Hello and welcome to
ToriJ's Video Game Reviews. Over the years superheroes have undergone
a lot of retellings and reimaginings. One such example that stands
out even today is Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie starring Michael
Keaton and Jack Nicholson taking on a much darker side of the Dark
Knight that comic book writer, Frank Miller made popular again.
With the popularity of
the movie it only made sense to create a video game tie-in to profit
even more off the success of the movie. This gave us video game
adaptions on the NES, Sega Genesis, and the Game Boy, but today I'll
be doing a Compare & Contrast of the NES and Genesis versions of
the game to decide which one is the best. So, hang onto your seats
because we're going to Gotham!
I'm
Purpleman!
Gameplay
wise both are pretty straightforward. The NES version has a button
for jumping and attacking while allowing you to toggle between
different weapons you pick up along the way. The Genesis version
starts you off with batarangs right away and makes use of the C
button to throw them.
While
you don't get as many batarangs as the NES version, I fail to see how
that's a bad thing. Nintendo gives you so many batarangs you'd have
to go out of your way to run out of them, whereas the Genesis forces
you to use them more sparingly to make each batarang count. It's
more realistic in the long run as Batman doesn't just have a million
of them to pull out of his ass any time he wants.
Chances
are you're going to be punching a lot regardless of which game you
play. On Genesis you'll be punching air because if you get too close
to a bad guy he'll hurt you. But on the NES? You're going to be
punching like a madman just to get at the enemy before they come
charging at you and even then you'll still miss on occasion. They
may as well call the game Batman Punch Out!
Another
thing you're going to be doing a lot of is wall jumping. It's like
the developers were playing Ninja Gaiden while making this. You need
to get the jumping down precisely by level two if you want to get
anywhere in this game. Some times you have to fall off a platform and
then quickly jump off it to avoid danger. At least the Genesis
version gives you a grappling hook! The Genesis version requires a
lot less jumping.
You
can't even go to the museum in this town without being shot at!
Both
games are loosely based off the movie, but the Genesis version is
closer to being a faithful adaption in level design. You get stages
based around the chemical plant where the Joker is made, and the art
museum the Joker and his men attacks. You even get to ride in the
Batmobile and the Batplane.
In
the NES version the stages are barely recognizable due to the
limitations of the Nintendo and the enemies make no sense! You're
fighting ninjas and robots. Since when in the hell did the Batman
movie have robots? Is that supposed to be Firefly at the first boss
stage? I'm fighting Firefly! Actually, that's kind of cool.
Another
point in the Genesis version is there are a couple more stages and
challenging boss fights in it. Even if you're doing a speed through
of the game you get ten more minutes of game time than you would in
the NES version.
What
the hell is that green thing supposed to be? An alien? A robot? A demon from the lowest depths of hell?
When
it comes to graphics, it isn't a fair comparison. The Genesis wins
hands down. Better all around console and they just rendered
everything with more detail. Batman looks like he does in the film,
the backdrops are clearer to what they represent, and when they do
show clips the images look like they were ripped right out of the
movie.
I
realize that the Genesis version doesn't have as many cut-scenes as
the NES, but what the NES has isn't that great to begin with. We get
some animation of the Batmobile and them overusing the “Have you
ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight” line, and that's
mostly it. The Genesis version cuts to the chase and the few
cut-scenes you do get are a lot more enjoyable.
Case
in point, you get to knock the Joker in some chemicals. What more could you ask for?
At
the end of the day, Batman is one of the few video game adaptions of
a movie that's actually good. Batman looks great, the stages are all
inspired by the movie, and you get a kick ass final boss fight with
the Joker. If you really want to experience Tim Burton's Batman movie
in video game form, then you can't go wrong with the game on Sega
Genesis!
NES
Batman: Skip
it
GEN
Batman: Get it
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