Man, that broke me up a bit. Peewee was so much better than typical childrens entertainment. It was as subversive as kids shows got. And the fact he was just a weirdo irl warms my cold dead heart.
Aptly timed. Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) passed yesterday. He had a cameo in th beginning of "Batman Returns" playing The Penguin's dad. The actress who played the waitress in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" was the mom. Scene is like 3 seconds.
Reubens also returned (heh...like batman here) to play father of a different incarnation of the Penguin in the much more recent TV series Gotham (And also Clayface disguised as that father). And this time he was a caring dad who was happy to discover Oswald was his son and welcoming of his dark past because he'd been through some darkness too. Was pretty cool.
Solid video and review as always. I think that sign is suppose to say "MAYOR", when playing on modern hardware or via emulation the lack of CRT Scanlines makes all the difference. Tek Syndicate has an excellent video on this.
Imagine if Konami had made a beat ‘em up with the Batman The Animated Series license that they had. Two player co-op with Batman, Robin and Batgirl as selectable characters.
@@BigOleWords I would love to see what Konami could have done with Bruce Timm’s style on a late NES chipset, it could have looked amazing. The SNES Batman and Robin game they made looks like an episode of the animated series as a side scroller
Talk about hidden gems… your channel is absolutely one. Love your breakdowns, your delivery, your humor. Remember all of us when you finally blow up the algorithm and lock up 100k subs.
The late NES era was weird when it came to sales. By that point both the SNES and Genesis were the main attraction to even the most casual of gamers. From what I recall the only people I knew who still semi regularly bought NES titles were either very casually into the hobby or just didn't have the money to get many games at all. Some great titles came out for sure but the spotlight had shifted drastically.
I owned and enjoyed this game as well as the other 2 NES titles. I did want the SNES version, but still only had my NES at that time. I felt it was like Final Fight Gotham City, or a turtles game with Batman characters. Loved this game. I am sure there were some let downs in the game that I forgot to time, but I mostly remember having a good time with it.
My favorite Xmas ever year movie. Danny Elfman's score is AWESOME. The SNES game is one of my favorite SNES games and I also own the NES version which is great. R.I.P. Chester Cobblepot.
Agreed. Even though some would not call it a Christmas movie, it clearly takes place during the holidays. Kinda like calling Die Hard not a Christmas movie. Ridiculous!
Great video. I love the revelation about some of these NES games being GB games. I don't know that it fits here though. Isn't it WAY too detailed? Like, in Cliffhanger the background is just some dots. And other games have those thick outlines on sprites to stand out on gameboy screens. Bucky O'Hare and Zen both used 128k rom chips. Batman had a 256k chip for the character sprites. So, they even splurged on the pricier chips to get some extra memory out of them. I have no idea why the spites are so small? Just the aesthetic they were going for? Limitation of the NES because unlike Mighty Final Fight this game had some highly detailed artwork, selectable weapons and a couple driving stages - there was some more variety. Maybe they crammed in all they could without spending a stupid amount on the 512k chips. Those were more for RPGs they knew would sell super well especially in Japan and less so for movie license tie ins. No clue.
So the style here is “Konami Style” (that’s what we called it as kids) think of it like Hotwheels cars. They have certain details they exaggerate so you pick up on those to make the subject more recognizable. Sprites in a lot of Konami games use the same style. Small characters with no faces and generally “realistic proportions” so this Batman and his villains wouldn’t look out place (stylistically) in Rollergames, Track&Field, Castlevania, Bayou Billy or even Rush’n Attack. In fact you could probably take sprites from all these games and make a killer Double Dribble hack and all the sprite would look like they were designed to be there. Batman Returns plays as well as it does because they had perfected the art of the beat ‘em up on the NES already and had fine-tuned the art of the beat ‘em up on the NES. This game got completely missed by me at release and I didn’t even know it was a thing till years later finding it in a list of roms.
I remember playing the SNES version in my freshman year of college 1992-93 school year. Most who could afford had moved on to the SNES but many still just had the NES. As a result I was aware of & played many late NES releases that a lot of folks didn't know til the rise of TH-cam. But strangely Batman Returns on NES was one I definitely missed & was unaware til TH-cam. But it seems a solid effort given big publishers/developers like Capcom has mostly moved development effort to the SNES.
I've gained more of an appreciation for the movie through the years. It's Burton's visual style that I love so much. Yeah, it's goofy for the most part, and it REALLY falls apart in the last scenes with the missile carrying penguins and whatnot, but it's a fun ride all the way through. DeVito was just about perfect, and everybody chewed their scenery appropriately.
Great video. I always thought this game was too hard. Your timing has to be PERFECT to get through the most basic enemies without taking damage. It controls a lot like Turtles 2 (and 3), but the hit detection is just slightly off. As a comparison, I could routinely get all the way to Shredder in TMNT 2 as a kid but could never get past the first boss in Batman Returns.
I played this game so many times as a kid. Until I got a PC this is something I would play almost every day for 2 -3 years. ALthough I have played hundreds of games on the NES back in the day. There is definitely something magical about this game, it just clicked for me. Also chip and dale rescue rangers 2 and TMNT 3 were the other ones among my top games.
I remember getting this game for my 5th birthday! I came home from kindergarten to my dad giving me this and me being so excited for a new NES game! The music takes me back. I remember it being pretty hard.
