Batman (NES) Review

So I made a deal with a friend that if I beat a Batman game, he'll play Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors.

This is the one he meant right?

This game is loosely based on the 1989 film of the same name, which from what I picked up is a love it or hate it film in the franchise. In short, Jack Nicholson and a number of other villains are wreaking havoc in Gotham City, and as Batman, it's your job to wipe the streets free of crime and confront Nicholson and make him dance with the devil in the pale moonlight. To do this you'll have to platform your way through five levels, fighting enemies and making sure you don't go up in flames. No seriously.*

*Actual in-game sprite

As Batman you can run and jump per usual, and you can also punch enemies so hard that they go up in flames too. Batman can perform a wall jump by jumping into a wall, which you'll have to use in order to navigate the levels. You also have a few tools in your arsenal, and by that, I mean you have three. There's the Batarang, which on top of being a classic, is the weapon you'll be using the most. It's fast, it's more powerful than your punch, and it takes up the least amount of ammo. Then there's the missile, which is stronger then the Batarang, but loses speed in the process, as well as taking up two things of ammunition. Then there's the shuriken, which is the fastest of the weapons that splits into three projectiles. This is evened out by the fact that it takes three things of ammunition to use. All the ammo is shared between weapons, and they can be switched between by pressing Start.

Batman may have a health bar, but he's far from invincible, as this game is actually pretty hard. Batman's controls aren't that bad, but he does suffer from knockback. As such, it doesn't take anymore then one cheaply placed enemy to knock Batman off of the small platform it was positioned on into a hazard that could sap your health in a matter of seconds. You do have unlimited continues, and there are three sections in each level that serve as checkpoints, but you will die a lot, and it will take a lot of persistence to take down Nicholson.

Presentation wise, this game actually looks pretty good. The sprites look good and the soundtrack is very catchy. Though the soundtrack isn't the same as the movie (which has an amazing soundtrack by the way), these themes are very good. Though in terms of graphics, like Punch-Out!!, one of the faces look a bit strange.

I'm talking about you, Nicholson.

For a licensed game, this is actually a really good game. It's hard, and it might not be breaking new ground, but it's fun and gets the job done.  Now it's not as good as that OTHER series of Batman games, but more on those later. Much more. It's cheap as dirt on Amazon, so it might be worth a try if your into platformers. And I can safely say that you don't need to be a Batman fan to enjoy this game. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a city to save.

Some days, The Silent Protagonist just can't get rid of a bomb.

All images are the properties of their original owners. But even if I did make them, all the proceeds would go to Jack Nicholson.