Batman (I) (1989 Video Game) User Reviews

One of the better film licences

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 7/10 · 12 April 2006]

I first played this game on the C64 when I was about 10 and I thought it was pretty damn good. The graphics were blocky but the locations were quite atmospheric and it was a great button basher. Later on I played it on the Mega Drive, which had a few extra levels added. But somehow it just wasn't as cool.

The extra Mega Drive levels included action in the Batmobile and Batwing in which you would blast the Joker's clown cars off the streets of Gotham or destroy the balloons full of poison gas. The music was also much better. I mean it's been years since I played that game and I'm STILL whistling those brilliant tunes.

But there was just something about the C64 version that I preferred. I can't really put my finger on it. Of course, as all movie tie-in platformers were at the time, the levels are bizarrely designed with pits full of spikes and exploding walkways but the gameplay and atmosphere make up for that.

Graphics A- Sound A- Gameplay B+ Lasting Appeal B+

I hated that gear tower at the end.

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 10 March 2010]

I think this is the game that was released for the original Nintendo system. Loosely based on the movie it was a game where you went through various stages side scroll style fighting many of the Joker's henchmen. No other villains from the Batman universe are present during the game, but they do have some off the wall bosses like this one dude who was fire or something to that effect. Most of the game was jumping and trying to get from here to there. There was also fighting which was your basic punching and an array of throwing type weapons. This game had an engine similar to Ninja Gaiden. From what I remember you do not get to drive the Batmobile or pilot the Batjet, but I think you see them in cut scenes. You remember the cut scenes in most Nintendo system games don't you? You end up seeing basically a picture with a little movement in it to sort of mimic animation. This is a game I sadly could not win as a child, I remember the clock tower at the end being a nightmare to traverse for me as it had gears and was a big pain to get all the way up it. I did manage to make it to the top a couple of times only to have the Joker totally own me in the final battle. Was not a great game, but it was a good rental.

My first game on Game-Boy ! (videogame)

[leplatypus · 10/10 · 25 April 2020]

As soon as it was on the european market, I got the original Game-Boy as a Christmas gift. So the year is 1990 and i'm 16 1/2 years old. This game was my first pick and i got in the japanese package (see my pic)!

It was astounding: playing everywhere and getting into the movie was an experience like no other before!

Sure some will laugh with my comment but that's true: Game-boy was fantastic because it was simple: a cross, A,B, select, start! so all games were intuitive and easy to play!

Next, it was the 1st time for me that i play licences and it was like virtual reality: unlike today when we crumble under complexity, details, time, Game-boy reached the perfect balance: attentive design and a whole left to imagination and nothing can beat imagination.

So here, we have the bat signal, the batwing, a 5mm Batman and all the best scenes from the cult movie of Tim Burton!

Just amazing and still fun to play 30 years later! so Unbeatable!

Spectacular...

[Flounder-9 · 24 September 1999]

I remember buying this game from a Warner Brother's catalogue in 1989. I absolutely loved this game. It is unquestionably the best game released for the NES. I wish my NES still worked because I would still be playing this game. Batman had his arsenal of weapons he is famous for. The game had a good dark feel, much like the incredible original Batman movie.

Fun entertainment close to the 1989 film!

[blanbrn · 9/10 · 20 June 2019]

In 1989 with the success of the "Batman" film NES made a video game and the graphics and music had the dark feel and mood of the 1989 blockbuster! The action and punches were feel good as you played as "Batman" you went thru different levels and stages I remember facing machines and going thru a chemical factory! Plus "Batman" had cool weapons in this game and plus it was a challenge I never mastered it yet had a friend to go thru all levels and defeat "The Joker" at the end! Seeing the fight and the bat signal rise at the end was worthwhile as it brought you back to the movie! Overall good game that was a challenge while paying homage to the 1989 blockbuster.

Batman soaring on the NES

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 8 June 2021]

This is one of my favorite video games of all time as well as licensed/comic book video games. This game of course is based on the 1989 "Batman" movie which was just a phenomenon and of course is one of my favorite movies of all time. From how big the film was a video game was inevitable. The NES game was one of the very first times "Batman" flew into the gaming world, let alone one of the first characters from the DC verse that ever had a game and suppringly and thankfully this game turned out to be good and as much of a hit as the film.

It's also thankful that the making of this game was in good hands by one of my favorite video game companies "Sunsoft" who have done a couple of other licensed games "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" which came out near the same time as this game and makes this sort of the big two. Along with the under the radar gem "Fester's Quest" which was based on the "TV show" as this game was two years before the "Adam's Family" movie.

Also, there is "Journey to Silius" which was a would be/should've been based on the film "The Terminator". What I love with that company was how in those games and this they always put extra effort and care into what they make, making sure this game became exactly what it should be fun.

I really like the graphical presentation, which really captured the essence of Gotham city in "Batman"; where it's just dark and gritty and it feels like there is danger everywhere you go, though being a video game and part of the "Batman" franchise danger is part of the territory.

Even the character designs are cool from the bad guys that are all scummy looking along with some robots, mutants and other surprises. But of course, I really like the animation of the character you play "Batman" it was the use of the dark blue and purple and it works well as it looks like the dark knight, let alone it makes sense as those colors have been used in the comic series or in some "Batman" stories for color consistency.

Gameplay is excellent, you get to play in the areas from the movie though of course several that aren't in the movie along with certain characters. But with licensed games liberties are inevitable as you need more levels and enemies to make a game, but it all fits well and organic as if those things could have been in the movie. But also makes sense as "Batman" is part of the DC verse which means he's one step away from reality and in the DC verse anything that seems impossible is most likely possible.