I found this on a multcart and legit thought it was a rom hack until today. This game never appeared in area in the 80s. Also. The train scene did appear in the movie. It's when the gang starts rounding up the first born. And the Mayo sign is a nod to the famous Mayonnaise factory where joker got his powers.
Tuve este juego cuando era niño y era uno de mis favoritos. Los disfruté enormemente. Algo que se le olvida a mucha gente es la función de password. En aquellos tiempos eran pocos los juegos tipo beat'em up en los que había alguna forma de guardar el progreso. También ayudaba con la dificultad del juego, para sacar el mejor final posible. En fin, eran otros tiempos.
Whow! This has got to be one of the best looking original NES games! The sprites are small, but really well drawn, colorful, and well animated, and the backgrounds are really damn good looking, with awesome designs, dark palettes, and animation. I have never seen the movie but I'm impressed almost all of this game can be seen in the movie, that's cool
I probably wasn't even 6 years old and had no idea you could switch weapons.. honestly I never knew until I watched this video..but then again I haven't played it since
maybe though I have no problem with 1 player ones i've played. Mostly cos I have no local gamer friends. I do get annoyed though when new retro-styled beat 'em ups have multiplayer but no online way of using it. Double Dragon Gaiden just got released and it's 2 player local only. No online. Whereas TMNT: Shredder's Revenge lets you have online with up to six players total (even mixing and matching online and local players in the same session). As I said I don't mind if a beat em up is designed to be 1 player, but when it's designed around multiplayer but then doesn't offer that same option to those more lonely/disabled of us then it's a bit unfair. :P
Great review, as always! Can't say I agree with your opinion on the movie, I've only seen it once a couple years ago and I loved it, although that may just have been because of the actors. This was the only NES Batman game I had back in the day and it was an all-time favorite (I only had the '89 TMNT game too, so not much to colpare to in terms of Konami beat-em-ups). Aa far as I'm concerned, this game is as good as a licensed movie game on the system could be. Aesthetically it's a masterpiece. Granted, the sprites are on the smaller side for a beat-em-up, but they are rather detailed. I think this size was chosen to alleviate sprite flicker, or for some other technical reason. The theory of this game being a souped-up GB title is interesting, but I really can't say I subscribe to it. It's just way too well-made and meticulously detailed for that, the presentation sure is, at least. If anything, this seems like a Megaman 8 and Megaman & Bass type of situation where the SNES title was the main game and its overall concept was reused for the game on the weaker console and they already had the TMNT beat-em-up engine and reused it for a "consolation prize" game for the folks that hadn't upgraded to the SNES. Both games were most likely developed concurrently using the same base design concepts. Aside from that, the NES was on its way out when Batman Returns released, and the Gameboy was definitely doing much better, so I think Konami's strategy was just to make two home console versions from the beginning; making a GB game, not releasing it and converting it into a NES one while seemingly also upping the production values just doesn't sound like a plan a developer would bother wasting their time on.
As a person who has never liked Batman at all, I appreciated the two second clip of P.O.W. Inserted towards the end. It reminded me of playing it as a kid and thinking I was a bad ass gi joe type dude ready to go full rambo on some baddies
Yeah dude! I just bought the snes version AND the special edition blu ray of the movie for tonight, great timing! RETRO STRONG, ATLANTA BRAVE, LETS GOOOOOO!
@@BigOleWords you’re right! For that era it isn’t too bad. I think a CIB copy averages about $180. Being that I just picked up a Tengen Tetris CIB I might have to wait a little before getting this one 😂
Interesting. I didn't even know that a game like this exists. I knew about the SNES version, but have never heard or read about this. It looks okay, but since it is a single-player beat-'em-up game, I don't think it would be as fun to play as the original Batman for NES.
No one played?I played the shit out of this one, and managed to fully beat it only after around a month of grind.I had significantly less skill back then, I take it😁
@BigOleWords I'm replaying it now and the second box is in 3-1 where you jump into the second window. You kill the two fire throwing guys in there and then use your hook to hit the chandelier and it will drop
This is one of those games that came out at a time when all we cared about was 16-bit, otherwise we would have went crazy for it. It's a great game that could've had a bigger impact if the 16-bit consoles weren't already out
Wow. Long vid to start my day, heck yeah! Good timing with passing of peewee, we watch the playhouse every week (break from sesame/muppets). Good stuff man, it does kinda look like a gameboy game turned NES. And yes, this is NOT the batman on NES anyone wad playing
Late era NES releases were definitely interesting in a lot of ways. Sometimes you'll get something which showcases the best the console had to offer but often you've got stuff like this which was a mixed bag. My main Batman Returns memories are tied up with the Nintendo Power issue that covered this game, the movie itself was very much not what I really wanted after how amazing 6 year old me thought the original was. I do remember getting Batman Return of the Joker on NES for Christmas the year this came out, I'm guessing my aunt found it in a bargain bin because it was probably the nicest gift she ever got me. Now that was a cool game and definitely prefer it over this one.
It's 'MAYOR', not 'MAYO' - they're supposed to be Penguin's election posters or something. As for that one weird background design, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a large window that Batman and Catwoman stand in front of for one scene. It's a short scene, but a surprisingly prominent design element, so it tends to make a lot of appearances in fan art and spin-off media.
