The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Sega CD) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Sega's 1995 license-based combat racing game for the Sega CD, The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Though they were both developed by the same team, The Adventures of Batman & Robin on the Sega CD is an entirely different animal than the Genesis game of the same name. Rather than playing as a run-and-gun/shoot 'em up like the cartridge game, the CD version is a faux-3D racing game that places heavy emphasis on making stuff explode.

If you've played Batman Returns for the Sega CD, you no doubt remember its beautiful-yet-infuriating racing sequences. They made full use of the add-on's 'roided up sprite scaling capabilities to create gameplay that could effectively mimic the classic style of Sega arcade games like Outrun and Afterburner. The Adventures of Batman & Robin does much the same, but it ditches the platforming action that badly weighed down Batman's previous CD title.

But the gameplay isn't likely going to be the first thing you notice about Batman and Robin. That honor would probably go to the amazing cutscenes. Produced by Warner and animated by TMS (!!!), the twenty minutes worth of FMV clips used as cutscenes comprise what is essentially a full bonus episode of the TV show. Like Thunder in Paradise for the CD-i, Batman and Robin's footage was created exclusively for the game, and it features all of the original actors. Just as impressive is the quality of the clips - it looks amazing for the system, putting stuff like Night Trap and the American Laser Games' titles to absolute shame.

(And wow, that scene with Batman wielding an axe is so dark!)

The cutscenes link together the game's six racing stages. The first five have you tearing about Gotham in the Batmobile, armed to the teeth with rockets, bombs, and nitrous boosts as you chase after whatever objective you were fed, and the final stage has you piloting the Batwing. Each stage is broken into sub-stages that act as checkpoints by reseting your timer and giving a health boost, and for the most part, they require you to weave through traffic at high speeds while grabbing power ups, generally trying not to get killed.

The concept is pretty sound (MegaRace wants its due!), and it makes for a pretty exciting experience... for awhile. The difficulty level and the lack of variety do hold it back, though, which might not be a surprise to anyone that has played the Genesis game. The streets are narrow and packed with civilian cars, and if you hit too many, the police will stop you, costing you a life, and the tight time limits force you to go glue gas pedal firmly to the floor, making many of the stages feel like sadistic obstacle courses. Until you've practiced long enough to put in a near-perfect performance, Batman and Robin will cruelly dangle the next cutscene just out-of-reach.

But for as long-in-the-tooth as the action levels can become, the game does offer a lot of incentive to keep plugging. The graphics are incredible - this game makes the perfect case for what we might've seen from the Sega CD had it lasted long enough for developers to learn how to really stretch its legs. It's super detailed and avoids looking blotchy and excessively dithered, and it's fast, it's flashy, and those sprites scale so nicely, especially in the Batwing stage! It all makes it pretty easy to temporarily lose sight of the fact that you're playing a 16-bit game. The soundtrack is excellent too. It's full of powerful synth beats and heavy drums, and it's balanced well with the sound effects to make everything feel heavy and chaotic.

The Adventures of Batman & Robin on Sega CD reminds me a lot of the Genesis game: the production values are top notch, the gameplay is generally solid but goes on for too long, and a few obnoxious design decisions make the whole thing way harder than it ought to be. But, if you're a fan of Batman, the exclusive cartoon episode alone makes this one worthwhile, and if you're a fan of the Sega CD, this one is a great way to see what the system could truly do.

Now, if only Konami or Sunsoft had been involved somehow!

You can find my video of the Genesis game here, if you're interested:    • The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Gen...  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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