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Hopefully the joke in the title is good enough to cause some giggles. Back in the early days of video game movie adaptations there were weirdly long titles just to let gamers know they were buying the right product, I can't remember how many times my parents were tricked by those subtle differences.
Anyhow, this is my Writer's Guild application potentially aimed to be a Retrospective article or a very long Review. I'd really love hearing your feedback since I know there’s a lot of room for improvement.
Batman: The Video Game is an Action Platformer for the NES, based on the famous Tim Burton’s cult classic movie ‘Batman’ starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. The game uses a variant of the MMC3 Mapper allowing for bank switching, custom IRQ handling, vertical or horizontal scrolling and the DPCM sample channel a.k.a. ‘slap bass & drums’ the company is best known for. The game stands out both by its tough-as-nails difficulty and beautifully drawn pixel art.
Of all the games, the ones that carried the fondest of memories were Mega Man V, The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project and as you may have guessed, Batman.
It holds the luckiest moment of my childhood. Betrayed by my sweaty fingers for the gazillionth time, a timely glitch turned the odds and made me invincible. Thanks to that I explored the exciting new levels straight to the final boss.
The Joker came at me with everything, including his iconic bolts of lightning … wait, am I still playing Batman? Yes, the game hardly resembled the movie, but who cared? My heartbeat rushed as I claimed victory, and before I knew it the ending screen showed up, quickly, I immortalized the moment with our film camera.
But something was bugging me, had I really won? A bittersweet feeling lingered in my mind knowing I had cheated my way to victory.
Years later, I re-watched the game at Speed Demos Archive, home to the world’s best speedruns. The old wound reopened, as I had finished the game dishonorably. So, I dusted off my NES and trained nonstop until I finally beat it for real. Day after day I improved my time, but the World Record remained a mere dream to me. My best stands at 27 minutes with one death, while the World Record is a flawless 9 minutes and 45 seconds run.
Batman is limited to moving, jumping and attacking, which doesn’t sound like much. Only when these simple commands combine is when the game comes to life:
Streets of Desolation.
The tutorial level, it is shorter and easier than the others and is there for you to learn the ropes. Predictable enemies in controlled environments, and the music slaps.
Boss - Killer Moth. Following the level’s design, this is a ‘tutorial’ boss. Staying in the corner is safe but leads you nowhere, when you feel ready hit him with Batarangs or Batrockets.
Axis Chemical Plant.
This is where all hell breaks loose for everyone. The platforming spikes considerably, and environmental hazards force you to master your jumps. None of the perils feel cheaply placed.
Boss - Machine Intelligence System. This boss is unique in the sense that it IS the room, blue cores are distributed around the screen for you to locate and destroy. The giant treadmill in the center would make anyone feel part of the Gladiators TV Show!
The Sewers of Gotham.
Platforming stays consistent while enemies’ difficulty spikes. Enter the Jader, a mutant-like enemy that follows you everywhere! Keep your distance and snipe at will. Vertical sections have the cheapest hits in the game.
Boss - The Electrocutioner. Extremely powerful and moves similar to Jaders, a few hits from his electric-blade and you’re dust. Fortunately, the pattern is simple and it can be easily cheesed.
Joker’s Hideout.
Officially known as the ‘laboratory’, the only difficulty arises from the hordes of regular enemies, which turn your NES into a lagfest. By the end there is a very annoying part involving tricky jumps, one of those ‘control breaking’ experiences so common in retro games.
Boss – Dual Container Alarm. Another creative boss, two cores slide along the edges of the room shooting lasers at you. This is where exploiting enemy i-frames comes in handy, dodging dangerous situations.
The Cathedral’s Bell Tower.
The final level, if you reached this point the game becomes boringly straightforward, avoid enemies and climb the hazardous tower-like structure. There are two tight jumps that require pixel perfect precision to overcome unscathed.
Sub boss - Firebug. Lightning-fast reflexes are required in order to win, and if you keep running away, he becomes way more aggressive than necessary. Just do what Batman would, face him head on! … with Batarangs. He’ll chicken out and jump back, launching a fire ball which you can easily jump over.
Boss - The Joker. Yet another difficulty spike, jeez, I get why people say this game is hard. No real strategy is effective, jump over his gunshots, squeeze between lightning bolts, and aggressively push him back. When he is cornered, he’ll run to the other side and fire his comically large gun. Don’t lose heart! Keep at it and finish the game!
Anyhow, this is my Writer's Guild application potentially aimed to be a Retrospective article or a very long Review. I'd really love hearing your feedback since I know there’s a lot of room for improvement.
Born to succeed
Blaster Master, Journey to Silius, Super Arabian these are but a few of the games developed by legendary studio Sunsoft. Part of Sun Corporation (1971), an electronics manufacturer, Sunsoft started developing games in 1978, so by the end of the 80’s they had proved themselves more than capable to handle important international IPs, such as today’s featured video game, Batman: The Video Game from 1989.Batman: The Video Game is an Action Platformer for the NES, based on the famous Tim Burton’s cult classic movie ‘Batman’ starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. The game uses a variant of the MMC3 Mapper allowing for bank switching, custom IRQ handling, vertical or horizontal scrolling and the DPCM sample channel a.k.a. ‘slap bass & drums’ the company is best known for. The game stands out both by its tough-as-nails difficulty and beautifully drawn pixel art.
