It's amazing that Clockwork Tortoise came out of nowhere with techniques of this quality, it's the typ of stuff you'd only normally see from Treasure or Travellers Tales.
At least in terms of graphics, I saw the potential in Batman Returns. The gameplay wasn't anything special, but you could tell the devs had a good handle on the Genesis hardware
Fun little thing, there were bonuses for defeating enemies fast enough or in a certain order. For example, on the first level, theres a stopping point where the clowns spawn from above onto the awning. they spawn in 5s from left to right, then right to left. If you defeat all 10 right as they spawn, an extra life will spawn On the second level, theres a section where vertical lines of the little RC helicopters spawn. If you can take out an entire line from below in one shot before it reaches the left side of the screen, it will drop rewards like powerups and I think one drops an extra life as well. The only other one I found so far was the one in the flying stage where the little RC planes fly formation together, if you can destroy them all before any fly away, you get a powerup. I'm sure there are others, thats just all I've found so far, I've only ever got to the Mad Hatter boss once.
I love the soundtrack, but I don’t think it fits this game at all… and it sounds too similar to Red Zone and Subterranea by the same composer. Something closer to the TV Show music would have been a better choice.
This game blew my mind back in the day. Took me 3 months to master the entire game and i got it memorised from the get go to the end. And the soundtrack, oh man, even to this day it plays inside my head. In my humble opinion, from the technical aspect, this is the BEST game of the entire Mega Drive library. And artisticaly, is easily a top 5.
I totally agree with most of what you've said. But man, this game was freaking hard!! Lol. I'm talking NES, Ninja Gaiden level 5 hard. But what many don't realize is that you can actually make it to the last level in this game, but it will take time, practice and skill. I never beat this one but I did make it to level 5. As far as the special fx goes, this game has arguably the greatest special FX ever seen on the Genesis with maybe only 4 other titles on the system in it's league. Everything about this game is amazing. Seeing The Adv of Batman & Robin makes you wonder why Sega even bothered with releasing the 32x.
John O'Brien was the programmer for this game, who had previously done the 3D driving sections for the CD port of Batman Returns. Apparently after Batman & Robin he was so burned out from crunch that he quit the industry and opened a café instead. Clockwork Tortoise shut down after being relocated from the UK to San Francisco which did not sit well with the remaining staff.
Lemme guess, it meant that they'd deal with far worse time constraints? Seriously, just look how little of a crap a lot of game publishers over here gave back in the late 90s.
Hi! I couldn’t help but notice SegaLordX almost never used the jumped kick in this footage. This game is indeed on the hard side, but learning how to use the double jump (2 different kinds of kick, a regular one and a diving one) makes it really easier and more dynamic/enjoyable 😉
I absolutely love the soundtrack of this game. The Sega CD's version has a pretty great soundtrack too. Btw, about the difficulty, I'd definitely recommend utilizing those jump kicks as much as possible. Yes the range attacks are good for distance but those jump kicks pack some damage and I found the game much easier once I started piercing through enemies that way.
Yeah, I mean, it's the only proper way to kill the robot-cat boss, just kick the nose of the poor thing untill it rings in his ears) It's also a great way to deal with the big burglar boys in the first levels. Feels so good to jump down on them with hard sounding boom-boom-boom))
How cool would it have been had SEGA, a la Batman Returns CD, made a SEGA CD version of Batman & Robin that had the side-scrolling run & gun sections of the base/cartridge game PLUS the super-scaler driving combat we got in the SEGA CD version? Add in a couple extra levels & villains (The Riddler, Clayface & The Penguin, maybe?) & replace the soundtrack w/a more Animated Series appropriate redbook audio & you'd arguably have one of the top ten games of that generation.
This game is an audio system benchmark. I still loved seeing the bit from CGR's channel when they reviewed this game, because they had the camera pan to their tower speakers and watching the sub threaten to pound out of its frame with the banger beats of this game is just amazing!
I still think that the scaling on the Mad Hatter stage is the best scaling that I have ever seen on the Genesis. And to add the transparency effect at the same time is just icing on the very delicious cake! One of my favorite effects was the Chesire Cat's face falling into the screen after being defeated.
Man I remember this game from back in the day. The great thing about this era is that you have two different takes on the same IP, leading to completely different experiences( the SNES version is good too but in a different way). We were all so caught up in the '16 bit wars' that we should have been celebrating this kind of thing. Nowadays, if 'the Adventures of Batman and Robin' came out for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch it would be the same game across all platforms.
Not really it would probably be the same game on both the Xbox and PlayStation but the switch version would obviously be the weaker version you know due to the hardware being weaker but I would reckon the switch version would be one of those impossible ports.
What sorta sorcery did Clockwork Tortoise, Inc pull off here?! And imagine what else they could've made had they worked on other SEGA Genesis games as a team!
This game is just 🔥It is one of the reasons why I am a retro gamer today since the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive was the only platform this verion of the game ever came out on. When I played it back in the day, I knew I was playing something special even when it kicked my butt time and time again, I absolutely loved the soundtrack. It's the kind of soundtrack that just gets you pumped up and although it sounds nothing like the music you are accustomed to from the series, it just fits so well. Too bad we never got a Batman Beyond game from this developer for the system because I know that also would have been something special indeed. I loved how both Batman & Robin games on the Sega systems pushed their respective hardware and seeing the Sega CD game in action makes it look like something running on the Saturn or PS1. Thanks for the video!
So glad you finally tackled this one. One of the 1st games I felt in looking up who the composer was (Jesper Kyd), because he truly shocked me from this sick OST he produced. Respect.
