It’s hard to deny that Batman is one of the biggest pop culture icons in the fictional
world to date.
Birthed during the Great Depression, he’s a symbol of hard work overcoming darkness,
of perseverance and holding true to your morals, all while never being afraid to explore the
darker sides of the human psyche.
So it makes sense why people would want the chance to step into his shoes and fight crime
in the diverse and colourful DC universe, and why video games featuring the caped crusader
have outperformed most other superhero games to date.
Which is why today we’re counting down the top 10 best batman games of all time, from
contemporary popular Batman hits to the classics of NES fame.
Let’s jump in.
10 Arkham Origins The third game in the Arkham franchise and
the first narratively, Arkham Origins was a highly anticipated game, but turned out
to be the weakest of the series.
It follows a young Bruce Wayne during his early days as Batman, five years prior to
the events of Asylum, as 8 of the world’s greatest assassins arrive in Gotham on Christmas
Eve.
He has to take care of the situation while other villains like the Joker join in on the
chaos, and the GCPD hunt Bats down.
The game received generally favourable reviews, but it lacked a cohesive narrative, and the
side plots didn’t really provide much gratification to players.
9 The Adventures of Batman and Robin Published by Konami and Sega, the Adventures
of Batman and Robin game was based on the popular Batman: The Animated Series, and was
released on multiple platforms, including Super NES, Genesis, Sega CD and Game Gear
in 1994.
An action adventure platformer, the boss of each stage was a member of one of Batman’s
rogue gallery - The Joker, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Catwoman, Two Face, Scarecrow, Riddler, Clayface
and even Manbat.
It was praised for it’s brain teasing challenges in which the player would have to equip gadgets
from the Batcave in order to progress in certain levels, and for it’s strong graphics and
sound effects at the time.
Some critics thought Robin, who was present as sidekick, should of had a more prominent
role, though.
8 Batman The Video Game This 1989 platform game was loosely based
on the 1989 film of the same name.
Available for the NES, the Genesis and Gameboy, with all versions, despite having the game
name, being different games from one another.
The NES version gave Batman the ability to wall jump, which was a little uncommon for
NES games at that time.
The releases across consoles differed though; the Gameboy version notably featured Batman
attacking with a gun, and was the least similar to the film’s plot, with the Genesis version
following the plot the most accurately.
Critics have called it one of the best superhero games for the NES.
7 Batman Returns Another game based on a Batman film, and also
released on multiple consoles, the 1993 Batman Returns video game was predominantly most
known for it’s NES and SNES releases, published by Konami.
The game received rave reviews, despite a criticism about a lack of originality.
The game’s levels for the most part were classic side scrolling beat-em-up levels,
featuring a boss character at the end for Batman to fight, with the exclusion of a bat
mobile level in which you chase bikers and a armoured van, firing a machine gun.
6 LEGO Batman The Video Game The Lego Batman video game is based on the
Lego franchise of the character, and featured the licensed DC property in a world constructed
entirely of Lego.
It also features an original story.
Critics praised the game for its replay value, it’s fun nature, with the combat styled
based on the 1960’s Batman television series, all while including clever puzzles for players.
Other critics disliked the way certain characters were portrayed, like Robin and Clayface, who
were changed into, I quote, “village idiots”, and that the other supporting cast could have
been more developed narratively.
Regardless, the game received several sequels, including Lego Batman 2 DC Superheroes, which
incorporated more of the DC characters that fight alongside Bruce in the Justice League.
5 Injustice Gods Among Us Injustice is one of the more sophisticated
fighting genre games to date.
In the game, in an alternate universe, the Joker tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane
and his unborn child, which pushes him over the edge.
He murders the Joker and becomes a totalitarian leader over the entirety of the earth.
Of course, Batman is not down for that, and starts a revolution of his own, which ultimately
incorporates the heroes from earth prime to get involved in the battle.
Riffing off of developer NetherRealm Studio’s previous title Mortal Combat, much of the
controls and game mechanics gendered it a positive review from critics, with IGN calling
it “both a very good brawler and a big old sloppy love letter to fans.”
4 Batman: Arkham Knight Arkham Knight was a decent game.
It carried over a lot of the game mechanics that it’s predecessors introduced in the
previous Arkham games, and incorporated the use of the Bat Mobile; a feature that many
fans had been dying to play with.
The game also didn’t feature the writing talent of Paul Dini; rather it used its own
writers in collaboration with Geoff Johns, which made for a weaker story.
But its graphics, gameplay variety, open world detail and voice acting were just as exceptional
as previous games, and it managed to function without the presence of the Joker.
3 Batman The Telltale Series This Telltale game plays with the mythology
of Batman ever so slightly, never derailing too much, but giving us a variation on the
general Batman story we all are familiar with.
With the release of the first chapter in 2016, the game was a critical hit, despite being
tied to nay previous adaptation of the Batman universe.
A point and click graphic adventure, players get to play as both Batman and Bruce Wayne,
at times offering the player the option to play as the caped crusader or his alter ego
in various situations.
And similar to other telltale games, the series features a branching narrative in which the
choices you make effect the story and have causes on later events that occur.
2 Batman Arkham Asylum The release of Arkham Asylum was a big deal.
It was the first really well developed contemporary video game for the dark knight, and it did
not disappoint.
Released in 2009, developed by Rocksteady, it was written by veteran Batman writer and
DC legend Paul Dini, the third person perspective game takes place in Arkham Asylum as Batman
has been trapped inside with all of his foes after the Joker instigates a heinous plot
that involves detonating bombs in Gotham if Bats doesn’t play his game.
Mark Hamill reprised his role as the Joker for the game, and several reviewers called
it the greatest comic book game of all time upon it’s release.
To the point where the game even broke the Guinness World Record for most critically
acclaimed superhero game ever.
1 Batman Arkham City Rocksteady revolutionized the superhero genre
in video games with Batman Arkham City.
While Asylum proved to be a phenomenal game, the story telling co-penned by Paul Dini,
the complex side missions, the more challenging Riddler puzzles and the inclusion of Catwoman
as a playable character really amped up the experience of playing the dark knight for
players, Batman fans and newbies alike.
The game mechanics were smooth, Bruce’s tech was cool, all of the bosses felt organically
on par with the Batman canon, and the ending?
Well, it left many players with chills, frozen with anticipation as to what would happen
next.
While it’s follow up game wasn’t nearly as impressive, Arkham City definitely left
it’s mark, scoring almost a perfect 100 with most major reviewers, being one of the
fastest selling games in history, with critics calling it a standout accomplishment.
There we have it!
Are there any great Batman games out there that we should’ve included on this list?
Let us know in those comments below.
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I’ve been Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 gaming.
Catch you all in the next one!