Glitched victory
The year is 1997. My family has just moved into our new home. At seven years old, I could do little to help with the heavier tasks of the move beyond unpacking my things and arranging my room. Once I impatiently finished my part, I spent the following days absorbed in our NES library.Of all the games, the ones that carried the fondest of memories were Mega Man V, The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino & Hoppy, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project and as you may have guessed, Batman.
It holds the luckiest moment of my childhood. Betrayed by my sweaty fingers for the gazillionth time, a timely glitch turned the odds and made me invincible. Thanks to that I explored the exciting new levels straight to the final boss.
The Joker came at me with everything, including his iconic bolts of lightning … wait, am I still playing Batman? Yes, the game hardly resembled the movie, but who cared? My heartbeat rushed as I claimed victory, and before I knew it the ending screen showed up, quickly, I immortalized the moment with our film camera.
But something was bugging me, had I really won? A bittersweet feeling lingered in my mind knowing I had cheated my way to victory.
Years later, I re-watched the game at Speed Demos Archive, home to the world’s best speedruns. The old wound reopened, as I had finished the game dishonorably. So, I dusted off my NES and trained nonstop until I finally beat it for real. Day after day I improved my time, but the World Record remained a mere dream to me. My best stands at 27 minutes with one death, while the World Record is a flawless 9 minutes and 45 seconds run.
You wanna get nuts, let’s get nuts!
That sentence will forever capture the essence of Batman 1989, and the game translated it flawlessly into home consoles. Most people will agree on the steep difficulty, but the levels as crazy as they feel, are beautifully crafted. Each one has identity, nonstop surprises and imaginative platforming designs. It is a perfectly synced chaos.Batman is limited to moving, jumping and attacking, which doesn’t sound like much. Only when these simple commands combine is when the game comes to life:
- Stand, Crouch and Run. The very basics, control Batman with the D-Pad. By the way, we have 8 hit points before spectacularly bursting into flames!
- Jump. The more the button is held, the higher the jump, and if you combine it with the D-pad Batman will glide down, left or right.
- Wall jump. Time jumps accordingly and Batman will bounce off walls.
- Punch. Simple enough, Batman’s signature move.
- Utility belt. Collect up to 99 ‘Batweapons’ by defeating regular enemies, how you use them is up to you. Cycle through with the Pause button.
- Batarangs. Cost 1 unit per use. They can go through walls, and if timed correctly, they will land multiple hits.
- Batrockets. Cost 2 units per use. Long range attack, small and accurate. They can’t penetrate walls, so be mindful.
- Batshurikens. Cost 3 units per use. They swipe the screen, damaging anything in their paths, perfect for defense and offense.
- Pausing the game. Oddly enough, that is done with the Select button.
Streets of Desolation.
The tutorial level, it is shorter and easier than the others and is there for you to learn the ropes. Predictable enemies in controlled environments, and the music slaps.
Boss - Killer Moth. Following the level’s design, this is a ‘tutorial’ boss. Staying in the corner is safe but leads you nowhere, when you feel ready hit him with Batarangs or Batrockets.
Axis Chemical Plant.
This is where all hell breaks loose for everyone. The platforming spikes considerably, and environmental hazards force you to master your jumps. None of the perils feel cheaply placed.
Boss - Machine Intelligence System. This boss is unique in the sense that it IS the room, blue cores are distributed around the screen for you to locate and destroy. The giant treadmill in the center would make anyone feel part of the Gladiators TV Show!
The Sewers of Gotham.
Platforming stays consistent while enemies’ difficulty spikes. Enter the Jader, a mutant-like enemy that follows you everywhere! Keep your distance and snipe at will. Vertical sections have the cheapest hits in the game.
Boss - The Electrocutioner. Extremely powerful and moves similar to Jaders, a few hits from his electric-blade and you’re dust. Fortunately, the pattern is simple and it can be easily cheesed.
Joker’s Hideout.
Officially known as the ‘laboratory’, the only difficulty arises from the hordes of regular enemies, which turn your NES into a lagfest. By the end there is a very annoying part involving tricky jumps, one of those ‘control breaking’ experiences so common in retro games.
Boss – Dual Container Alarm. Another creative boss, two cores slide along the edges of the room shooting lasers at you. This is where exploiting enemy i-frames comes in handy, dodging dangerous situations.
The Cathedral’s Bell Tower.
The final level, if you reached this point the game becomes boringly straightforward, avoid enemies and climb the hazardous tower-like structure. There are two tight jumps that require pixel perfect precision to overcome unscathed.
Sub boss - Firebug. Lightning-fast reflexes are required in order to win, and if you keep running away, he becomes way more aggressive than necessary. Just do what Batman would, face him head on! … with Batarangs. He’ll chicken out and jump back, launching a fire ball which you can easily jump over.
Boss - The Joker. Yet another difficulty spike, jeez, I get why people say this game is hard. No real strategy is effective, jump over his gunshots, squeeze between lightning bolts, and aggressively push him back. When he is cornered, he’ll run to the other side and fire his comically large gun. Don’t lose heart! Keep at it and finish the game!
Final thoughts
Sunsoft was already a master of their craft when they released Batman: The Video Game, they knew how to make good games and that included managing difficulty spikes. The game is hard, but incredibly polished as well, some sensible decisions here and there instilled enough hope into players to actually beat it. Among these decisions are:- Splitting the level in subsections, easing the learning curve throughout the game.
- Infinite Continues. With three lives to spare, each successful attempt secured your progress into the next subsection, no merciless resetting us to the beginning.
- Keeping Batweapons upon deaths. Even though we perished, the item count remained untouched, maintaining a sense of fairness in between continues.
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