May not be a fitting soundtrack for a Batman game, on the surface. Once you started playing, though, damn did it fit. What a technical achievement in graphics and pushing the sound chip.
Holy crap that soundtrack is a banger. That’s seriously like incredible techno, especially for the time. It’s a decade ahead of it’s time, IMHO as a producer.
Jesper Kyd, the composer who would go on to compose for the early Assassin's Creed games, and Borderlands. I think this was his first or second game. 20+ years later and that first boss theme is still ingrained in my being. Jesper is just on another level.
That's insane that some random third party developer were able to pull off so many incredible visual effects on the good old Megadrive. Sega should've hired these guys!
I remember renting this from Blockbuster as a kid. It was nails hard. I remember having to return it without beating it, but came to the final Mr Freeze levels wondering how much of it was left. It was definitely a gauntlet.
I'm proud to say that I beat this game (only once) back in the day. You definitely need to memorize the patterns. As for the music, I LOVE IT!!! The boss themes were some of my favorites. Even though the SNES version felt more true to the series, the Genesis version had nonstop, intense action that made your hands sweat.
and unlike the snes version this version at least was true to the title's name which is the adventures of batman and Robin which means 1 or 2 players unlikely the other versions of the same title
The reason why I love your channel, your charm, finesse, accent, the spectacular narration leaves me in awe and laughing out loud! Dude you're the best!
Jesper Kyd's music in this game is just fantastic. I love this game so much. 12:56 Ah I have to disagree with you here, SLX. Like you said before, the more you play the better you get and you can reach a point where you're just unstoppable. I played so many times this game that I can manage to reach the Hatter Boss fight without losing a single life.
@@Vulpas That's weird because even old school Nintendo games were about memorization. That's where the term 'NintendoHard' came from. It's why I can't get into the modern Mario games, they're nowhere near as challenging as the NES trilogy.
@@mickeycortes6649 Nintendo, mostly (Zelda, Donkey Kong, Mario, Yoshi, Star Fox, Kirby, Pokemon, etc). Also, my favorite genres don't have much of that (RPGs, puzzle, adventure, and fighting games). A well balanced masterpiece like Donkey Kong Country 2 or Suoer Mario Bros 3 is fair but. challenging your first time through, and every death is your fault, never any b.s.
@@joseluki Not only did it eat batteries, but it was just too big to lug around for a "portable." The original Game Boy was big, but it wasn't anywhere near THAT big.
@@zanegandini5350 Size was not the problem, it was the battery consumption, even with the added battely pak it was ridiculous, because it was a portable master system.
Please don't change the intro. I watch these before bed and I can't tell you how comfortable it is to hear the intro right when I am about twenty away from dozing off.
I remember the ads for this game really hyping the “3D” elements. A buddy of mine rented it from Blockbuster and although it wasn’t what we were expecting, we enjoyed it all the same. A different friend purchased it along with a Game Genie which is the only way we could beat it. I think the furthest I ever made it legitimately was the Mad Hatter fight or perhaps the first Mr. Freeze stage.
I beated the game with a game genie code last Week. I used the always max level for weapons.. it changed the game completly! I remember renting this game again and again on blockbuster with my brother . But the mad hatter level is insane and the boss is too hard, we could never beat it.. Also the game difficult is ridiculous hard, only 6continues with 2lives, p2 can’t join a boss battle if out of lifes, no easy or normal mode… but the ost and the game give me lots of fun
What Jesper Kyd was able to do with the Sega's audio is as impressive to me as the awesome visual effects of this fantastic, punishing game. I wish Kyd had done more soundtracks on the system.
He did about 5 osts on the Genesis. All of them are good. Batman & Robin, Red Zone (Hitman Contracts remixed some of the songs from Red Zone.), Sub-Terrania, Pro-Moves Soccer and 1 other game but I never played it so I don't remember.
It's an awesome soundtrack, but the overall sound driver was less impressive than what the Japanese like Koshiro and Sakimoto were able to achieve. Jesper used all 6 FM (1 optional sample channel included) for the music, leaving the sound effects for the PSG channels, resulting in excellent music, but very primitive sound effects. The Japanese drivers combined FM and PSG channels and used the latter to enhance the music, leaving some FM/sample channels for the sound effects. This is why games like Streets of Rage 2 have both excellent music and sound effects.
Yes one of the best looking games on the Sega genesis but the game is just OK. It could have been much more but it is just a shooter with great graphics and special effects. The music is also amazing!!! Too bad the game is just OK!!!
I think the difficulty is fitting .. Batman may be a super hero, but he’s also a normal human . His skill sets him apart, and you have to be skillful to win this game
This is one of the games I have the most joy beating them legit, up to the point that I always put the game with NO CREDITS to continue the game, and yeah, I can do a 1 credit run with little to no problems, but hardly a no-death run, plus, is also a joy because is one of those games that my bros. just failed no matter what they did... unless they play the game with me. Edit: Back in 2013 I was able to get the game for my Genesis Model 2 that I got in December 2012, I don't know nowdays how much it costs, but I got it for about 10 USD back in 2013.
this game is graphically amazing, and really needed and should have had a very forgiving "easy mode" or "casual mode". With a Game Genie device and a few good codes like can make the game far more fun IMO
There's a famous hack of this game called "Bat-advantage", which essentially has your weapon on fully charged mode for the entire time (not just when you grab the power-up for it). It easens the difficulty a bit and I've seen multiple people who had difficulties with this game back in the day praising it.
