*This article is compiled from IGN US and is not reproduced without authorization.
People who love Batman often love his multi-faceted nature - he is kung fu, coolly dressed, and uses all kinds of novel props to solve difficult cases; he has a billionaire, handsome appearance, lingering in Vanity Fair; but in the final analysis, he is a poor man who has lost his parents, saddled with deep psychological trauma, and fights with criminals in Gotham City at night to vent his depressed mood.
Comics, movies, TV series... Every aspect of the Cloak Fighter is on full display through these carriers, but the game field has not gone so well, and even until recently, Batman-themed games have found the most suitable way to play. Looking back on this stumbling history, one can't help but ask: Is the Batman game really so hard to do? Why did it take developers so long to find the right way to open?
Early Batman games
Compared with superheroes such as Superman and Spider-Man, Batman's "game debut" came later. In 1986, British publisher Ocean Software braved to be the "first crab eater" and developed the first Batman-themed game with a very simple and crude name, called Batman, and the distribution platform was ZX Spectrum and Amstrad PCW and other home computer platforms.
Unlike the various platform action games that followed, this Batman game originated as a "pseudo-3D" exploration game, where players had to avoid obstacles, find different bat props, and rescue Robin. The game screen is very simple, the color is lacking, even at the time, the quality is not very outstanding, but it still gained a group of fans.
The first Batman game released in 1986
Two years later, Ocean Software released its sequel, Batman: Cloak Fighter, which was turned into an action-adventure game in which Batman had to fight the Joker and Penguin Man in two different chapters. What is remarkable about this work is the imitation of the comic storyboard grid, which can also be seen as an early prototype of the "Comic Strip" launched in 1995.
Batman in the movie
For more senior Batman fans, when it comes to the first experience of mastering the Dark Knight, it is impossible to avoid "Batman" produced by Sunsoft. This game is adapted from the 1989 film "Batman" starring Michael Keaton, the gameplay is to rush through the levels to hunt down the Joker, and in addition to the Joker, many of the major villains in the DC Comics universe have also come to mix a familiar face, such as killer moths, electrocutors and death shooters, the lineup is quite rich.
Batman starring Michael Keaton (1989)
Batman has been released on multiple consoles, and the fidelity of the image varies. Due to the color limitations of the NES version, a black-clad Batman can only show his fluorescent purple appearance, which is really memorable, but it has become its outstanding feature.
However, the various operations in it earned Batman the title of "the most difficult NES game", and its successor is "Battle Frog", which is known for its super difficulty. Subsequently, Ocean Software also launched a batman game linked to the movie on the home computer, this time, the batmobile was also able to appear, the level content became more and more abundant, and even added puzzle elements, such as facing a pile of daily necessities, players need to accurately identify which have been polluted by the "Joker laughing gas".
1989 NES version of Batman
Not to be outdone, Sunsoft launched Batman: The Return of the Joker in 1991, and although the name looks like a sequel to Batman, the game is essentially an independent work, with a strong comic book style, and the gameplay is also quite a reel shooter like Contra.
The 1989 Batman movie spawned the hugely successful Batman game, and in 1992, Batman Returns was released, and the game industry also coordinated to launch at least eight Batman Returns-themed works in one go, from Konami's arcade-style fighting games released on the SNES platform to Sega's various platform games launched on console platforms such as Genesis. But don't be fooled by so many versions, fix your eyes, the core gameplay is actually similar, nothing more than running from point A to point B, and beating up the penguin people encountered on the way.
"Batman Returns" symbolizes the organic combination of film and game, setting the benchmark for the game industry in the 1990s as "Batman Game", and the two films Batman Forever (1995) and Batman and Robin (1997) invariably set off a boom in game adaptations. Acclaim pioneered the application of motion capture technology used in Mortal Kombat to Batman Forever.
In 1994, the popular Batman: Animated Series provided inspiration for a series of Batman and Robin Adventures games. The Sega version received a mediocre response, while the SNES version received rave reviews, earning the reputation of "the most complete Batman game" at the time. The SNES version adds a new bat prop mechanism, players can selectively change the applicable bat props according to the actual situation of each level; in addition, the bright and colorful graphics of this game are also the peak level of the Batman series games in the past ten years.
The Joker is the first villain in the SNES version of Batman and Robin's Adventures
The Dark Knight's Path is full of twists and turns
Batman in the '90s shuttled through a variety of side-scrolling action-playing games, but there was always a limit to this mode. Fortunately, the emergence of a new generation of consoles means stronger performance, and more technologically innovative Batman games have also emerged, giving the veteran superhero a new look. But as the saying goes, the ideal is very full, the reality is very bone, and there are not many games that are actually well done.
During this time, a new star is rising. Batman: Revenge, released in 2001, is still based on the Batman: Animated Series, taking full advantage of the performance of PS2, Gamecube and Xbox to present the classic 2D art style of the animated series in 3D; in terms of plot, compared with the previous Batman games, this game combines many characters in the Batman series, and the story line is undoubtedly more intricate. In terms of gameplay design, Batman: Revenge has enhanced the action and stealth elements, and players can freely choose bat equipment after entering the first-person mode to deal with the battle in front of them. Of course, the operation of this game has not yet reached the level of the "Metal Gear Solid" series, but as an initial attempt, the performance is also remarkable.
