Batman Vs. Video Games : Part One

I couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming Batman : Arkham Asylum video game. For the next ten days, consider me checked out of any kind of coherence.

I’m so excited about Arkham Asylum that I’m saving up money for a very expensive gaming system so I can actually play it, as there will be no release for Nintendo’s Wii. Who needs financial responsibility when you can live out your Batman fantasies in a pseudo-realistic fashion? Early reviews of Arkham Asylum have declared it to be an incredibly solid experience – which might make this the only Batman video game, out of at least thirty based on the character, that doesn’t completely suck.

It’s true, the Caped Crusader has had a very inauspicious video game history, having received some of the lowest game scores in the history of gaming. As if us Bat-fans haven’t suffered enough because of Joel Schumacher. Somehow, the intensity of the Bat-mythos has never been translated into an interactive experience successfully. It’s also worth mentioning ‘Superman 64‘ usually appears in the top three of every ‘worst video game ever made’ list, so perhaps the superhero experience just isn’t meant to mesh with the home consoles. Or picky nerds.

The Batman video game franchise extends even before the original Nintendo, which is often regarded as the first true powerhouse of at-home gaming. In 1986, ‘Batman‘ (above, left) was released to early computers, and was a kind of ultra-simple isometric hunt and fight game. Two years later, ‘Batman : The Caped Crusader’ (above, right) was released as a simple side-scrolling adventure, battling The Joker and The Penguin. At the time, both were fairly well reviewed, though I’m inclined to doubt the timelessness of these games – even as a hardcore 8-bit collector who can still find value in the old 7-UP Cool Spot Othello ripoff, which is the kind of game that happens to you when you don’t make a very specific Christmas list for your grandparents. Both of these Batman games can still be picked up for a few dollars each.

The NES picked up on the Batman action in 1989 as the first Tim Burton movie was released, with a game simply called ‘Batman‘ (above, right). This was one of the earlier video games that I can remember playing, and at the time, it was exceptionally difficult – which is not an uncommon sentiment among oldschool gamers. The NES would see two more Batman video games. ‘Batman : Return of the Joker’ (above, middle) was released in 1991 and is the only video game to focus on the 1970’s style comic Batman in his classic blue & greys. It’s regarded as a respectable entry into the Batman series, and has nothing to do with later games of the same name. In 1993, ‘Batman Returns‘ was released for the NES to coincide with the movie of the same name. Again, all of these are only worth a few bucks. ‘Batman Returns’ also has the distinction of being one of a few games that Nintendo released on NES and Super Nintendo at the same time, in different variations based on the capabilities of each machine.

All of these games also saw similar releases on other systems, from the Game Boy, to the Sega Mega Drive, the Atari ST and many different home computer systems, all with slight variations. The purpose here is to focus on the larger, more mainstream consoles, or else I’d be delving into the strange world of Batman carts for the Leapfrog.

What I’ve skipped over is Atari’s Batman arcade game (based on the first movie also), which was released in 1990 and has not seen an official home console release. Batman is one of the rarer arcade games in existence, with less than a dozen known to exist in the whole world, which means that I want one pretty badly in my imaginary game room. Some sources report that the game was released as a ‘conversion kit’, which meant that you’d have to plug it into a standard gaming cabinet for yourself, and that only 1000 were made. Other sources actually picture a uniquely sculpted cabinet and make mention of it being an original dedicated machine. Loose pricing estimates around the web place the value at around $1500 for an authentic, unmodified copy, but I suspect that the demand for this particular cabinet is greater than that. Along with the Simpsons arcade game, this is a lost classic.

The Batman pinball machine from Data East, also based on the first movie, runs about $2500 on a good day, but averages closer to $5000. It’s just one of a few subsequent Batman machines, which include ones based on Batman Forever and The Dark Knight, though the only way a Batman Forever machine would be justifiable was if it spat out a coupon at one million points to personally punch Schumacher in the groin. I know, the sentiment is tired and played out by every geek with a keyboard, but I’m still working on getting over it all.

By 1993, Batman games continued to thrive on all manner of systems. The Game Boy saw the release of ‘Batman: The Animated Series‘, which was not duplicated on any other system. This was the first game to be based on the popular animated series, a theme that was continued in 1994’s ‘The Adventures of Batman & Robin‘, which was released on the SNES, Sega Mega CD, Game Gear and and the Mega Drive Genesis at once, each version of the game having very unique features. As a Batman fan, I’m inclined to want all three, especially because the Sega CD version is said to have a ‘lost episode’ (not unlike the Futurama video game), which consists of at least 13 minutes of cut-scenes between the action. Even if the normal creative crew didn’t fully create these scenes, they use the original voice actors and represent a story that was never told in the regular series, whereas other iterations of the game are heavily based on the show.

Like most Batman home games, these have no special value and can usually be snagged for under ten bucks.

By 1996, we venture into the dark, sad time when the Batman franchise got pointy rubber nipples, and even stiffer dialogue. Stay tuned. There’s too much Batman for just one post.