You know back in grade school when you folded up a piece of paper into a triangle and tried to flick it through the goal posts that consisted of your friend's fingers? Well those paper triangles feel like what Batman is using for weapons in this game. There's no feeling of impact when your weapon hits an enemy. They're not useful at all and each and every individual enemy takes way too long to die. The stages are also way too long, especially that one where you're flying over the buildings. **yadda yadda RENTAL MARKET yadda yadda**
@@Aragorn7884 correction: "sad, but your opinion". In my opinion the game is awesome, it's hard sure but fare. When you learn the enemy patterns after a few tries the game becomes totally manageable.
@@mickeycortes6649 Yeah I just play it like Gunstar heroes and jump kick everything. I only shoot to whittle down the hordes but I use melee attacks for the kills. I play a similar way in Gunstar heroes, except I throw enemies at crowds instead.
Getting past the flying level for the first time made me made me feel like I beat the game. Muscle memory will get you pretty far in the game, but you'll need dedication and perseverance to beat it.
I still hook my launch model Genesis to play this game today. I think this game encourages you to play it as a brawler more than shooter because the close range punch/kick and jump kicks make more damage and are more effective than the proyectiles. And I have to admit, playing like this mastering the close range techniques it's way more intense and fun than stay standing and shooting. And it feels more like Batman this way 👍.
This game was mind blowing. Sure it may have been contra with a batman skin but it was beautiful to look at and a blast to play. One of the best looking and sounding games on the genesis. The sega cd game is often called the lost episode of the show with art and voicework from the show itself.
This game is one of my favorite beat-em-ups for the Genesis. 2P is where the fun's at - much more playable (easier) with 2 players. I think growing up with Genesis music is why I love electronic music. This game has some real club bangers
One of my all time favorites, got it for my birthday and back then I was lucky if I got 1 or 2 games a year so I used to play it religiously, can still beat it in one go, I was the only genesis kid in the neighborhood so I used to invite my friends over to play so they could see what the console was capable of
My brother and I saved up our allowance and bought this game from Kay-Bee toys. As someone who has mastered it, I'd recommend sticking to upgrading the bolo weapon as quickly as possible and then sticking with that the entire game. It's the most powerful weapon of the 3.
This game is relentless! I still haven't beaten it but can get far into it without continuing. If you're not fully powered up or die on the area with mushrooms, its very hard to get through it. Usually thats when ill stop and just take a break.
Thank you for reviewing this game! It's one of my favorites of the whole 16-bit era. I don't agree with you on every point but I'm just glad that this game gets some attention. Myself I love the sound track, for me it's one of the best of that generation.
Nice! This was my very first game on Mega Drive. The first stage took 3 weeks (age of 15 or so), another 2 or 3 months to complete the game. It becomes easy as you learn patterns and manage to stay at max ammo levels (no lives lost). Low ammo in the second part of the game = reset. This was fun to see Sega Lord standing under the cat boss' head and getting damaged when it felt. Typical problem when playing for the first time :)
The crushing difficulty as well as being a batman "shooter" turns everyone away that I show the game to. I would also argue that the first level is the most bland compared to the treats of the rest of the game, an odd introduction. However, it stands as one of my top 3 genesis games, with some of my favorite "moments" in the entire generation.
Great video, and review! Being a big Sega fan that I am, I came across this game years ago at a swap meet and was all over it. I did not grow up watching The Adventures of Batman & Robin, but as soon as I saw the cartridge laying there on a tarp on the ground I knew I had to buy it. At that time I knew it was a semi-expensive game, and I think the teenage kid selling it only charged me $5 or $10 for it. I still own it today, loose cartridge only!
Games like these show the western developers were starting to show signs that the next decade onwards, the golden days of Japanese gaming market would be much smaller. Throughout the 80's and 90's, Japan was king (except at home with consoles like Atari 2600, but after that there was no contest). Today, Japan is unbelievably small in this market, as far as gaming development goes. I wonder if the minimum quality standards back then were to release games with this technical quality and others like Ranger X, Donkey kong Country and so on, we'd have a very different library to replay and remember today.
Myself and one of my closest friends love the soundtrack to this game. I even work out to the music from time to time. Salute to you for doing this review. Keep up the great throwback reviews! 👏🏾👊🏾💯
^^^ dude just had to make it weird. I know it’s just a joke, but it seems no matter what you comment on, you can ALWAYS count on trolls to emerge from beneath their bridges. You could say sh!t that isn’t even remotely controversial, yet someone out there will find something to complain or argue about or turn it into something totally irrelevant like politics 😆 Or they’ll just try to clown on the OP for no reason. To reiterate, the dude who left the first reply, I know it was just a joke, so I’m not exactly referring to you.. your comment was mild compared to A LOT of the sh!t I see.. I’m more so referring to the real toxic, argumentative, insulting sh!t that trolls constantly say, unprovoked. Your comment may have been meant as just a lighthearted joke..but it just kinda made me think of how common trolling has become. There’s like a whole society of trolls 😆 I am curious, why even reply with such a comment, insinuating that the dude is making sweet love to his workout partner to the Batman music? Lol it’s funny, but uncalled for, and it just makes me want to know what provokes one to leave such a comment to a dude who was simply sharing his thoughts.
Great video you posted. Did you ever played any of batman arkham games? Their the best batman games. And what do you think about the snes version of batman returns? Are you thinking of doing the review for that snes game?