I think the block has a timer on it, so you can't just hold it and block every attack. you have to use it at just the right time. someone correct me if I'm wrong. it's been like a year since I've played this game and never bothered to block
Looks more like the arcade game of the original game that was ported to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. I really liked the first Batman game with the Ninja Gaiden gameplay. Sunsoft was about the only developer that made decent movie games.
Sunsoft is in the "top 3 best nes devs ever". That being, in no particular order - konami, capcom, and sunsoft. And they have the best music hands down.
Always liked this game, and the SNES version. I remember Nintendo Power having multipage specials on both versions. These were both rentals for me but I never bought them. The only Batman game I owned in the nineties was the Sega Genesis Batman game, which to this day I feel is a (difficult) classic, with one of the best soundtracks on the system.
At least there is an excuse for not having 2-player mode. Batman works alone. At least during this time frame. Although a 2-player mode would have been nice. But who would join him? Maybe Alfred.....Actually that would have been great. LOL
I was ready to type up a comment about how I played and loved the hell out of this game, but once the video actually started, I realized I was not thinking of the right game. I was thinking of Return of Joker, not Batman Returns.
This is one of those games that I only found out about by finding it on one (or three) of my multi carts. I like how every version of this title is 100% different. I've played it on NES, SNES, Genesis and Game Gear and each version is completely its own thing. It's actually on 3 of my multi carts..... 143 in 1 The Best of the NES Cartoons Collection And that Druggy Final Fight hack I mentioned in the live stream is on a GBA multi cart called No Repeat 369 in 1 Games and it has a bunch of repeats on it, only 20 GBA games and the rest is NES on GBA on GameBoy Player Nintendo GameCube.... I think I will publish a video on that title....
I never really got the point of having large sprites. I mean sure, they look good but they also mean you get less screen real estate for movement. Large sprites are the perfect example of letting visual candy get in the way of good gameplay.
Ah yes! I played the hell out of this one! It has a particular look because it was the small brother, with the SNES version being paraded on magazine previews while this one was out. I didn't have a SNES so I played this one in the meantime. Not many beat-em ups in the NES either, for reasons that are clear every time you play one. It was good! good enemy variety and large backgrounds that made up for the tiny sprites. I never beat this one, I should give it a try now. With cheats, savestates and autofire.
I suppose that, on NES, is a tradeoff between large sprites and super detailed backdrops (like in this game here). Even then, the content here, despite certain NES-ish drawbacks, is AAA-list.
While the beat 'em up style gets rather repetitive and dull, I'll give it this: it's the only Batman game for the NES or SNES in which you can play as the Batmobile. 7:09 - That's the Batskiboat.
I played this one a bit. It was pretty solid really. Two player would have made it better, but who would P2 be? Those Burton Batman movies are definitely amazing looking, though I get why one might not like Returns that much. Pro-nerd note: Batman has sharp blades sewn into the scallops on the end of his cape, which is the super move here in the game.
Yeah, no Robin at this point. But eh, the Superman arcade game didn't care there wasn't a similar sidekick for him and just had player 2 be Superman in a red suit with grey cape (some folk theorise it could be inspired by Captain Marvel / Shazam but the sprite is definitely just palette swapped Supes)
This game was quite popular in Russia and Ukraine. We played a lot in our company. Definetely the game could be better. They should introduce Robin or Gordon to let us play in co-op mode. Wish the stages be less tedious. But even with the set of drawbacks, the game is still above the average level.
Robin wouldn't be introduced until the next movie. Not just the actual released Batman Forever, even in the original Batman 3 Burton wanted to make, he was always planned for later.
yeah Robin didn't exist in those films at this point and I'm not sure how Gordon would be playable to the same degree as Batman but also Gordon was barely a character in Burton's films. One of the main issues I had with those films. Thankfully Batman The Animated Series (partially inspired by the films but doing it's own thing and reaching right back into the lore) knew Gordon is absolutely essential.
I am well aware that there was no Robin in the movie and that Gordon was next to noone storywise, but way too often game desiners change story if that helps the gameplay ...or just sales😊
Sprite size on NES isn't a straightforward process, like your TMNT reference was flickering and had some slowdown ijs.😄 I do see some tall sprites in BR which in itself isn't hard but when they animate they can get very wide which is straining to the 8 sprites per scanline limit. I think they just wanted less constraint on their animation poses so they got a little small. You can see the more conservative approach to keyframe poses in your genre-montage as some really stay inside their sprite block limit Eg. River City Ransom.
Haven't thought about it that way, that they probably meant to make it as a Game Boy title. That's the only excuse for the sprites being so small. And my issue isn't so much that they are small, the play field for the relative size is TOO big! That's where the game loses it for me. I don't expect Batman to meet The Flash's speed, but he moves VERY slowly on a large play field, while certain thugs move way too fast for you to catch up with them (the tumblers especially), making taking them down just frustrating and time consuming. And those ice levels? Forget it. They're just controller chucking levels of maddening to get through, with him sliding all over the place. But I do like the shmup levels with the Batmobile better than the SNES one.
Refreshing to hear someone say they don't like the movie. Many, even a consensus, say it's a great movie. Some say it's better than the first. I never liked it. 89' took some liberties but Returns just took names of characters & Burtonified it. I don't think I knew this game existed. I played the first one a bit.
In some 8 bit games your character would disappear for a few frames. Mega Man is a good example of that working as mechanic. The Batman games?..... Yeah....not so much.
Always thought this was a decent game. And I really like the Batman sprite, it's so well-defined. And I don't mind 1 player only beat 'em ups since I often find them a good stress relief from having to deal with people (I'm autistic and have social anxiety) and just want something where I punch lots of folk in a purely fictional setting. I don't like the Burton films as much as I did when I was a kid. I find them very much style over substance. But Batman Returns came out within weeks of my 13th birthday and I'd already had a bit of a crush on Michelle Pfeiffer (my sis used to put Grease 2 VHS tape on our TV a lot and yeah Pfeiffer is Pfiiiiinnnnee) so her Catwoman and my puberty? Yea...
One player beat em ups have their place. You dont have to worry about friendly fire or the most common one -YOU STOLE MY CHICKEN in Bare Knuckle 2 and 3 (Streets of Rage). Or YOU STOLE MY PIZZA! (The TMNT games). I dont know how many times that was shouted back and forth between me and my brother growing up.
В этой игре, после прохождения, если зажать select, когда идут имена разработчиков, то по экрану будут бежать либо толстяк либо женщина-кошка, в зависимости от концовки.
Great video!! I never played this Batman game before. I only ever played the SunSoft Batman. I never heard anybody even talk about this Batman game, until now. It looks cool and I really want to try it out. I just found your Channel and I've been enjoying all your videos. Great work, Bro..
A good game, not a great game. Not as good as the SNES game due to the technical limitations. Whether the Genesis version is better depends on your tolerance for its extreme level of difficulty.
Rest In Peace to the great Paul Reubens!
Who's that?
Au revoir Pee-Wee!
Man, that broke me up a bit. Peewee was so much better than typical childrens entertainment. It was as subversive as kids shows got.
And the fact he was just a weirdo irl warms my cold dead heart.
Okl. Not to be rude but I don't much about Pee-Wee though.
I don't get why got so much hate for jerking off in a porno theater. What are you supposed to do in there?
Aptly timed. Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) passed yesterday. He had a cameo in th beginning of "Batman Returns" playing The Penguin's dad. The actress who played the waitress in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" was the mom. Scene is like 3 seconds.
Reubens also returned (heh...like batman here) to play father of a different incarnation of the Penguin in the much more recent TV series Gotham (And also Clayface disguised as that father). And this time he was a caring dad who was happy to discover Oswald was his son and welcoming of his dark past because he'd been through some darkness too. Was pretty cool.
Solid video and review as always. I think that sign is suppose to say "MAYOR", when playing on modern hardware or via emulation the lack of CRT Scanlines makes all the difference. Tek Syndicate has an excellent video on this.
yeah, there's definitely another very squished letter after the O. And it coooould be a R.
Imagine if Konami had made a beat ‘em up with the Batman The Animated Series license that they had. Two player co-op with Batman, Robin and Batgirl as selectable characters.
Don't forget Catwoman or Alfred as selected players
An NES version? Yes please!
@@BigOleWords I would love to see what Konami could have done with Bruce Timm’s style on a late NES chipset, it could have looked amazing. The SNES Batman and Robin game they made looks like an episode of the animated series as a side scroller
Talk about hidden gems… your channel is absolutely one.
Love your breakdowns, your delivery, your humor.
Remember all of us when you finally blow up the algorithm and lock up 100k subs.
I’ll never forget you…J47ronin ;)
@@BigOleWordsinspirational! It’s nice to see NES game views still getting a lot of views
Zangeif, you're being generous. That guy looks more like every retro videogamers second favorite ruskie Karnov.
You’re not wrong!
How could a Konami Batman game not be a big seller on 92? Even as a late generation release, it surely should've had good pulling power!😮
I don’t think any 1992-94 Konami NES game sold much of anything :)
@@BigOleWords at least old dudes like us can make up for that now 😉
the SNES was already out
The late NES era was weird when it came to sales. By that point both the SNES and Genesis were the main attraction to even the most casual of gamers. From what I recall the only people I knew who still semi regularly bought NES titles were either very casually into the hobby or just didn't have the money to get many games at all. Some great titles came out for sure but the spotlight had shifted drastically.
I owned and enjoyed this game as well as the other 2 NES titles. I did want the SNES version, but still only had my NES at that time. I felt it was like Final Fight Gotham City, or a turtles game with Batman characters. Loved this game. I am sure there were some let downs in the game that I forgot to time, but I mostly remember having a good time with it.
My favorite Xmas ever year movie. Danny Elfman's score is AWESOME. The SNES game is one of my favorite SNES games and I also own the NES version which is great. R.I.P. Chester Cobblepot.
Agreed, the music is amazing
Agreed. Even though some would not call it a Christmas movie, it clearly takes place during the holidays. Kinda like calling Die Hard not a Christmas movie. Ridiculous!
@@jackplumley3308 Friday After Next is a far superior Christmas movie
When it comes to Batman Returns, I remember the magazine and comic book ads for the game more than the actual game lol.
Great video. I love the revelation about some of these NES games being GB games. I don't know that it fits here though. Isn't it WAY too detailed? Like, in Cliffhanger the background is just some dots. And other games have those thick outlines on sprites to stand out on gameboy screens.
Bucky O'Hare and Zen both used 128k rom chips. Batman had a 256k chip for the character sprites. So, they even splurged on the pricier chips to get some extra memory out of them. I have no idea why the spites are so small? Just the aesthetic they were going for? Limitation of the NES because unlike Mighty Final Fight this game had some highly detailed artwork, selectable weapons and a couple driving stages - there was some more variety. Maybe they crammed in all they could without spending a stupid amount on the 512k chips. Those were more for RPGs they knew would sell super well especially in Japan and less so for movie license tie ins. No clue.
Yeah for sure it’s 1000 times better looking than cliffhanger. No idea why they went so tiny, it just feels weird compared to TMNT
So the style here is “Konami Style” (that’s what we called it as kids) think of it like Hotwheels cars. They have certain details they exaggerate so you pick up on those to make the subject more recognizable.
Sprites in a lot of Konami games use the same style. Small characters with no faces and generally “realistic proportions” so this Batman and his villains wouldn’t look out place (stylistically) in Rollergames, Track&Field, Castlevania, Bayou Billy or even Rush’n Attack. In fact you could probably take sprites from all these games and make a killer Double Dribble hack and all the sprite would look like they were designed to be there.
Batman Returns plays as well as it does because they had perfected the art of the beat ‘em up on the NES already and had fine-tuned the art of the beat ‘em up on the NES.
This game got completely missed by me at release and I didn’t even know it was a thing till years later finding it in a list of roms.
I think Mayo is supposed to say Mayor, but maybe that’s just how people in Gotham talk “Mayo Oswald Cobblepot”
there's a squished tiny letter after the O which I presume is supposed to be a R so yes.
I remember playing the SNES version in my freshman year of college 1992-93 school year. Most who could afford had moved on to the SNES but many still just had the NES. As a result I was aware of & played many late NES releases that a lot of folks didn't know til the rise of TH-cam. But strangely Batman Returns on NES was one I definitely missed & was unaware til TH-cam. But it seems a solid effort given big publishers/developers like Capcom has mostly moved development effort to the SNES.
I've gained more of an appreciation for the movie through the years. It's Burton's visual style that I love so much. Yeah, it's goofy for the most part, and it REALLY falls apart in the last scenes with the missile carrying penguins and whatnot, but it's a fun ride all the way through. DeVito was just about perfect, and everybody chewed their scenery appropriately.
Agreed, visually it’s remarkable. It’s that script and dialogue though, but woof.
@@BigOleWordsofc it’s one of the best Batman movies it’s like watching nightmare before Christmas and Batman mixed together
Great video. I always thought this game was too hard. Your timing has to be PERFECT to get through the most basic enemies without taking damage. It controls a lot like Turtles 2 (and 3), but the hit detection is just slightly off. As a comparison, I could routinely get all the way to Shredder in TMNT 2 as a kid but could never get past the first boss in Batman Returns.
Definitely not as forgiving or fluid as the TMNT games.
I played this game so many times as a kid. Until I got a PC this is something I would play almost every day for 2 -3 years. ALthough I have played hundreds of games on the NES back in the day. There is definitely something magical about this game, it just clicked for me. Also chip and dale rescue rangers 2 and TMNT 3 were the other ones among my top games.
Whoa that’s awesome! Those are three deep cuts right there!
This is one tough game. The passwords help but each level is a chore to get through.
Agreed!
I remember getting this game for my 5th birthday! I came home from kindergarten to my dad giving me this and me being so excited for a new NES game! The music takes me back. I remember it being pretty hard.
Whoa that’s awesome! And at 5 this would be impossible!
Maybe the "Mayo" sign supposed to say "Mayor" but they ran out of room.
Batman returns is great movie!
I found this on a multcart and legit thought it was a rom hack until today. This game never appeared in area in the 80s. Also. The train scene did appear in the movie. It's when the gang starts rounding up the first born. And the Mayo sign is a nod to the famous Mayonnaise factory where joker got his powers.
Ohhhh I forgot about the Mayo factory part of his origin!
Tuve este juego cuando era niño y era uno de mis favoritos. Los disfruté enormemente. Algo que se le olvida a mucha gente es la función de password. En aquellos tiempos eran pocos los juegos tipo beat'em up en los que había alguna forma de guardar el progreso. También ayudaba con la dificultad del juego, para sacar el mejor final posible. En fin, eran otros tiempos.
tienes razón, ¡el sistema de contraseña definitivamente ayuda mucho!
Bayou Billy 2.0…jeez that AI is relentless!!😮
Batman Returns was the first Batman game I played on the nes. Great memories the game has a infinite energy and infinite batrangs password.
❤❤❤
Those would’ve come in handy!
Remember Batman returns for Super Nintendo that game was really good I loved the music too it was just a great game
Cool video! You gave us both a film review and a videogame one 😎
Haha just a quick film review for sure :)
This is the only Batman I haven’t beat yet….on the nes.
Those were the days, i remember renting this game for the Sega Genisis. ❤
I played a lot of that one as a kid as well. Good game for sure, but hard as nails..
Whow! This has got to be one of the best looking original NES games! The sprites are small, but really well drawn, colorful, and well animated, and the backgrounds are really damn good looking, with awesome designs, dark palettes, and animation. I have never seen the movie but I'm impressed almost all of this game can be seen in the movie, that's cool
MAYO
It’s a very faithful adaptation for sure :)
ive actually played it...still remember the first level music and boss music...never got passed the first level.
