Batman is a video game inspired by the eponymous 1989 film

Batman (1989 film)

Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...

. It was released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

 and developed by Sunsoft. The NES version of Batman is a platform action game

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 that features locations from the 1989 movie. It contains five levels culminating in a showdown with the Joker in the bell tower of Gotham Cathedral. It was received well despite changes from the movie it's based upon.

Gameplay

The game has a feature that was unusual to side-scrolling platform games at the time, largely to the NES itself. Unlike the other Batman game that was released for the Mega Drive/Genesis

Batman (Sega Mega Drive)

Batman: The Video Game was released for the Sega Mega Drive, which was inspired by the Tim Burton directed Batman film from 1989. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was also produced by Sunsoft. Critics were impressed by its graphics, sound, and playability...

, Batman has the ability to wall jump, which is reminiscent of Ryu Hayabusa

Ryu Hayabusa

is the protagonist of the Ninja Gaiden video game series as well as a player character in the Dead or Alive series, both published by Tecmo. According to the game canon, Ryu Hayabusa is a ninja and the leader of the that has spiritual, physical and magical ties to ancient dragons...

's wall scaling in Ninja Gaiden

Ninja Gaiden

is a series of video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American Ninja Gaiden title means "side-story" in Japanese, even though the Ninja Gaiden series is not a spinoff of a previous series...

. He is also able to use three projectile weapons: the batarang

Batarang

A batarang is a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon used by the DC Comics superhero Batman. The name is a portmanteau of bat and boomerang, and was originally spelled baterang. Although they are named after boomerangs, batarangs have become more like shuriken in recent interpretations...

, batdisk, and bat speargun, which are powered by pellet cartridges.

Prototype

The prototype version of the game had some significant differences, such as a 1UP icon and entirely different cut-scenes. The game's last boss was Firefly and there was no Joker boss. Instead, Batman defeats the Joker in the ending cut-scene. The cut-scenes' art style was mainly inspired by Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: The Killing Joke is an influential one-shot superhero graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland. First published by DC Comics in 1988, it has remained in print since then, and has also been reprinted as part of the trade paperback DC Universe: The Stories of Alan...

and some panels of the book were even translated in the cut-scenes.

External links

• Batman at GameFAQs
  GameFAQs
  GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
  
  
• Movie Game Database