One of the best games the SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis ever made !! Playing this game in 2-player mode(with my brother) was a spectacular feeling and .... also ... *its electronic music/soundtrack is INCREDIBLE* and it's also a showcase of the true potential that the sound-chip of the MegaDrive had , regarding the electronic sound !!! Until today i keep listening its OST(which was composed by Jesper Kyd) from time to time here in youtube and every time i realise that after 20years my ears keep loving it , and that *this soundtrack is timeless* !!! totally recommend it to everyone who like electronic/synthesizer music !! Thank you for the memories !! (well ,actually for me not really memories , since as i said , i keep hearing the OST even today from time to time)
Love the Genesis port of The Adventures of Batman & Robin! Though I never could beat it I didn't care I went back to the game frequently and it has one of my all-time favorite video game soundtracks.
12:28 Wow even back then game reviewers were people who didn't know anything about games, eh? Pretty harsh and low-effort review considering how much work clearly went into this game.
Technically it's awesome in every category. It's also a lot of fun, but too difficult for me to complete without cheating. But, just like with other 90s too-hard games, there are codes so I don't care.
The recap of magazine reviews from the time is a really good feature in these. Context for the time is important, and I don't see anybody else doing it.
This is my favorite game for the platform. There is sort of a flow that you get into when you play and understand the game mechanics well. The Mad Hatter boss is probably one of the best boss fights ever in a game.
Got this game new back in the day, used to thinki was pretty good at it. Been playing it again for the last few days and wow. I was so relieved to hear you say you never beat it start to finish. 😅 The downward jump-kick DESTROYS enemies, especially while letting you keep your forward momentum going.
It never ceases to amaze me when I see what a little 7mhz 68000 cpu was capable of. This game is incredible visually. If only the sound were of equal quality.
Omg memories as a kid playing this and how crazy fun it was, still need that 1 back in my pretty decent collection ive got over the years. must play, must have!
Didn't have a Sega growing up, SNES only, so I couldn't play this until emulation. Fired it up last week and I knew this was gonna take some time to master with everything being thrown at me. Love a challenge, hopefully this summer I can give it the attention it deserves.
at a buffet, i personally sneak corndogs into the buffet so others can enjoy them. I hide 6 corndogs in my jacket pockets. it then, is a joy for me to see other patrons of the establishment eat my corndogs thinking they were part of the buffet.
Great looking game, which still holds up today. Has there been any type of difficulty /ultimate edition hack/patch for it? A few tweaks here and there could make it a lot more fun to play.
This game has one of the best soundtracks available on the Sega Genesis! I remember turning the volume all the way up when I used to play it. Rocking music!
I'm glad that you made note of the difficulty. I feel like other reviews haven't mentioned it very much. Bit of a shame since I love TAS and this is a gorgeous game. I agree with the critical points you bring up in the end about the difficulty and this being a run n gun. I was just thinking about how Batman must carry a million batarangs in this game.
Okay, I just KNOW I have to get this one someday. There are many good Batman games from the 8-Bit to 16-Bit era of games (with some stinkers sandwiched in) but this one blows me away just by watching it. There are visual effects in this game that I would have never expected the Genesis to be able to do, the hand-drawn sprite animation and use of color are astonishingly faithful to the 90's animated series it's based on, and the soundtrack is freakin sweet (some of them are real boppers and would make for perfect dance club or rave party music)! The gameplay looks fun and challenging too. This one is definitely a showcase for Sega's flagship gaming machine!
Batman & Robin is one of my all time favorite games. Can you imagine its for a $200 console from 1988, and has better special effects than basically all 2D games released in recent years.
I always felt like the music in Adventures of Batman & Robin was super impressive, especially for the SEGA Genesis hardware. My only issue is that it feels like it doesn't match the ip & is more adequate to a Contra-like run & gun or beat'em up. I mean, did Jasper Kidd ever listen to the score from the TV show?
This game is so good and challenging it sits well next to Alien Soldier and MUSHA. Shame we haven't seen a Batman Retro collection yet, be nice to see this game and others available again.
The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the Mega Drive is an absolutely amazing feat of programming wizardry with a banging soundtrack that I’ve listened to from start to finish and is my favourite soundtrack from Jesper Kidd.
This game is and will always be a legend. It has mythically good visual effects and the music is written by Jesper Kyd. It's basically a Scavenger game but it's not called that. And... it's impossible. I've never beaten the first level, and I don't know if I will ever bother. What a shame.
Amazing game, one of my absolute favorites. Love the music as well. This game is actually pretty easy when you learn how to play it) It has a snowball effect, if you keep steadily improving the weapon of choice (green thingie rocks most of the game) you end up destroying almost everything in your way, and doing so will let you easily kill enemies in one swoop which sometimes gives more power ups and lives. But if you die or accidentally change the weapon and lower its level - you're gonna regret it and will struggle to get back to form since everything is not dying now as it supposed) When I was a kid I couldn't even beat the first boss for quite some time, then I learned I should avoid loosing lives at all costs and was able to go farther and farther. When I started collecting retro consoles and bought sega again I went through that game without losing a single life, considering last time I played it was like 15 years ago or something.
It's amazing that Clockwork Tortoise came out of nowhere with techniques of this quality, it's the typ of stuff you'd only normally see from Treasure or Travellers Tales.
I was just thinking Larry do we all watch the same TH-camrs lol
I like your video few days ago by the way
@@segamatthews5023 Aw, thanks bud, muchly appreciated!!! :)
It is amazing this game gameplay and difficulty predates Cuphead.
At least in terms of graphics, I saw the potential in Batman Returns. The gameplay wasn't anything special, but you could tell the devs had a good handle on the Genesis hardware
Fun little thing, there were bonuses for defeating enemies fast enough or in a certain order.
