[woodypop]

Well the wiki says they were released one month apart from each other, but my memory and gut are saying it took about a year between releases. I remember there being some controversy about third party contracts preventing the game from coming over. Eventually solved, of course. And as all that was going on EGM was pimping the game like crazy in their import section. Edit: Yeah I'm thinking the Japanese version actually released in 1989.

Despite online research saying the JPN and US releases occurred very close to one another, I'm with you: I thought there was more time in between. And I, too, remember salivating over the game as an import. Hell, I don't even remember it being released domestically, must have fallen off my radar by that time.

[Dysun]

Rise of Sin Tzu was simple but I liked it.

[bryanee]

The Arkham games are of course king but I enjoyed the Batman Begins game, not brilliant but I got a fair bit of enjoyment out of it.

[MrCunningham]

The SNES Adventures of Batman and Robin game deserves a lot more credit. It's only a side scrolling beat em up in the first stage. What made that game special is that every stage was a unique gameplay idea; each one had a different gimmick but it all felt unified. Plus it had amazing animation, super tight gameplay, and some of the best visuals on the SNES taken as a whole.

Yup, I loved the variety in the SNES game. The developers really did their homework and did a great job capturing the essence of the 90's animated series.

Adventures of Batman and Robin on the Genesis had so much promise, and was a decent contra inspired side scroller. But the game felt like it was also rushed out the door to meet a deadline, too. Levels felt very unbalanced and some stages (the bat-glider stage) felt like they dragged on longer than they should have.

There was also a Sega CD game that was purely a sprite scaling driving game. It was inspired by the Bat Mobile levels in the Sega CD version of Batman Returns. The game was a great technical showcase of the Sega CD's sprite scaling abilities, but it was pretty uneventful as far as gameplay goes. Though, it is interesting, because they did produce new animated sequences specifically for the game.

But talking about Batman: TAS, really makes me feel nostalgic for the show. Honestly, it was one of the finest examples of an animated super hero cartoon to ever grace TV.

[2&2]

The SNES Adventures of Batman and Robin game deserves a lot more credit. It's only a side scrolling beat em up in the first stage. What made that game special is that every stage was a unique gameplay idea; each one had a different gimmick but it all felt unified. Plus it had amazing animation, super tight gameplay, and some of the best visuals on the SNES taken as a whole. IMO it was tied with the famed NES Batman game until the modern Rocksteady franchise.

Totally agree. Always seemed like it was overlooked. I think it was easily the best until the Arkham games.

[Fjordson]

My favourites are obviously the Rocksteady ones, but for some reason I loved the SHIT out of the SNES version of Batman Returns. Seriously countless hours spent on this.

[jangotangos]

That guy missed the best Batman game ever:

What platform is that from?

[Shig]

That wasn't it. I think it was Batman Forever: The Arcade Game. Yes, yes it was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfI3LIrnIxo

I can't get over the enormous Bat-symbol on his chest that spans from armpit to armpit.

[Tain]

NES/Famicom Batman thread. Arkham games can't compete.

Just got a boxed FC version half a year or so ago. Love it when Famicom games have real (Genesis-style) cases!

Batman NES had awful controls and was hard as Hell. But it was still sogood.gif.

in no way whatsoever does that game have awful controls.

[synt4x]

Edit: Wow, there were a lot of awful Batman games in the PS2/GCN/XBox era. Rocksteady really turned around an abysmal license.

Yup. I still remember when they first announced AA. The hype then was not that huge because of previous batman games sucking pretty badly. That's why it was such a wonderful surprise that it was as good as it was.

[Boney]

Batman Forever on Super NES had the most chillingly dark atmosphere of probably anything on the system, or even the 16-bit era for that matter. DKC-style rendered graphics and incredibly suspenseful music. Check it.

are you being serious

i know chickdigger is never serious, but I'm not quite sure with you

[James Woods]

Where is the one for Gamecube and Xbox? Dark Tomorrow? Man the Xbox had horrible games based on the comics. You had Dark Tomorrow, Aquaman and that Superman game.

