Batman Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]

Developed and published by Ocean in 1990.

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Released to coincide with the brilliant 1989 move adaptation of D.C. Comics' most famous of characters, Commodore secured a deal with Ocean to bundle the game with Amiga 500 computer as part of the 'Batman Pack' bundle.

Ocean had made a reputation for themselves by developing games based on blockbuster film licenses and Batman was the next in a long line of movie tie-ins. Anyone familiar with Ocean will also know that the quality of these tie-in games could vary considerably depending on the platform and the team that developed the software.

The game broadly follows the Dark Knight through five of the film's key sequences, culminating with a showdown with Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker. The game includes a number of different play-styles ranging from traditional platforming to driving, as well as a puzzle section.

The first level sees Batman attempting to stop Jack Napier's raid on Axis Chemical Works and is the first of two platform sections in the game. The player must guide Batman through the plant, avoiding toxic chemicals and taking out Napier's henchmen with a well placed Batarang. Batman must use a grappling hook to latch on to platforms and swing across gaps in the pipework, reach higher platforms and even kill enemies. The level ends when Batman dunks Napier into a vat of toxic chemicals, unleashing the Joker in the process.

Level two changes things up by putting the player behind the wheel of the Batmobile as our hero attempts to outrun the Joker's henchmen before time runs out. To complicate matters, the police have set up roadblocks to catch both the henchmen AND Batman, who they still perceive as a dangerous vigilante. The player must make use of the car's grappling hooks to latch on to street signs at intersections and pull the car into the next street in order to avoid being caught.

Level three is a simple puzzle where Batman needs to determine which health and beauty products make up the Joker's deadly 'Smilex' chemical before it claims innocent lives. The section is really very basic and requires almost no effort to solve.

Level four puts Batman in the cockpit of the Batwing as he attempts to prevent the Joker from releasing Smilex gas on the unsuspecting public during Gotham's carnival. The player must use the Batwing to cut the ropes tethering the balloons to the carnival floats before time runs out. As usual, all this must be done against the clock, forcing the player to fly as fast as possible, collecting all the balloons without bursting the balloon, colliding with the floats OR crashing into any buildings.

The final level is another platform section set in Gotham's cathedral as Batman attempts to climb up to the roof to prevent the Joker from escaping by helicopter. A veritable legion of goons stands in his way, as well as collapsing platforms and ravenous rats.

I guess you might think that everything sounds pretty good thus far. With the best scenes from the film chosen for the game and a range of different play-styles, this should make for a fresh and exciting experience, right? The actual results are, in my opinion, something of a mixed bag.

Firstly, the game is very, very short; with only five levels, there's not much in the way of content. Ocean's solution to this problem was to make each level as teeth-grindingly hard as possible to try and extend the game's life. Chief amongst the frustrations are the time limits on stages two and four; make too many mistakes and it will be impossible to complete the level in time. I drove as fast as possible, avoided the traffic and even then I finished with less than a second on the clock!

As for the platform sections, it's not so much time that's the chief enemy here as the amount of energy Batman has (or how little of it there is...). The first grenade-lobbing henchman can kill you in a few hits if you're not careful and even gently nudging walls whilst swinging on the grappling hook saps energy! Mix in some generally annoying controls and you've got a recipe for frustration.

I will give the game credit where it's due, particularly with reference to the technical aspects of the driving and flying sections. Sludgy controls aside, both of these sections look very impressive and the concepts behind them are sound. I guess the fact that the coders wrote routines to create a driving section that's head and shoulders above some full-price driving games (e.g. the Amiga conversion of OutRun) is impressive.

Unfortunately, the impressive technical aspects of these sections are not enough to save the game from it's other problems. Whilst the game might have been short on content, I'd have much rather Ocean have made it easier and had 20 minutes of fun playing it, rather than the hours of frustration I actually experienced whilst making this video.
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