As much as Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy was a revolution for Batman movies, the charm of the first two with Tim Burton remains intact. In addition, it enjoyed multiple video game adaptations.
Of all of them, the most shocking was Super Nintendo’s Batman Returns , with that dark setting, replicating some of the scenes from the 1992 film Batman Returns, with Michael Keaton as the protagonist, while mixing sections of beat ’em up with platforms. .. that broke magic.
Batman Returns: Konami’s Forcefulness
At that time there weren’t many options with comic book or celluloid licenses: either you created an action platformer or a “me against the neighborhood” game. And in the case of Konami with this work for the Brain of the Beast, the Japanese company opted for both styles, just as SEGA had done with Spider-man the Videogame in 1991; curiously, Data East would substitute the platform for parts of killers with beat ’em up in Captain America and the Avengers (1991).
Batman Returns was released in 1993 for SNES with a Konami that had reached its zenith in the genre, showing an exploitation without parallel in just three years to take advantage of the success achieved with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1989. The good thing is that this game Batman had his own personality , without giving the feeling of being another clone of the Ninja Turtles or Final Fight.
For starters, he moved away from that usual multiplayer facet in those beat ’em up , limiting the games to a single person controlling the Dark Knight. The cadence of his movements was slower, but forceful, being a delight if we replay it today, especially for the versatility of his attacks, highlighting above all that grip with two enemies at the same time to stamp their heads between them . Few things are more rewarding than that.
We had, in turn, the batarang (unlimited use) to briefly stun the enemies, three types of blows in the air (the best was that glide by pressing the attack down, falling slowly and causing more damage), the possibility of cover us or use the usual special attack that consumed a part of our life bar. Of course, the grips had a detail inherited from the Ninja Turtles: the fact of being able to stamp the rival against the background of the stage, breaking windows, fences … What you could not was against the “screen” itself.
The pity is that it did not shine equally as a whole
However, those sections of beat ’em up were successively interspersed, in each phase, with parts of action platforms, where Batman modified his normal attack to shoot and where he had a hook on another button to use against certain walls or ceilings and thus being able to overcome various obstacles or traps.
Logically, these sections were weak compared to those of “me against the neighborhood” , with enemies that now fell with one or two blows, jumps that could lead us to the void and lose a life at once or some bosses with less room for maneuver.
It should be said that all the enemies were clowns with descriptive names, such as “Fat Clown” or “Tall Clown”, surprising to see how Batman could lift a fat man with a simple arm (nothing to do with the first Streets of Rage). And as is obvious, there was a section with the Batmobile (SEGA-CD) being limited to the fifth phase completely. But it wasn’t great either, wow.
And it is that if for something we continue remembering this Batman Returns , it is for all those sections of beat ’em up , not for the platforms and that anecdote of the Batmobile. The funny thing is that the NES version, also from Konami, vaguely respected the style of its older sister, but with a more satisfying section of the Batmobile.
Has it stood the test of time well?
Yes , but only the “me against the neighborhood” sections . That’s where Batman Returns shows his best side , being a pretty forceful and fun beat ’em up. Because the platform parts and the batmobile are totally left over.
Batman returns
| Platforms | SNES |
|---|---|
| Multiplayer | Not |
| Developer | Konami |
| Company | Konami |
| Launch | 1993 |
| Price | Not available |
The best
- All the parts of beat ’em up
- The double grip was a joy
- Batman’s versatility
Worst
- Platforms sections
- The one with the batmobile did not stand out either
