Batman: The Video Game

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Originally Posted by Kamahl

Batman on the genesis was ahead of it's time, look at all that grey and brown and simplistic brawler gameplay! Just like a modern game.
First level is boring and complete crap, thankfully the level design is much much better from stage 2 onwards even if the scenarios are the most uninspired they can be and the bosses super lame.

Really, one plays this game for the music, which is superb.

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So true. So, so true. Music is awesome.

Finaly 1 CC'ed this game and I pretty much agree with most of the review.

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Originally Posted by Kamahl

Batman on the genesis was ahead of it's time, look at all that grey and brown and simplistic brawler gameplay! Just like a modern game.
First level is boring and complete crap, thankfully the level design is much much better from stage 2 onwards even if the scenarios are the most uninspired they can be and the bosses super lame.

Really, one plays this game for the music, which is superb.

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This.
My favorite track is the one that plays during that plays during the Batmobile and Batwing stages (Sky Over Gohtam City); Fulgelheim Museum also kicks ass.
Too bad the rest of the game isn't up to par with the soundtrack.

Some considerations of mine about the game:

-Not only the levels are uninspired artistically, but there were times that I thought I was playing a Master System game. The Batwing stage comes to mind in that regard.

-Speaking of the driving/flying stages, I don't think they are too long, especially the Batwing one. Yeah, It's a pain to die and get sent back to a checkpoint and some enemies dish out too much damage, but a little memorization combined with a good stack of rockets gets the job done in the Batmobile.
The problem with the Batwing stage is that the ship is simply too big and slow, which makes it very hard to avoid getting hit. I'm guessing perhaps that's the reason they made this stage shorter.

-I played the Japanese version and the US version in sequence and I think ( I'm not sure ) that the US release has a little more balanced gameplay and hit detection. I noticed that when doing the somersault jump attack.

-Bats can block a f*cking cannon shot but can't block a simple jump kick from a joker's henchman?

-Stage 5, in the part where you're fighting those big flame-breathing enemies in the platforms, there's a specific part on the top in which if you jump down you can score 3 lives, but will lose one. You can do that indefinitely though :)

In the end and considering what the Mega Drive library has to offer, I consider this to be an average game. The addition of some power-ups and more inspired stages ( a la Shinobi ) would have made for a much better game. Perhaps the game was rushed ?
Regardless, I still like this one and the fact that has a superb soundtrack and a scoring system is certainly a big plus.

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Originally Posted by Bottino

-Stage 5, in the part where you're fighting those big flame-breathing enemies in the platforms, there's a specific part on the top in which if you jump down you can score 3 lives, but will lose one. You can do that indefinitely though :)

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A very useful bit of information. Not only for the lives, but also for the fact this makes the score counter in the game useless. A worrying amount of games have design oversights in this area.

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Originally Posted by FSR

A very useful bit of information. Not only for the lives, but also for the fact this makes the score counter in the game useless. A worrying amount of games have design oversights in this area.

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Yeah, that's why I think the game was rushed; everytime that you get off the screen where an item previously was and return, the item re-appears. I haven't played all the way on Hard to see if this happens, but I think that the only difference from Normal mode is that the enemies and bosses are more resistance and takes longer to die.

I love this game, the music sounds so espectacular and much better than the NES game.
This is my favorite Batman game and the second best SEGA GENESIS Batman, Adventure of Batman Robin still is the best Batman game EVER.

i too adore this game. it's soundtrack is easily one of the MD/GENESIS' finest. i had a U.S. copy my mom bought me when new,
and i had traded it off in the early 90's along with ARROW FLASH, RAMBO III, MYSTIC DEFENDER, FINAL ZONE and BURNING FORCE.

i began regretting that around the turn of the millennium, and in the last five/seven years i've regained them all in Japanese MD form;

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps7d169efe.jpg

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Originally Posted by FSR

A very useful bit of information. Not only for the lives, but also for the fact this makes the score counter in the game useless. A worrying amount of games have design oversights in this area.

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Originally Posted by Bottino

Yeah, that's why I think the game was rushed; everytime that you get off the screen where an item previously was and return, the item re-appears. I haven't played all the way on Hard to see if this happens, but I think that the only difference from Normal mode is that the enemies and bosses are more resistance and takes longer to die.

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Nah ... I don't think that's necessarily the case. The repawning of items can be found in many games. In Revenge of Shinobi, for example, you can gain extra lives using the same tactic. The "life" item is in a hidden location at the end of one of the conveyor belts. You can abuse this part of the game by continually picking up lives and immediately killing yourself. If you are a novice, the accumulation of lives will come in handy during the later stages.

