In 1989 Amiga gamers the world over were delighted when this fantastic game hit what was then, an Amiga market in it's infancy. Taking advantage of the versatile power of the Amiga 500, it boasts excellent 16 bit sound and music quality with graphics way ahead of their time. This game was actually released on a number of platforms, including the nintendo, commodore 64 and amstrad, however in my opinion and most others this was clearly the superior version.
Constructing a game from the initial premise of a movie always proves difficult as there must be the perfect balance between good gameplay and a fair representation of key movie events.
After all, anyone investing in a game based around a film or book they like is going to almost certainly expect to see their favorite parts, characters and overall atmosphere inherent in the games architecture.
There are of course exceptions, where a game proves so addictive and ingenious that you forget about the movie in the first place but it appears that the developers at Ocean settled on a competent mix of the two.
Batman succeeds in satisfying fans of the comic and movie on many levels. It's structured very similar to the film and the plot line follows suit, beginning with Batman in the axis chemical plant and the birth of the Joker. We follow our central character through Gotham city in pursuit
of Jack Napier through most of the major occurrences in the film, so those of you familiar with Tim Burtons masterpiece should find this one fun to play.
Whilst a lot of the game is a side scroller similar to many titles that were released at the time, Batman The Movie incorporates a few surprises and puzzles along the way, such as having to solve the Jokers Brand Smilex Formula, flying the Batwing to collecting giant poisonous balloons and taking the iconic Batmobile through a dramatic chase through the city.
The music throughout the game is pretty solid and there are some memorable pieces including the funky introduction to the game. There is no trace of Danny elfmans famous opus coloring this game unfortunately and the choice of style is rather odd but it doesn't take away from the game too much and if anything gives it very necessary creepy undertones. There are a few samples from the movie soundtrack spliced in, but the sound and music overall creates more of a futuristic and apocalyptic tone rather than a gothic one like in the movie.
The colorful and varied levels tie the game up very nicely and they serve as short sections amalgamated in a satisfying package take you into the world of the movie. You can forgive the frustrating nature of some of the gameply because the graphics, particularly in the batmobile section are fantastic and at the time were amazing to see on a home computer. Unfortunately, the fairly Predictable AI design of villains scattered throughout doesn't prove to be much of a lengthy challenge, so some gamers will be disappointed with the length of this one, although I have heard the opposite on many occasion. My only other gripe with Batman the movie is the ending, which proved confusing and took a while to figure out and the anti climatic finish.
If you are looking for an all round entertaining title to play on the Amiga format, this definitely ranks highly above the majority of similar titles and due to its memorable style, inclusion of both 2d and 3d , excellent graphics and sound, stands as not only the best Batman game on the system, but one of the best games ever released on the Amiga.
Review by Serpiax
