Batman (NES) Review

Joker's at it again, and Batman is fortunately there to take care of him. Being an NES game, this of course means going from level to level, beating the living doo-doo out of all kinds of baddies. An action-platformer at heart, this actually emphasises on both aspects, with the hero having to master his acrobatics, while also learning how to deal with the enemies and traps that are scattered all around Gotham - and it is acrobatics, since a great majority of the experience revolves around using a wall jump to go from flat surface to surface, either to reach a platform, or to avoid damage. It should also be noted that Batman doesn't control like Mario, and is much stiffer than usual. Surprisingly, while the controls feel slow, and "heavy," they are otherwise flawless - tight, and very responsive.

Although responsive, that's not to say that the controls don't need some getting used to, especially since this adventure expects you to become quite proficient with them, due to all stages being littered with hazards of all kinds, which will make you bleed your precious health bars, something that players don't have the luxury of doing. Yes, in case you haven't heard about it already, Batman is hard; literally one of the most challenging of its kind, and quite possible one of the top three hardest Batman titles ever created. Actually… this isn't exactly true.

The levels themselves are tough, sure, and a bit trial-and-error-y, but you'll manage to learn how to beat every single one soon enough, with not much hair-pulling involved. Running enemies can indeed be insanely annoying, as they are too fast, while Brucie has the reflexes of a sloth, with a small delay every time a button is pressed, and a tendency for his punches to miss targets that go kamikaze on his leather-clad behinds, which means that it's usually better to rely on the Caped Dude's three extra weapons, like his fast batarangs, his somewhat slower tiny rocket-shooting pistol, and a weird spread shot.

No, the real troubles begin with the bosses. This is where the difference in speed between Batman and his opponents becomes really annoying, as he moves like a brick, while everyone else goes… Ninja Gaiden on him, not letting the one holding the controller breathe for a millisecond, especially when it comes to some of the bosses near the end, like with Joker's number one guy (it's not Bob). In the end, however, it's all about learning patterns, and, even worse, about exploiting some sort of weakness these have. The very first boss, for example, can be beaten by simply finding the correct spot to stand, and then keep on shooting batarangs at him. Oh, yeah. Although some bosses are actually easier to fight with a little bit of punching, try to save your ammunition for the end of each stage.

Aggravating as the challenge on offer may be, that's not really what hurts this action-platformer. Batman is… well, just another video game, to be perfectly honest. It's not one of those dime-a-dozen titles that were common at the time, as it's actually more enjoyable to play than those, yet it lacks that extra something which could make it stand out. This is just… good. Great compared to other licensed titles, but, on its own, it is just… good. Nevertheless, back in the day many a young NES nerd actually loved this. Why? Well, the audio-visuals weren't just good. They were awesome!

If there's one thing that this nails, that would be its atmosphere, which captures that eerie aura of nighttime Gotham City from the moment you turn on the console. The NES is rarely good at dark and gritty graphics, yet this achieves exactly that, with a varied set of levels, where everything seems to be one step away from being completely enveloped in the shadows. Add to that some neat "cut-scenes," and a fantastic rock and metal (yes, metal) collection of tunes by Sunsoft's magician Naoki Kodaka (go check Laboratory Ruins), and you are in for an 8-bit treat. Despite the forgettable gameplay, that is…