The game plays out pretty much like "Ninja Gaiden" only your "Batman" and it fits well as "Batman" himself is a ninja. You have the basic functions jump and punch. But I like that you get to do some other things like sticking and jumping wall to wall. I'll admit this is a little strange as this is something "Spider Man" would do, Batman does scale the walls but with his grappler. But this was used as they could use Batman's grappler in the game, so including this feature was the only way Batman's wall scaling can happen; I'm fine with this as this is a video game after all you just roll with it, and you can say Batman's wall scaling is because of one of his gadgets he created like special automated gripping gloves and soles or something.

This feature is interesting and unique as there aren't that many video games that use this except for "Gargoyles Quest 2" for the NES (game I reviewed) because this helps in getting you not just from point A to B in some places that require climbing. But it presents opportunities like accessing and alternate route or even clearing certain obstacles you can do with your regular abilities.

You have three kinds of gadgets/weapons each have strengths and weaknesses. From the trademark Batarang which has power and does come back your direction so there's minimum ammo loss but has a limited distance. Another is rocket bullets that cover the whole distance and are precise but have minimum stopping power. And third is a football grenade that detonates when thrown producing three lazer bolts, as power as this is it eats up your ammo meter real fast. The use of the gadgets and your ammo capacity for them gives the game a slight element of strategy as it causes you to figure out and determine the best places and times to use them and you need to do this carefully as you have the ammo counter to consider so use your tools wisely.

Even like the boss battles which are always something different but are different. As by their nature their kind of puzzles, from the first boss who looks like "Firefly" from the DC verse flying around and shooting and another which is a factory automated machine armed with different weapons in different places. Each of these bosses are simple to beat once you know what to do as well as what to use against them.

Of course, the highlight of the game for me is the music which has some of the best and most memorable tunes for not just a "Batman" game but video games in general. Though the only track missing is an NES rendition of the movie's theme song by Danny Elfman, hearing an NES version of that song would be so sweet. But despite that loss, all the tracks are just great in their own way as they all sing out dark gritty neo noir heroic action but in short "Batman." Two of them are my favorites are the "Chemical Factory" level, but my absolute favorite is the first level which are "The Streets of Gotham" that one is the kind of track that you can easily play when you work out, I play that when I go on a run on the treadmill or even kick, punch and use my anise sticks on the punching bag, that music just really pumps you up makes you feel like "The Dark Knight".

This vintage classic soars high.

Rating: 4 stars.

The Dark Knight At His Pixelated Best

[zkonedog · 10/10 · 27 June 2018]

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?!

Decent

[Meltdown53098533 · 5 January 2006]

Frankly, I bought the game because it said "Batman". i had no idea of what i was going to get when playing this game, but i have to say that it's a pretty good action game for the NES.

Batman has three gadgets for fighting crime, and asides from the gadgets he can punch people and crouch. it would have been nice if he could;d do some combos, but you can'e be too hard on a game that's going on 17 years old. Batman can also do a neat jumping-up-the-wall move when there are two walls in close proximity.

My only (ironic) complaint is that when you die, you don't lose your gadgets or get sent back to the beginning of the stages. it makes the game seem incomplete, and since you don't lose gadgets or get sent to the beginning of the stage, there is really no point in getting the screen that says "Game Over: Continue? Quit?" because you don't lose anything.

Awesome! A classic Batman game from Sega Genesis.

[abalpn-99472 · 10/10 · 17 October 2019]

When I was a kid, I didn't know that the game existed on the Mega Drive console. I like this game and I played it many times. The game only had six levels. It was hard at first but I did beat the game. I liked the music and it was awesome and cool. It would've been better if the game had Danny Elfman's composing in it but the music once again is still awesome. The sound effects were great too. The background in each level was great and it was just like in the film.

I liked Batman's moves. His punching, jumping and kicking. My favorite levels were the Axis Chemical Plant and museum. When I played this game it felt like I was watching the 1989 film again. I wish they would include more levels but that was how the game was made. Anyway, I still love the 1989 Batman film and this game too.

The Best Batman Game For Sega

[dushes-63466 · 10/10 · 12 March 2023]

Considering Tim Burton's classic being a loose adaptaion of Batman's orgins, it's no wonder this game while based on the same movie is also a loose adaptation of the film. But I honestly consider this Batman game to be the best from whole SEGA MD catalogue. The developers were very clever for adapting probably the most popular game genres of that time (Beat-em-up, Racing-shooting, flyng-Shooting). In this game Batman punches and kicks the foes, throws Batarangs, uses his grappling hook, rides the Batmobile and flies his Batwing. The strange thing is that because this Batman doesn't really follow his famous creed, you would have countless of enemies shot from the Batmobile in this game. And I laughed a lot at mount of Joker followers, he actually got the whole army this time, all being in the pink cars and TANKS!!!!!! And while you fly the Batwing, you shoot a swarm of enemy helicopters, which would make the Prince of Crime much more menacing than in the film. And this why this game was enjoyable to play. And I also want to mention the excellent music and graphics, those truly made this Batman game worth playing even more.

Decent. Complements the film pretty well.

[gothamite27 · 6 February 2005]

Back in the day of Megadrives and SNESs, when the only good games you could get were side-scrollers, this came out to cash in on the film. I bought it, thinking it might be pretty good. It was. It wasn't excellent, but it was playable. The only major problem with it was that Batman couldn't run or slide tackle, or do half the things his enemies could. However, one element that saves the game is the fact that you are given unlimited continues. This is very useful, because back then, you were not able to save your progress, and it was really dull having to go back and start from the beginning.

Another let-down is that we are not given any cut-scenes. Batman is simply transported from one locale to another without warning. This would make little sense to someone who has not seen the film.

Overall, this film deserves an 8/10 while the game only deserves 6/10.