For example, on the first level, theres a stopping point where the clowns spawn from above onto the awning. they spawn in 5s from left to right, then right to left. If you defeat all 10 right as they spawn, an extra life will spawn
On the second level, theres a section where vertical lines of the little RC helicopters spawn. If you can take out an entire line from below in one shot before it reaches the left side of the screen, it will drop rewards like powerups and I think one drops an extra life as well.
The only other one I found so far was the one in the flying stage where the little RC planes fly formation together, if you can destroy them all before any fly away, you get a powerup.
I'm sure there are others, thats just all I've found so far, I've only ever got to the Mad Hatter boss once.
Yes and I think this game is supposed be played as Batman and robin 2 player because that’s when you find more rewards for taking out enemies fast
I could never beat this game, the bosses were so hard. But it had such a banging soundtrack, Jesper Kyd did the music!
Hola amigo. Hope parenthood is going smoothly for you.
Reminds me of Maximum Carnage's OST 🤷♂️
some of the sections are wayyy too long and boring
I love the soundtrack, but I don’t think it fits this game at all… and it sounds too similar to Red Zone and Subterranea by the same composer. Something closer to the TV Show music would have been a better choice.
@@ynotwalk7391 ...that's what she said? 🤔😏
This game blew my mind back in the day. Took me 3 months to master the entire game and i got it memorised from the get go to the end. And the soundtrack, oh man, even to this day it plays inside my head. In my humble opinion, from the technical aspect, this is the BEST game of the entire Mega Drive library. And artisticaly, is easily a top 5.
This game is truly tough. Props to you
I played for 3 minutes and quit lol it sucks. Pretty good art though.
Damn, was it hard. Gitgud doesn’t help either)
amen, well said 👍🎉
I totally agree with most of what you've said. But man, this game was freaking hard!! Lol. I'm talking NES, Ninja Gaiden level 5 hard. But what many don't realize is that you can actually make it to the last level in this game, but it will take time, practice and skill. I never beat this one but I did make it to level 5. As far as the special fx goes, this game has arguably the greatest special FX ever seen on the Genesis with maybe only 4 other titles on the system in it's league. Everything about this game is amazing. Seeing The Adv of Batman & Robin makes you wonder why Sega even bothered with releasing the 32x.
John O'Brien was the programmer for this game, who had previously done the 3D driving sections for the CD port of Batman Returns. Apparently after Batman & Robin he was so burned out from crunch that he quit the industry and opened a café instead. Clockwork Tortoise shut down after being relocated from the UK to San Francisco which did not sit well with the remaining staff.
1. Thanks for sharing this trivia
2. Thanks for all the amazing Genesis music you've made
Lemme guess, it meant that they'd deal with far worse time constraints? Seriously, just look how little of a crap a lot of game publishers over here gave back in the late 90s.
We relocated from Thousand Oaks CA. To San Francisco CA.
SAVAGED REGIME COMMENTED ON THIS?!? Also lowkey interesting as hell
Hi! I couldn’t help but notice SegaLordX almost never used the jumped kick in this footage.
This game is indeed on the hard side, but learning how to use the double jump (2 different kinds of kick, a regular one and a diving one) makes it really easier and more dynamic/enjoyable 😉
This game blew me away when I got it for my birthday in 95. It made my SNES only friends wants a Genesis. This is a true Genesis classic.
I absolutely love the soundtrack of this game. The Sega CD's version has a pretty great soundtrack too. Btw, about the difficulty, I'd definitely recommend utilizing those jump kicks as much as possible. Yes the range attacks are good for distance but those jump kicks pack some damage and I found the game much easier once I started piercing through enemies that way.
Yeah, I mean, it's the only proper way to kill the robot-cat boss, just kick the nose of the poor thing untill it rings in his ears) It's also a great way to deal with the big burglar boys in the first levels. Feels so good to jump down on them with hard sounding boom-boom-boom))
How cool would it have been had SEGA, a la Batman Returns CD, made a SEGA CD version of Batman & Robin that had the side-scrolling run & gun sections of the base/cartridge game PLUS the super-scaler driving combat we got in the SEGA CD version? Add in a couple extra levels & villains (The Riddler, Clayface & The Penguin, maybe?) & replace the soundtrack w/a more Animated Series appropriate redbook audio & you'd arguably have one of the top ten games of that generation.
This game is an audio system benchmark. I still loved seeing the bit from CGR's channel when they reviewed this game, because they had the camera pan to their tower speakers and watching the sub threaten to pound out of its frame with the banger beats of this game is just amazing!
yeah the music was pretty good, I'd say it's almost as good as the BJ Theme
I miss Classic Game Room and Mark Bussler, he was always fun to watch.
@@PaperBanjo64 for sure, the channel that started it all about internet game reviews
Mark dancing with the GameBoy in the GameBoy Micro review was hilarious.
I still think that the scaling on the Mad Hatter stage is the best scaling that I have ever seen on the Genesis. And to add the transparency effect at the same time is just icing on the very delicious cake! One of my favorite effects was the Chesire Cat's face falling into the screen after being defeated.
Man I remember this game from back in the day. The great thing about this era is that you have two different takes on the same IP, leading to completely different experiences( the SNES version is good too but in a different way). We were all so caught up in the '16 bit wars' that we should have been celebrating this kind of thing. Nowadays, if 'the Adventures of Batman and Robin' came out for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch it would be the same game across all platforms.
