Batman: The Video Game

Gameplay

Batman being attacked by Heat Wave in the first stage in the NES version.

The game has a feature that was unusual in side-scrolling platform games at the time, largely to the NES itself. Unlike Sunsoft's Batman for the Mega Drive/Genesis, which features the grappling hook, Batman has the ability to wall jump, which is reminiscent of Ryu Hayabusa's wall scaling in Ninja Gaiden. He is also able to use three projectile weapons: the batarang, batdisk, and bat speargun, which are powered by pellet cartridges.^[3]

The stages in the game consists of the Gotham City Streets, Axis Chemical Plant, Gotham Sewers, Mysterious Laboratory, and the Gotham Cathedral Belltower. A number of notable DC Comics villains appear as low-level minions in the game, including Deadshot, KGBeast, Maxie Zeus, Heat Wave, Shakedown, and Nightslayer. The bosses in the game are Killer Moth, a device known as the Machine Intelligence System, the Electrocutioner, a machine known as the Dual-Container Alarm, Firebug, and the Joker.^[4]

Development

While Batman and Batman: The Caped Crusader were not based on a movie, this game was. The prototype version of the game had some significant differences, such as a 1UP icon and entirely different cut-scenes. The game's original last boss was Firebug and there was no Joker boss. Instead, Batman defeats the Joker in the ending cut-scene. The art and dialogue were changed from the prototype to the final version to better reflect the look and events from the movie.^[5]

Reception

Reception
Review score Publication Score AllGame [6]

The NES version has received positive reviews. Allgame editor Brett Alan Weiss called the game "one of the best superhero games for the NES".^[6] The NES version is also considered by many players and reviewers to be one of the most difficult games ever released for the system.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}