On this day, exactly 36 years ago, we got an adaptation of the film Batman on the first Nintendo console. It was an atmospheric and above all challenging 2D game.
Back in the late 1980s, it was known that games based on film models were usually not of high quality. The infamous ET game was a wake-up call to the entire video game industry, but lackluster products continued to come with titles such as Top Gun, Jaws, Ghostbusters, The Karate Kid and many more. Some of us don’t remember those games as bad, but that’s mostly because we didn’t know any better back then. Fortunately, there were exceptions, and one of them is Batman: The Video Game which was released for the NES console on this day in 1989.
Batman: The Video Game was a 2D action title that combined platformer and action elements. He was based on Tim Burton’s film from the same year, but in the game we did not fully follow the story of the film adaptation. The game gave us only an outline of the plot: The Joker has poisoned Gotham City, and Batman seeks to defeat him in order to take revenge on him for the murder of his parents. And that’s all. The ending of the game was similar to the ending of the movie, with the difference that Batman kills the Joker here.
The game had a total of five levels: the streets of Gotham, the chemical factory, the sewers, the Joker’s laboratory and the cathedral. Each level had a final boss battle, and among the bosses were Killer Moth, Electrocutioner, Firebug i Joker. Deadshot could also be encountered in the game. In addition to his fists, Batman could use an arsenal of several weapons, including a gun, a harpoon, and a boomerang. In addition, he also had the ability to jump on walls.
The game had a total of five levels: the streets of Gotham, the chemical factory, the sewers, the Joker’s laboratory and the cathedral.
The game received very good reactions from players and critics and came to be considered one of the best superhero games for the NES console. For a long time, it was also for many the best “dark knight” game. Fans of retro sound in games also point out that Batman: The Video Game had one of the best 8-bit soundtracks ever made.
She remained in the memory and game difficulty. In Batman, there was no difficulty selection, no continuing the game after Game Over. Personally, I only managed to get to the fifth level once during that time. The second level that required precise jumping was problematic for me.
Later this Batman got version for Sega Mega Drive as well console, but it was vastly different from the NES version, featuring different enemies, different levels, and some new parts like driving the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham.