SNES: Batman Returns
November 20, 2008 - 8:52 am - Posted by Sean R.
If you thought Batman Returns was good on the Sega Genesis, you’ll be blown away by this remarkable SNES game. With a completely different look and feel, this plays more like Streets of Rage or Final Fight. In contrast to the dark, grainy graphics of the Genesis version, the visuals here look bright and crisp.
Batman Returns more or less follows the film’s storyline, with the Catwoman and Penguin serving as the main villains. The fluidly-animated characters are absolutely huge, and the fighting action is top-notch. Not only can you execute the obligatory punches, jump-kicks, and throws, but you can actually fling enemies into the background scenery. I can’t put into words how satisfying it is to toss a thug through a department store window.
You’ll need to beat down belligerent clowns of all sizes, including fire-blowers, sword-swallowers, jugglers, and skull-headed motorcyclists – to name just a few. Should you find yourself between two enemies, you can grab them both and bash their heads together.
Superb sound effects accompany the action, so when you slam one evil clown into another, it makes an audible “thud”. Your Batarangs and spear gun provide you with projectile attacks, and you also have a supply of “test tubes” that function as smart bombs, obliterating all visible enemies on the screen.
The Batmobile driving stage isn’t as flashy as the Sega CD version, however it’s still a nice bonus. The snow-covered Christmas scenery is a joy to behold, and some stages feature nifty lighting effects – very impressive for a 1992 game.
The dramatic musical score is also outstanding and apparently lifted directly from the film. Is there anything wrong with Batman Returns? Well, Batman looks like he let himself go a bit and picked up about 50 pounds. Also, some gamers may regard the non-stop fighting as repetitive, but in my opinion that comes with the territory.
My final thoughts on Batman Returns for the SNES… it might just be the best Batman game of all time, thanks to its winning combination of tight controls and gorgeous 2D graphics.
4 Responses to “SNES: Batman Returns”
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I agree with you completely. Batman Returns for the Super Nintendo is a top notch side-scrolling game.
@Billy: I played this game for close to two hours last night, then I realized that I was really tired and went to bed… hehe. I guess fling enemies into the background wore me out
Wasn’t there also a Batman Returns NES game that was more of a platformer? I remember playing it while at my grandparents’ house one time, and it being really hard for nine-year-old me; then again, this version isn’t exactly a cakewalk either, no matter how old I am when I play the game. The NES version was really good-looking, which makes sense for a game made so late in the system’s life cycle.
(Fun fact: Batman Returns was the very first movie I ever saw on the big screen!)
Best Batman game of all time is a stretch, because the original Batman for the NES (Batman: The Video Game) is just as tight in control and deeper in gameplay. Plus is has an insanely good soundtrack. This was SunSoft in its heydey. That said, Batman Returns for the SNES does make my list of top 10 beat ‘em ups for the 8/16-bit era.