That first boss is tough!
I probably wasn't even 6 years old and had no idea you could switch weapons.. honestly I never knew until I watched this video..but then again I haven't played it since
The organ grinder was so hard as a kid. I ended up beating it years later but always loved this game.
2 player co-op is almost necessary for a good brawl. Great review as always!
maybe though I have no problem with 1 player ones i've played. Mostly cos I have no local gamer friends. I do get annoyed though when new retro-styled beat 'em ups have multiplayer but no online way of using it. Double Dragon Gaiden just got released and it's 2 player local only. No online. Whereas TMNT: Shredder's Revenge lets you have online with up to six players total (even mixing and matching online and local players in the same session). As I said I don't mind if a beat em up is designed to be 1 player, but when it's designed around multiplayer but then doesn't offer that same option to those more lonely/disabled of us then it's a bit unfair. :P
Great review, as always! Can't say I agree with your opinion on the movie, I've only seen it once a couple years ago and I loved it, although that may just have been because of the actors. This was the only NES Batman game I had back in the day and it was an all-time favorite (I only had the '89 TMNT game too, so not much to colpare to in terms of Konami beat-em-ups). Aa far as I'm concerned, this game is as good as a licensed movie game on the system could be. Aesthetically it's a masterpiece. Granted, the sprites are on the smaller side for a beat-em-up, but they are rather detailed. I think this size was chosen to alleviate sprite flicker, or for some other technical reason.
The theory of this game being a souped-up GB title is interesting, but I really can't say I subscribe to it. It's just way too well-made and meticulously detailed for that, the presentation sure is, at least. If anything, this seems like a Megaman 8 and Megaman & Bass type of situation where the SNES title was the main game and its overall concept was reused for the game on the weaker console and they already had the TMNT beat-em-up engine and reused it for a "consolation prize" game for the folks that hadn't upgraded to the SNES. Both games were most likely developed concurrently using the same base design concepts. Aside from that, the NES was on its way out when Batman Returns released, and the Gameboy was definitely doing much better, so I think Konami's strategy was just to make two home console versions from the beginning; making a GB game, not releasing it and converting it into a NES one while seemingly also upping the production values just doesn't sound like a plan a developer would bother wasting their time on.
They were pumping out Batman games back in the day, guess it was a good time to be a gamer and like Batman
Yes it was!
If it is actually a reskin of a never-made Gameboy game, this would have been a GREAT game for that handheld.
Yes it would’ve!
As a person who has never liked Batman at all, I appreciated the two second clip of P.O.W. Inserted towards the end. It reminded me of playing it as a kid and thinking I was a bad ass gi joe type dude ready to go full rambo on some baddies
P.O.W. Is really good. Hard as hell but super fun
The "Mayo" sign looks like a kid tried to write "Mayor" but ran out of room.
Nailed it
Yeah dude! I just bought the snes version AND the special edition blu ray of the movie for tonight, great timing! RETRO STRONG, ATLANTA BRAVE, LETS GOOOOOO!
Great video. I remember renting this from Blockbuster and really enjoying it. It’s one I’m still looking to add to my NES collection.
I just looked it up and it’s not especially pricy like other games from that era!
@@BigOleWords you’re right! For that era it isn’t too bad. I think a CIB copy averages about $180. Being that I just picked up a Tengen Tetris CIB I might have to wait a little before getting this one 😂
Rest in Peace Vincent Chiavelli
That’s right!
Fun Fact: Batman Returns is the only Batman movie that is also a Christmas movie.
That is a fun fact!
Batman returns and snes was amazing.
Two episodes of the 1966 Batman deal with the Penguin trying to run for Mayor, and I can't help but think the premise for this film was based on that.
Great video, but the movie Batman Returns is absolutely awesome, you are out to lunch on that.
The sign actually says Mayor but the r is cut off in an unfortunate way
Is it just me, or does the guy they keep showing in green with the sword look like Trikliops from MOTU?
I have the DC comic book adaption and it has some of the stuff that was cut from the film.
Interesting. I didn't even know that a game like this exists. I knew about the SNES version, but have never heard or read about this. It looks okay, but since it is a single-player beat-'em-up game, I don't think it would be as fun to play as the original Batman for NES.
And it isn’t!
No one played?I played the shit out of this one, and managed to fully beat it only after around a month of grind.I had significantly less skill back then, I take it😁
There is a second box in the game to help with the difficulty. It's hidden half way through the game in an open window that you hook into.
Oh damn, really?!