Not really it would probably be the same game on both the Xbox and PlayStation but the switch version would obviously be the weaker version you know due to the hardware being weaker but I would reckon the switch version would be one of those impossible ports.
What sorta sorcery did Clockwork Tortoise, Inc pull off here?! And imagine what else they could've made had they worked on other SEGA Genesis games as a team!
Past sorcery and also part what the Mega Drive is capable of with a talented developer.
British Amiga devs these guys were weren't they?
This game is just 🔥It is one of the reasons why I am a retro gamer today since the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive was the only platform this verion of the game ever came out on. When I played it back in the day, I knew I was playing something special even when it kicked my butt time and time again, I absolutely loved the soundtrack. It's the kind of soundtrack that just gets you pumped up and although it sounds nothing like the music you are accustomed to from the series, it just fits so well. Too bad we never got a Batman Beyond game from this developer for the system because I know that also would have been something special indeed. I loved how both Batman & Robin games on the Sega systems pushed their respective hardware and seeing the Sega CD game in action makes it look like something running on the Saturn or PS1. Thanks for the video!
well said.
So glad you finally tackled this one. One of the 1st games I felt in looking up who the composer was (Jesper Kyd), because he truly shocked me from this sick OST he produced. Respect.
May not be a fitting soundtrack for a Batman game, on the surface. Once you started playing, though, damn did it fit. What a technical achievement in graphics and pushing the sound chip.
I agree, i had the same effect on my first playthrough in sor2
Holy crap that soundtrack is a banger. That’s seriously like incredible techno, especially for the time. It’s a decade ahead of it’s time, IMHO as a producer.
Aside from the high skill ceiling, I think that's a big reason it holds up so well. Jesper was on fire. 👍
Jesper Kyd, the composer who would go on to compose for the early Assassin's Creed games, and Borderlands. I think this was his first or second game.
20+ years later and that first boss theme is still ingrained in my being. Jesper is just on another level.
Listen to the 9 (!) minute long main theme. It's like some electro prog, just amazing.
That's insane that some random third party developer were able to pull off so many incredible visual effects on the good old Megadrive. Sega should've hired these guys!
Also, those excerpts from the soundtrack that were played in this video sounded thumpin'!
Hello Mr. Racing Fanatic! Love your underrated channel man. More people need to sub to your channel.
@@wonderfulwardy Thank you Sir!
the visual presentation of this game is astonishing!
I remember renting this from Blockbuster as a kid. It was nails hard. I remember having to return it without beating it, but came to the final Mr Freeze levels wondering how much of it was left. It was definitely a gauntlet.
I'm proud to say that I beat this game (only once) back in the day. You definitely need to memorize the patterns. As for the music, I LOVE IT!!! The boss themes were some of my favorites. Even though the SNES version felt more true to the series, the Genesis version had nonstop, intense action that made your hands sweat.
and unlike the snes version this version at least was true to the title's name which is the adventures of batman and Robin which means 1 or 2 players unlikely the other versions of the same title
props. for beating it. i only was able to beat the snes version and the snes version is amazing for its time
@@IzacBris props back. I remember having a hard time with the Riddler boss fight on snes. I did make it to the next level but never beat it.
@@PULRN it happens. classic games were brutal back then. but in a good way to remember the good times
My friend might beat it.he say the same thing u have to do a pattern.crazy lol.old games our hard to beat
The reason why I love your channel, your charm, finesse, accent, the spectacular narration leaves me in awe and laughing out loud! Dude you're the best!
the effects in this game were more impressive and more effectively used than most of the mode 7 effects on snes games.
Jesper Kyd's music in this game is just fantastic. I love this game so much.
12:56 Ah I have to disagree with you here, SLX. Like you said before, the more you play the better you get and you can reach a point where you're just unstoppable. I played so many times this game that I can manage to reach the Hatter Boss fight without losing a single life.
Repetition and memorization shouldn't be required to do well. That's not difficult, it's time consuming.
@@Vulpas what games do you play that don't require any kind of repetition and memorization?
@@Vulpas That's weird because even old school Nintendo games were about memorization. That's where the term 'NintendoHard' came from. It's why I can't get into the modern Mario games, they're nowhere near as challenging as the NES trilogy.
@@Vulpas lol i imagine you have a hard time punching your moms credit card into ur switch
@@mickeycortes6649 Nintendo, mostly (Zelda, Donkey Kong, Mario, Yoshi, Star Fox, Kirby, Pokemon, etc). Also, my favorite genres don't have much of that (RPGs, puzzle, adventure, and fighting games).
A well balanced masterpiece like Donkey Kong Country 2 or Suoer Mario Bros 3 is fair but. challenging your first time through, and every death is your fault, never any b.s.
Game gear as a console was criminally underrated
It certainly has Lynx's library beat, and arguably Neo Geo Pocket Color's. It might even match Game Boy Color's library, but that's pushing it.
It wasn't, it just failed at being a portable, that thing chuged on 6 AA batteries in less than 3 hours.
@@joseluki Not only did it eat batteries, but it was just too big to lug around for a "portable." The original Game Boy was big, but it wasn't anywhere near THAT big.
@@zanegandini5350 Size was not the problem, it was the battery consumption, even with the added battely pak it was ridiculous, because it was a portable master system.
@@joseluki my friend and I each had one. I always used crap ton of batteries but he just had the adapter to plug into the wall.
One of my favorite genesis games of all time
Please don't change the intro. I watch these before bed and I can't tell you how comfortable it is to hear the intro right when I am about twenty away from dozing off.
