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Batman (Natsume)


fun2novel

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The stench of crime saps the streets under the cover of dark hollow night like twisting tendrils penetrating everything like a dark putrid stench of death. Like river of rust, crime sheds its dark red skinned coiled innards of a hungry beast shredding the remains of its collapsed prey, unable to scream unable to breath, eyes as empty as kindness and purity of this city. Cold empty breath detaches from freezing blue lips, everything crumbles under its dark cover of terror and not even a wind or stare or reaching hand to pierce the blackness. This is Gotham and I am her shadow. I watch her morph like a shifting smelting iron crying out to me, caressing me, begging me. I am her protector. I am her dark knight. I. Am. B-A-T-M-A-N!

Hopefully you haven’t left after such a melodramatic introduction because we are going to talk about one of the best Batman games ever made. It’s also one of the best Famicom (NES) game ever made. Finding a licensed game, a good licensed game is no easy task. Game developers almost never have the time to flesh out their ideas and tweak the game design beyond the basic mechanics. Once in a while an exception to the rule comes out and shows everyone how to do a licensed game. Such is this Batman game and it’s a masterful example how to take an idea about a movie, then throw it away and make something better. That’s exactly what this game does because very little of the actual move is kept intact, but that’s for the better.

Tight controls are a mandate for almost any action game. Take away tight pinpoint accurate control and instantly the game metamorphoses into a puff of smoke of shallow self. The controls in Batman aren’t as tight as that but they game utilizes that to its advantage unexpectedly well. The main attack action is Batman’s punch with a good range. The detection hit is also pretty fair so even if you hit with your fists you are never forced to come too close to your enemies and can punch them from a safe distance. Killing enemies will leave some invaluable items like hearts to replenish your hit points or additional ammo for your sub-weapons.

There are 3 types of weapons, all available from the very beginning of the game, all weapons use the same pool of ammo. First weapon are the Batarangs, these have a short distance and the weakest weapon but they are also shot fast and can deal multiple damage on an enemy, the Batarang consumes one ammo. The second weapon is a gun that shoots what looks like little rockets, it’s got a long range and a very useful weapon but it takes half a second before it is shot, the gun consumes two ammo. The final weapon is the strongest one, it requires three ammo points. Batman shots a projectile which about halfway through it’s flight splits into three projectiles and keeps flying on its path. This third weapon can be very ineffectual if it’s not used correctly because there is a longer delay before Batman shoots it.

Beyond that Batman can also do a high or low jump depends on how long the player holds the jump button. That’s not very impressive but Batman can also do wall jumping, it’s fast and one of the game’s coolest mechanic.

The game expects you to learn the controls because it was designs shines through how it is designed around these controls. You either master it or you give up on the game altogether. Every single section of every level is carefully thought out how the player will advance with the a very meticulous design.

Similar to most games when Batman is hit he enters an invisibility mode for a few seconds to give the player time to escape from the hazardous environment. But what’s interesting is that when an enemy is hit his collision it turned off for a short time making it possible for Batman to touch the enemy without damaging himself.

Once again, the controls, disabling enemy’s hit box when they are hit, wall jumping, and how high you jump are all combined into a special attention almost as if under a microscope. You’ll be seeing electric walls, floors and ceilings and have to avoid by jumping at just the right time in just the right direction and at the exact height just to prevent losing another life point before you reach your next boss. At times you have to go fast and at times carefully take your time but you still have to be intimately familiar with the controls. There’s just not getting anywhere without that. That’s one of the things that makes the game so impressive. If you’re an aspiring game designer this is a game to play and study. At times the level design feels like a puzzle platformer and not a straight up action game.

Unfortunately there are a few unfair spots where you are required to make some unfair jumps. It’s a shame to see a stain on what is otherwise a perfectly designed game. There are very few spots where the jumping precision required is on the unfair side of things. It’s obvious these sections were not as carefully tested as most other parts of the level. At times weapons feel useless because of how Batman can be at using them which makes some bosses a little frustrating.

The presentation is another area Batman excels. For the 8-bit Nintendo the quality of graphics and sound look and sound as if it comes from the house of Konami. In fact, if you look at the game without being told who made it, I guarantee you’ll think this is another Konami masterpiece. That’s how good the game looks, sounds, and plays. It won’t be surprising if the game was developed by ex Konami people.

Batman for the NES is an excellent game regardless of being licensed or not. It’s a very fun game that is still extremely enjoyable even today. If you miss the old nostalgia games, real old classics not the nostalgia modern indie games try to be then check out Batman.

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