@@BigOleWordsI'll have to play it again to remember exactly where, but there should be 3 in total
@BigOleWords I'm replaying it now and the second box is in 3-1 where you jump into the second window. You kill the two fire throwing guys in there and then use your hook to hit the chandelier and it will drop
This is one of those games that came out at a time when all we cared about was 16-bit, otherwise we would have went crazy for it. It's a great game that could've had a bigger impact if the 16-bit consoles weren't already out
Wow. Long vid to start my day, heck yeah! Good timing with passing of peewee, we watch the playhouse every week (break from sesame/muppets). Good stuff man, it does kinda look like a gameboy game turned NES. And yes, this is NOT the batman on NES anyone wad playing
I stopped playing this game at the first boss....I did not know about the bat-a-rangs
Yeah that’s the only way right there
Late era NES releases were definitely interesting in a lot of ways. Sometimes you'll get something which showcases the best the console had to offer but often you've got stuff like this which was a mixed bag. My main Batman Returns memories are tied up with the Nintendo Power issue that covered this game, the movie itself was very much not what I really wanted after how amazing 6 year old me thought the original was. I do remember getting Batman Return of the Joker on NES for Christmas the year this came out, I'm guessing my aunt found it in a bargain bin because it was probably the nicest gift she ever got me. Now that was a cool game and definitely prefer it over this one.
It's 'MAYOR', not 'MAYO' - they're supposed to be Penguin's election posters or something. As for that one weird background design, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a large window that Batman and Catwoman stand in front of for one scene. It's a short scene, but a surprisingly prominent design element, so it tends to make a lot of appearances in fan art and spin-off media.
I think the block has a timer on it, so you can't just hold it and block every attack. you have to use it at just the right time. someone correct me if I'm wrong. it's been like a year since I've played this game and never bothered to block
It works even if you hold it, but you still take damage. So it’s honestly more useful to just use the cape attack.
Looks more like the arcade game of the original game that was ported to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. I really liked the first Batman game with the Ninja Gaiden gameplay. Sunsoft was about the only developer that made decent movie games.
Sunsoft is in the "top 3 best nes devs ever". That being, in no particular order - konami, capcom, and sunsoft.
And they have the best music hands down.
They did make some solid ones…and Fester’s Quest
Always liked this game, and the SNES version. I remember Nintendo Power having multipage specials on both versions. These were both rentals for me but I never bought them.
The only Batman game I owned in the nineties was the Sega Genesis Batman game, which to this day I feel is a (difficult) classic, with one of the best soundtracks on the system.
At least there is an excuse for not having 2-player mode. Batman works alone. At least during this time frame. Although a 2-player mode would have been nice. But who would join him? Maybe Alfred.....Actually that would have been great. LOL
Now that’s a mod we all need!
I was ready to type up a comment about how I played and loved the hell out of this game, but once the video actually started, I realized I was not thinking of the right game. I was thinking of Return of Joker, not Batman Returns.
That is a great game though!
I think the sprite work is really neat in this game and idk about it being a repurposed gameboy game.
Since we're on the topic of NES games nobody played...How about Kiwi Kraze?
That’s a good one! Maybe not the most common, but I do think a lot of folks played it back in the day.
Another banger, thanks James!
Thanks bud!
This is one of those games that I only found out about by finding it on one (or three) of my multi carts.
I like how every version of this title is 100% different. I've played it on NES, SNES, Genesis and Game Gear and each version is completely its own thing.
It's actually on 3 of my multi carts.....
143 in 1
The Best of the NES
Cartoons Collection
And that Druggy Final Fight hack I mentioned in the live stream is on a GBA multi cart called No Repeat 369 in 1 Games and it has a bunch of repeats on it, only 20 GBA games and the rest is NES on GBA on GameBoy Player Nintendo GameCube.... I think I will publish a video on that title....
If your a NES fan this is an excellent beat em up imo.
Probably on a par
with Turtles Arcade NES.
Oh damn, that’s a bold statement!
I never really got the point of having large sprites. I mean sure, they look good but they also mean you get less screen real estate for movement. Large sprites are the perfect example of letting visual candy get in the way of good gameplay.
And yet I’d argue TMNT3 does exactly that and the gameplay is still super fun
That big red thing that you can't identify seems to me to look like a giant deep sea diver
Hmmm maybe!
Thanks for showing us 💎
Ah yes! I played the hell out of this one!
It has a particular look because it was the small brother, with the SNES version being paraded on magazine previews while this one was out.
I didn't have a SNES so I played this one in the meantime. Not many beat-em ups in the NES either, for reasons that are clear every time you play one.
It was good! good enemy variety and large backgrounds that made up for the tiny sprites.
I never beat this one, I should give it a try now. With cheats, savestates and autofire.
Save states go a long way with this one ;)
i not only had it but played it and it was very good
This game kicks ass. I agree Mighty Final Fight is better but this is still one of the best Beatem’ups on the NES.
Single player, it’s up there for sure!
I suppose that, on NES, is a tradeoff between large sprites and super detailed backdrops (like in this game here). Even then, the content here, despite certain NES-ish drawbacks, is AAA-list.
That's very true!
3:36 It says Mayor. Lol
I don't think anyone thought my mayo joke was funny ;)
While the beat 'em up style gets rather repetitive and dull, I'll give it this: it's the only Batman game for the NES or SNES in which you can play as the Batmobile.
7:09 - That's the Batskiboat.
Now that’s a vehicle name!
I like this game and I think it look really cool
for some reason this game scared me as a kid, i felt in danger ha...
I get it!
Hey BOW did you play Shredder's Revenge? it's a Recent Retro Style Beat em up that I'm sure you'll enjoy if you like Beat em ups and TMNT.
I still have not played it! Turtles 3 is one of my all time favorites so I’m sure I’d love it :)
I played this one a bit. It was pretty solid really. Two player would have made it better, but who would P2 be? Those Burton Batman movies are definitely amazing looking, though I get why one might not like Returns that much. Pro-nerd note: Batman has sharp blades sewn into the scallops on the end of his cape, which is the super move here in the game.