I remember the ads for this game really hyping the “3D” elements. A buddy of mine rented it from Blockbuster and although it wasn’t what we were expecting, we enjoyed it all the same. A different friend purchased it along with a Game Genie which is the only way we could beat it. I think the furthest I ever made it legitimately was the Mad Hatter fight or perhaps the first Mr. Freeze stage.
I beated the game with a game genie code last Week. I used the always max level for weapons.. it changed the game completly! I remember renting this game again and again on blockbuster with my brother . But the mad hatter level is insane and the boss is too hard, we could never beat it.. Also the game difficult is ridiculous hard, only 6continues with 2lives, p2 can’t join a boss battle if out of lifes, no easy or normal mode… but the ost and the game give me lots of fun
What Jesper Kyd was able to do with the Sega's audio is as impressive to me as the awesome visual effects of this fantastic, punishing game. I wish Kyd had done more soundtracks on the system.
He did about 5 osts on the Genesis. All of them are good. Batman & Robin, Red Zone (Hitman Contracts remixed some of the songs from Red Zone.), Sub-Terrania, Pro-Moves Soccer and 1 other game but I never played it so I don't remember.
It's an awesome soundtrack, but the overall sound driver was less impressive than what the Japanese like Koshiro and Sakimoto were able to achieve. Jesper used all 6 FM (1 optional sample channel included) for the music, leaving the sound effects for the PSG channels, resulting in excellent music, but very primitive sound effects. The Japanese drivers combined FM and PSG channels and used the latter to enhance the music, leaving some FM/sample channels for the sound effects. This is why games like Streets of Rage 2 have both excellent music and sound effects.
The guys who made Batman Returns on the Genesis coming back to make this gem is certainly one of the most unexpected comebacks in gamedev history.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. Maybe more than a little because of that damn soundtrack
Just picked it up a month ago complete. Hard as balls.. Great music. Played it on the sega channel back in the day.
One of the best Genesis platformers.
ehhhhh
more an awesome tech demo that should be cheated
It’s not a platformer… it’s a run ‘n’ gun.
@@happyspaceinvader508 platforming run and gun. gees
@@ynotwalk7391 ehh just admit you suck and move on.
This game is a masterclass of all the visual tricks you can do with the old megasis. XD
Yes one of the best looking games on the Sega genesis but the game is just OK. It could have been much more but it is just a shooter with great graphics and special effects. The music is also amazing!!! Too bad the game is just OK!!!
I think the difficulty is fitting .. Batman may be a super hero, but he’s also a normal human . His skill sets him apart, and you have to be skillful to win this game
This is one of the games I have the most joy beating them legit, up to the point that I always put the game with NO CREDITS to continue the game, and yeah, I can do a 1 credit run with little to no problems, but hardly a no-death run, plus, is also a joy because is one of those games that my bros. just failed no matter what they did... unless they play the game with me.
Edit: Back in 2013 I was able to get the game for my Genesis Model 2 that I got in December 2012, I don't know nowdays how much it costs, but I got it for about 10 USD back in 2013.
this game is graphically amazing, and really needed and should have had a very forgiving "easy mode" or "casual mode".
With a Game Genie device and a few good codes like can make the game far more fun IMO
Thank you. ⚙️🐢
There's a famous hack of this game called "Bat-advantage", which essentially has your weapon on fully charged mode for the entire time (not just when you grab the power-up for it). It easens the difficulty a bit and I've seen multiple people who had difficulties with this game back in the day praising it.
I think I missed this one growing up. Looks like I would have enjoyed it back in the day.
This was worth playing. I killed this game every single day back then
You know back in grade school when you folded up a piece of paper into a triangle and tried to flick it through the goal posts that consisted of your friend's fingers? Well those paper triangles feel like what Batman is using for weapons in this game. There's no feeling of impact when your weapon hits an enemy. They're not useful at all and each and every individual enemy takes way too long to die. The stages are also way too long, especially that one where you're flying over the buildings. **yadda yadda RENTAL MARKET yadda yadda**
To quote Metallica, "...sad, but true."
@@Aragorn7884 correction: "sad, but your opinion". In my opinion the game is awesome, it's hard sure but fare. When you learn the enemy patterns after a few tries the game becomes totally manageable.
@@mickeycortes6649 Yeah I just play it like Gunstar heroes and jump kick everything. I only shoot to whittle down the hordes but I use melee attacks for the kills. I play a similar way in Gunstar heroes, except I throw enemies at crowds instead.
Disagreed, but to each their own, i guess...
get dave back, shits weak without him. you're playing the game wrong if you think the weapons are noodles.
Getting past the flying level for the first time made me made me feel like I beat the game. Muscle memory will get you pretty far in the game, but you'll need dedication and perseverance to beat it.
I still hook my launch model Genesis to play this game today. I think this game encourages you to play it as a brawler more than shooter because the close range punch/kick and jump kicks make more damage and are more effective than the proyectiles. And I have to admit, playing like this mastering the close range techniques it's way more intense and fun than stay standing and shooting.
And it feels more like Batman this way 👍.
This game was mind blowing. Sure it may have been contra with a batman skin but it was beautiful to look at and a blast to play. One of the best looking and sounding games on the genesis. The sega cd game is often called the lost episode of the show with art and voicework from the show itself.
The first time I knew of Jesper Kyd's music was when I played Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on the original Xbox back in 2002.