2001 Batman: Revenge
In 2003, Batman: Rise of Original Sin entered the game as a sequel to Batman: Revenge. The main "selling point" of this work is the new villain "Sin Tzu" created by Jim Lee. But to be honest, the new character didn't make a splash, and fans didn't buy it.
2001's Batman: Revenge did well, while 2003's Batman: Dark Future went to the other extreme. At first glance, Batman: Dark Future is a collection of DC fans' favorite elements: ambitious open-world action games, closely following the original comics' approach, plus Batman and his friends. But do not play do not know, a play of a frightened, the operation feel is not only sparse, the task is also boring, let people lose interest. To this day, Batman: Dark Future is still recognized as the worst superhero game, and even the wider "worst game" is on the list.
2003 Batman: The Dark Future
In 2005, Batman: The Mystery of the Shadow of a Man was released, and the launch of the game of the same name also brought an end to the era of "game adaptations based on movies". The voice cast of this work is basically the same as that of the movie, and it also tries to add a lot of stealth elements, and even invents a unique "Fear" mechanism, which can be seen that it wants to take a different path from the previous Qing version of the game, the courage is commendable, but unfortunately the response is mediocre, becoming the last straw to crush the "movie adaptation of the superhero game".
Lego and Batman have teamed up
In 2008, Batman: The Dark Knight was released, and this time, the game based on the film was absent, but Batman fans unexpectedly received a big gift - the first lego Batman series came out, laying the foundation for subsequent great success. Back in LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones, developer Traveller's Tales has honed a combination of proven gameplay: battles between cute minifigures, simple decryption elements and a variety of playable characters, and in LEGO Batman, this all-purpose formula still works.
"Lego Batman" is not bound by the Batman series of movies like its predecessors, but instead starts from many aspects such as batman series comics, animations and Tim Burton's films, telling a new original story, and even allowing players to play the villains in the Batman series and experience the entire plot from another perspective.
Released in 2012, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes took it a step further in terms of content, not only supporting dubbing for the first time, but also creating an open-world version of Gotham City. This is not the end, this game also pulled dc's positive and negatives to the scene, but also for the follow-up "LEGO Batman 3: Leap gotham City" and "LEGO: DC super villain" laid the groundwork.
Welcome to the Arkham Asylum
Batman: Dark Future doesn't give players the ultimate experience, but it doesn't matter, don't lose hope, Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't coming! It is no exaggeration to say that the rot of Batman: Dark Future is to set off the good of Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Batman: Arkham Asylum, released in 2009, reinterprets the relationship between Batman and his rivals. This work refers to many comic book storylines such as Batman: Silence, Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and "Batman: Animated Series", and just by looking at these elements, you know that the quality is not bad.
Batman: Arkham Asylum finally abandons the usual combination of "linear flow and high-intensity action elements" in the previous game, and makes full use of the complex terrain of "Madhouse" to create a "galaxy-like Castlevania" experience: the more items and abilities you unlock, the more you can devote yourself to the adventure. The game's combat mechanics are also similar to the Assassin's Creed series, as long as you attack and counterattack at the right time, you can knock down a large number of enemies at once, in addition, stealth and hook-claw guns are also very important and must be used well.
Batman: Arkham Asylum doesn't just fight blindly, but also highlights Batman's reconnaissance skills and proposes an innovative concept: the brain is as important as the fist, Arkham's crisis is waiting to be solved, and the Riddle Man trophy is also in the pocket.
This time, Batman's old rivals also shined, making the overall story line more layered. This feature continues to be featured in sequels, with 2011's Batman: Arkham City and 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight both narrative masterpieces. This series aims to explore topics that are rarely touched upon even in comics — the confrontation between Batman and the Joker will always come to an end, but who knows what will happen after that?
The sequels have also improved in gameplay, with Batman: Arkham City carving out a huge area in Gotham City for players to explore; Batman: Arkham Knight adding cool Batmobiles that turn the entire city into a playground under the wheels; and batman: Arkham Origins in 2013... You know.
All in all, the decades-long immersion of the Batman series of games has finally been realized in a series of "Arkham" works, allowing players to fully experience the twisted world of the Dark Knight. But if strictly required, there is still a hurdle waiting for the Batman game to cross it.
Telltale reinvents the Batman story
The "Arkham" series draws on the essence of comics, movies and animations, and combines them into an organic whole, which belongs to the use of old elements to build new tricks. Has anyone completely restarted the stove? Telltale Games Isn't that coming?
Released in 2016, Batman: Story Edition is one of the few DC games that weakens action elements and prioritizes plot. Similar to Telltale's previous adventure game titles, this Batman game has put a lot of effort into "solving mysteries" and "making choices", and every decision you make will have a profound impact on the subsequent story.
Batman: Story edition is a rare distance from the original, and the overall storyline is not the usual way, looking like it has nothing to do with previous comics or movies. The original five chapters and the subsequent "Batman: Enemies Inside" are full of reversal plots, completely dismantling and reshaping the traditional Batman story. For example, if you play with it, you will find that the Wayne family secretly colluded with Camine Falcone, has rotted to the root, is a very evil consortium; the main character dies and changes, which makes people jump; the Joker in this parallel universe is also very different, and his life is inseparable from Batman.
If the Arkham series is adept at portraying Batman himself, Telltale's Story Edition creates a Gotham City that can only be established in games. After decades of development, Batman has become an indelible icon in the history of games.