[FlashbladeGAF]

Yup, I loved the variety in the SNES game. The developers really did their homework and did a great job capturing the essence of the 90's animated series. Adventures of Batman and Robin on the Genesis had so much promise, and was a decent contra inspired side scroller. But the game felt like it was also rushed out the door to meet a deadline, too. Levels felt very unbalanced and some stages (the bat-glider stage) felt like they dragged on longer than they should have. There was also a Sega CD game that was purely a sprite scaling driving game. It was inspired by the Bat Mobile levels in the Sega CD version of Batman Returns. The game was a great technical showcase of the Sega CD's sprite scaling abilities, but it was pretty uneventful as far as gameplay goes. Though, it is interesting, because they did produce new animated sequences specifically for the game. But talking about Batman: TAS, really makes me feel nostalgic for the show. Honestly, it was one of the finest examples of an animated super hero cartoon to ever grace TV.

Glad I wasnt the only one that enjoyed the B:TAS games

Bruce Timm and Paul Dini surprise me to this day. I got Supes:TAS, Batman Beyond and Justice League/JLU. Although I shouldnt be surprised it was very cool to see that they had plot threads/characters from the old shows continued in JLU.

It felt like watching a sequel to my favorite shows as opposed to the many reboots that seem to plague Batman and Spiderman now a days

[Shadow Hog]

But talking about Batman: TAS, really makes me feel nostalgic for the show. Honestly, it was one of the finest examples of an animated super hero cartoon to ever grace TV.

Still airs on The Hub, 7PM ET weekdays, two episodes back-to-back. I like this timeslot, too, since I tend to get home later these days, but I can still catch it.

It's kind of interesting watching the earlier episodes of the show, before jumping into Arkham City. I've noticed how Kevin Conroy sounds a lot less raspy, while Mark Hamill sounds a whole lot more raspy. Guess the Joker voice really did do a number on him.

[Night_Trekker]

(the graphics at the time were being hyped as on the same level as 16 bit)

Yeah, which was silly. But it is a fantastic-looking game that makes amazingly good use of the NES's limited color palette.

[iirate]

The SNES Adventures of Batman and Robin game deserves a lot more credit. It's only a side scrolling beat em up in the first stage. What made that game special is that every stage was a unique gameplay idea; each one had a different gimmick but it all felt unified. Plus it had amazing animation, super tight gameplay, and some of the best visuals on the SNES taken as a whole. IMO it was tied with the famed NES Batman game until the modern Rocksteady franchise.

I watched the video on this guys article for it, and thought it looked really creative and interesting with tight gameplay mechanics and great animation. I hear some really cool adaptations of music from the show, too. I'm glad to hear the rest of the game holds up to that standard.

I'm suddenly tempted to track a copy down.

[Para bailar La Bomba]

Yup. I still remember when they first announced AA. The hype then was not that huge because of previous batman games sucking pretty badly. That's why it was such a wonderful surprise that it was as good as it was.

Somebody had the balls to cancel the Dark Knight film tie-in which had bomba written all over it.

[Count Dookkake]

One of the hardest fucking games I've ever played.

Oh, totally forgot this one.

[DCharlie]

re: Zx Spectrum isometric game >>

Based solely on the video below, I would think this game would be a real stinker. But it got generally high scores from the gaming press at the time.

FUUUUUUUURIOUS.gif

[mhayze]

I could never quite understand how to play that game. Or what it had to do with being Batman (although to be fair, that is a common theme in a lot of Batman games upto the time of Arkham Asylum.)

[revolverjgw]

There have actually been so many great Batman games. My favorite is probably the original NES game... great gameplay and amazing presentation. The soundtrack is of course an all-time classic, but the art is also amazing... it's hard to find an NES game that oozes as much atmosphere as this game does with its dark gothic/industrial backgrounds.

But the game also felt kind of "off" in its use of the license... it always felt like it was some random Japanese action game with a Batman paintjob. On the other extreme you've got Batman and Robin for the SNES so much... they really went all out and captured the essence of that particular incarnation of Batman here. That was an unusually sophisticated treatment of a license for that era.

[storafötter]

I had the Gameboy version of the NES game which I am certain was a bit different than the NES game. I also enjoyed the amazing Konami beat em up game on the SNES. Unfortunately I never had the privilege to try the Batman and Robin game. Was very impressed by the graphics back in the day.

[Shadow Hog]

I had the Gameboy version of the NES game which I am certain was a bit different than the NES game.

Considering the NES game focuses on Batman punching dudes while the GB game focuses on him shooting them - with a gun, which is totally out-of-character for Batman...

[jett]

Yeah, which was silly. But it is a fantastic-looking game that makes amazingly good use of the NES's limited color palette.

The game had huge sprites and parallax effects, almost unheard of on the NES. It was silly, but no that silly. :P

The game unfortunately is nowhere near as good as the first NES game, IMO. Kinda shitty actually.