Yeah, no Robin at this point. But eh, the Superman arcade game didn't care there wasn't a similar sidekick for him and just had player 2 be Superman in a red suit with grey cape (some folk theorise it could be inspired by Captain Marvel / Shazam but the sprite is definitely just palette swapped Supes)
@@carn9507 Yeah, I remember that Superman game. I guess that could work, but, you know, I get why it's single player too.
Ahhh that makes sense!
This game was quite popular in Russia and Ukraine. We played a lot in our company. Definetely the game could be better. They should introduce Robin or Gordon to let us play in co-op mode. Wish the stages be less tedious. But even with the set of drawbacks, the game is still above the average level.
Robin wouldn't be introduced until the next movie. Not just the actual released Batman Forever, even in the original Batman 3 Burton wanted to make, he was always planned for later.
yeah Robin didn't exist in those films at this point and I'm not sure how Gordon would be playable to the same degree as Batman but also Gordon was barely a character in Burton's films. One of the main issues I had with those films. Thankfully Batman The Animated Series (partially inspired by the films but doing it's own thing and reaching right back into the lore) knew Gordon is absolutely essential.
I am well aware that there was no Robin in the movie and that Gordon was next to noone storywise, but way too often game desiners change story if that helps the gameplay ...or just sales😊
Sprite size on NES isn't a straightforward process, like your TMNT reference was flickering and had some slowdown ijs.😄
I do see some tall sprites in BR which in itself isn't hard but when they animate they can get very wide which is straining to the 8 sprites per scanline limit. I think they just wanted less constraint on their animation poses so they got a little small.
You can see the more conservative approach to keyframe poses in your genre-montage as some really stay inside their sprite block limit Eg. River City Ransom.
Haven't thought about it that way, that they probably meant to make it as a Game Boy title. That's the only excuse for the sprites being so small. And my issue isn't so much that they are small, the play field for the relative size is TOO big! That's where the game loses it for me. I don't expect Batman to meet The Flash's speed, but he moves VERY slowly on a large play field, while certain thugs move way too fast for you to catch up with them (the tumblers especially), making taking them down just frustrating and time consuming. And those ice levels? Forget it. They're just controller chucking levels of maddening to get through, with him sliding all over the place. But I do like the shmup levels with the Batmobile better than the SNES one.
Yes totally agree
Refreshing to hear someone say they don't like the movie.
Many, even a consensus, say it's a great movie. Some say it's better than the first. I never liked it.
89' took some liberties but Returns just took names of characters & Burtonified it.
I don't think I knew this game existed. I played the first one a bit.
Looks like a Bayou Billy swap
I can see it!
really been enjoying going through your "games no one played" series. Lots of hidden gems out there that I either played or wanted to play
Awesome, glad you dig em!
Fun stuff as always!!!!
In some 8 bit games your character would disappear for a few frames. Mega Man is a good example of that working as mechanic. The Batman games?..... Yeah....not so much.
I only see bits and pieces of BATMAN RETURNS
Like Danny DeVito's Penguin
More of a fan of 16-bit Beat 'em ups
Good ish! Played it.
This game is really cool !!!
Always thought this was a decent game. And I really like the Batman sprite, it's so well-defined. And I don't mind 1 player only beat 'em ups since I often find them a good stress relief from having to deal with people (I'm autistic and have social anxiety) and just want something where I punch lots of folk in a purely fictional setting.
I don't like the Burton films as much as I did when I was a kid. I find them very much style over substance. But Batman Returns came out within weeks of my 13th birthday and I'd already had a bit of a crush on Michelle Pfeiffer (my sis used to put Grease 2 VHS tape on our TV a lot and yeah Pfeiffer is Pfiiiiinnnnee) so her Catwoman and my puberty? Yea...
One player beat em ups have their place. You dont have to worry about friendly fire or the most common one -YOU STOLE MY CHICKEN in Bare Knuckle 2 and 3 (Streets of Rage). Or YOU STOLE MY PIZZA! (The TMNT games).
I dont know how many times that was shouted back and forth between me and my brother growing up.
@@childofcascadia Heh, yeah, part of the fun of multiplayer is 'accidentally' screwing things up for your team mates. :)
В этой игре, после прохождения, если зажать select, когда идут имена разработчиков, то по экрану будут бежать либо толстяк либо женщина-кошка, в зависимости от концовки.
What is the name of that intro song? I wanna check that sh!t out
It’s from a Mr Show sketch: Jeepers Creepers
Please review more PAL-exclusive games. :)
I always will! Still 20 or so more to cover!
Great video!! I never played this Batman game before. I only ever played the SunSoft Batman. I never heard anybody even talk about this Batman game, until now. It looks cool and I really want to try it out. I just found your Channel and I've been enjoying all your videos. Great work, Bro..
Hey thanks so much, glad you’re digging it!
Sweet! CTSO
I was pretty disappointed in Batman Returns back in the day when I saw it in High school.
The nes version is pretty fun to play.
It is pretty fun :)
A good game, not a great game. Not as good as the SNES game due to the technical limitations. Whether the Genesis version is better depends on your tolerance for its extreme level of difficulty.
Ty