's changed is that I'm not nearly as good at video games as I used to be. I beat this game originally, but this time around struggled to beat the second boss. Still a great game though, and I still think the graphics are great for an 8-bit system.

The Dark Knight At His Pixelated Best
There is no denying the fact that the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was, at its very best, a flawed piece of hardware. Gamers everywhere will remember all the tricks of the trade (blowing, pumping, squeezing, etc.) in order to get the games to boot up. Yet, for all its quirks, that system can never be accused of one thing: churning out classic games that entertained gamers for hours on end. "Batman" is one of those games.

Based on the 1989 film of the same name, this game follows the basic progression of the movie, including such levels as Gotham City, the sewer plant, Joker's television studio, and the Belltower. You play as the Caped Crusader who must dispose of a wide range of enemies (both on land and in the air) while also utilize some fancy jumping skills to scale tall buildings and reach key platforms.

I think that the real genius of the game, though, shines through in its perfectly designed difficulty curve. Though I consider "Punch-Out!" to be my all-time favorite NES game (with this one a close second), in that collection of pugilistic confrontations there is just too much difference between the hardest villain (Tyson/Dream) and the one that proceeded him (Super Macho Man). Basically, you can dominate the entire game and still get floored by Tyson/Dream quite regularly. Fortunately, Batman does not fall prey to that design flaw. Don't get me wrong...the game can be very difficult at times. Yet, the difficulty progresses in such a fashion that the skills learned in one stage will need to be mastered before you have any chance at the next one.

Also, on a bit of a side note, the music in this game is some of the best the NES ever produced. For those of you who are able to appreciate an 8-bit soundtrack, you will be able to listen to Batman's tunes all night long.

To conclude, I think that the true test of the success of this game comes from the fact that it has taken nearly two decades to produce another highly-rated Batman video game (the recently-released Arkham Asylum). All the iterations of the Dark Knight in between either suffered from bad controls, stupid story, or goofy graphics. Who would have thought that the best edition would come from a system as flawed as the NES?!

One Of The Dark Knight's Better Outings
Out of all the Batman games out there (and trust me, there are quite a few), this is one of my favorites. The gameplay is satisfying, the levels are well-designed, and the music is excellent. Batman has some pretty cool weapons as well, such as batarangs and a "Batgun", both of which are fun to use. Batman also has a neat, but uncharacteristic, Ninja Gaiden style wall jump. The only problem I found was the lack of better villains. Sure The Joker is the end boss, but where are Two-Face, The Penguin, and The Riddler? Most of the enemies are generic, but well-designed. The game is very challenging too. Also, the color scheme is a little strange. Batman appears to be purple instead of the traditional blue. All in all, a good game for both Batman and the NES.