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Originally Posted by FSR

A very useful bit of information. Not only for the lives, but also for the fact this makes the score counter in the game useless. A worrying amount of games have design oversights in this area.

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Originally Posted by Bottino

Yeah, that's why I think the game was rushed; everytime that you get off the screen where an item previously was and return, the item re-appears. I haven't played all the way on Hard to see if this happens, but I think that the only difference from Normal mode is that the enemies and bosses are more resistance and takes longer to die.

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Nah ... I don't think that's necessarily the case. The repawning of items can be found in many games. In Revenge of Shinobi, for example, you can gain extra lives using the same tactic. The "life" item is in a hidden location at the end of one of the conveyor belts. You can abuse this part of the game by continually picking up lives and immediately killing yourself. If you are a novice, the accumulation of lives will come in handy during the later stages.

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Originally Posted by Tasuke

i too adore this game. it's soundtrack is easily one of the MD/GENESIS' finest. i had a U.S. copy my mom bought me when new,
and i had traded it off in the early 90's along with ARROW FLASH, RAMBO III, MYSTIC DEFENDER, FINAL ZONE and BURNING FORCE.

i began regretting that around the turn of the millennium, and in the last five/seven years i've regained them all in Japanese MD form;

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I just recently picked up a Japanese copy since that was the version I played in my youth. I'm really glad that I didn't rush to pick up a copy previously since the asking prices were rediculous. Overall I liked this game. It's not too flashy in terms of visuals but it's quite a satisfying platformer especially when you want to play something less tedious.

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Originally Posted by SEGA.GENESIS1989

Nah ... I don't think that's necessarily the case. The repawning of items can be found in many games. In Revenge of Shinobi, for example, you can gain extra lives using the same tactic. The "life" item is in a hidden location at the end of one of the conveyor belts. You can abuse this part of the game by continually picking up lives and immediately killing yourself. If you are a novice, the accumulation of lives will come in handy during the later stages.

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Yes, but that happens when you lose a life. In Batman, the items re-appears once you get off the screen where they were located.

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Originally Posted by Bottino

Yes, but that happens when you lose a life. In Batman, the items re-appears once you get off the screen where they were located.

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Yes I know. In both cases its still something that can be abused in both games. When I first had played the game many moons ago, I remember accidentally discovering this little cheat. Since I borrowed the game from a neighbour, I actually welcomed it since it allowed me to get farther into a level. But as i got used to the controls, I didn't abuse the cheat and relied on my own skills. I wouldn't say that the respawning of items breaks the game. Those looking for a bit of a challenge can simply ignore it.

While we are on the subject, have you tried increasing the difficulty to the highest difficulty setting in order to see if the respawning of items remains? That was something that you brought up in a previous post and it would be interesting to test that hypothesis out.

Yes, I agree with you.

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Originally Posted by SEGA.GENESIS1989

While we are on the subject, have you tried increasing the difficulty to the highest difficulty setting in order to see if the respawning of items remains? That was something that you brought up in a previous post and it would be interesting to test that hypothesis out.

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I'll try to do that this evening and see if there are any differences.

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Originally Posted by Bottino

Yes, I agree with you.



I'll try to do that this evening and see if there are any differences.

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Cheers! When time avails itself, do post your findings! :)

Addendum: Wait a minute! Ya know ... it just occurred to me that Castle of Illusion has a similar issue of re-spawning items. In the case of Castle of Illusion however, I believe the developers put a limitation on this cheat. You can effectively re-spawn an item in the same way by walking away from where the item was originally located and return back on screen to abuse this cheat. Now since I am working from my faulty memory, I believe that you can abuse this cheat a maximum amount of 3 times only. If you try it for a fourth time, it won't work.

One of the games that tempted me as a kid yet never bought nor was able to rent. I think that Sunsoft did a splendid job on all versions of its Batman (yep, I even love the weird PC Engine version: quite addictive) and this is no exception: adequate graphics and overall aestethics, awesome sound and excellent playability. I don't regret not getting it (I remember being about to buy it two times: one I preferred Decapattack because I already played and loved it; the other is a long and fairly hilarious story regarding local Catalonian folk and the fact that my old lady liked and still likes to troll me :mrgreen:) but, rather, I regret not being able to play it back in the day. Així és la vida, Bigly.