This game is one of my favorite beat-em-ups for the Genesis. 2P is where the fun's at - much more playable (easier) with 2 players. I think growing up with Genesis music is why I love electronic music. This game has some real club bangers
One of my all time favorites, got it for my birthday and back then I was lucky if I got 1 or 2 games a year so I used to play it religiously, can still beat it in one go, I was the only genesis kid in the neighborhood so I used to invite my friends over to play so they could see what the console was capable of
Dark Souls is the Adventures of Batman & Robin of 3D action RPGs.
My brother and I saved up our allowance and bought this game from Kay-Bee toys. As someone who has mastered it, I'd recommend sticking to upgrading the bolo weapon as quickly as possible and then sticking with that the entire game. It's the most powerful weapon of the 3.
This game is relentless! I still haven't beaten it but can get far into it without continuing. If you're not fully powered up or die on the area with mushrooms, its very hard to get through it. Usually thats when ill stop and just take a break.
I remember renting it and playing it with my dad as a kid. Never got far but we had fun.
Renting games were the Days!! and Fun
Thank you for reviewing this game! It's one of my favorites of the whole 16-bit era. I don't agree with you on every point but I'm just glad that this game gets some attention. Myself I love the sound track, for me it's one of the best of that generation.
This was one of my favorites on the system. What a damn throwback!
Nice! This was my very first game on Mega Drive. The first stage took 3 weeks (age of 15 or so), another 2 or 3 months to complete the game.
It becomes easy as you learn patterns and manage to stay at max ammo levels (no lives lost). Low ammo in the second part of the game = reset.
This was fun to see Sega Lord standing under the cat boss' head and getting damaged when it felt. Typical problem when playing for the first time :)
some said the music sounded noisy/distorted- Jesper Kyd was like "i put a lot of effort into making it sound exactly like it sounds!" (paraphrased)
One of my favourite Sega Genesis game even tho it is hard I still love it the amazing effects and music is awesome 👍🔉
This is easily one of my favorite Genesis games.
The crushing difficulty as well as being a batman "shooter" turns everyone away that I show the game to. I would also argue that the first level is the most bland compared to the treats of the rest of the game, an odd introduction. However, it stands as one of my top 3 genesis games, with some of my favorite "moments" in the entire generation.
Great video, and review! Being a big Sega fan that I am, I came across this game years ago at a swap meet and was all over it. I did not grow up watching The Adventures of Batman & Robin, but as soon as I saw the cartridge laying there on a tarp on the ground I knew I had to buy it. At that time I knew it was a semi-expensive game, and I think the teenage kid selling it only charged me $5 or $10 for it. I still own it today, loose cartridge only!
Wow the soundtrack for this game gave my phone speakers a workout.
Games like these show the western developers were starting to show signs that the next decade onwards, the golden days of Japanese gaming market would be much smaller. Throughout the 80's and 90's, Japan was king (except at home with consoles like Atari 2600, but after that there was no contest). Today, Japan is unbelievably small in this market, as far as gaming development goes. I wonder if the minimum quality standards back then were to release games with this technical quality and others like Ranger X, Donkey kong Country and so on, we'd have a very different library to replay and remember today.
Myself and one of my closest friends love the soundtrack to this game. I even work out to the music from time to time. Salute to you for doing this review. Keep up the great throwback reviews! 👏🏾👊🏾💯
Good idea to “work out” with our closest friends with this soundtrack, ie get intimate with our close friends, it would be hot
@@JamesChessman where'd my chess pi...
Nevermind
^^^ dude just had to make it weird. I know it’s just a joke, but it seems no matter what you comment on, you can ALWAYS count on trolls to emerge from beneath their bridges. You could say sh!t that isn’t even remotely controversial, yet someone out there will find something to complain or argue about or turn it into something totally irrelevant like politics 😆 Or they’ll just try to clown on the OP for no reason. To reiterate, the dude who left the first reply, I know it was just a joke, so I’m not exactly referring to you.. your comment was mild compared to A LOT of the sh!t I see.. I’m more so referring to the real toxic, argumentative, insulting sh!t that trolls constantly say, unprovoked. Your comment may have been meant as just a lighthearted joke..but it just kinda made me think of how common trolling has become. There’s like a whole society of trolls 😆 I am curious, why even reply with such a comment, insinuating that the dude is making sweet love to his workout partner to the Batman music? Lol it’s funny, but uncalled for, and it just makes me want to know what provokes one to leave such a comment to a dude who was simply sharing his thoughts.
I love this game!!!!
I remember playing it when it was new.
I still play it to this day!
Ohhhhh the mad hatter stage!! ❤️
Great video you posted. Did you ever played any of batman arkham games? Their the best batman games. And what do you think about the snes version of batman returns? Are you thinking of doing the review for that snes game?
This game rocks, also, jespers sound egine don't use PCM channel to drums and no use the SN76489, its all pure Ym2612 FM music.
Mid 90's so much magic in the air! This just helped add too it!
One of the best games the SEGA MegaDrive/Genesis ever made !!
Playing this game in 2-player mode(with my brother) was a spectacular feeling and .... also ...
*its electronic music/soundtrack is INCREDIBLE* and it's also a showcase of the true potential that the sound-chip of the MegaDrive had , regarding the electronic sound !!!
Until today i keep listening its OST(which was composed by Jesper Kyd) from time to time here in youtube and every time i realise that after 20years my ears keep loving it , and that *this soundtrack is timeless* !!!
totally recommend it to everyone who like electronic/synthesizer music !!
Thank you for the memories !! (well ,actually for me not really memories , since as i said , i keep hearing the OST even today from time to time)
Love the Genesis port of The Adventures of Batman & Robin! Though I never could beat it I didn't care I went back to the game frequently and it has one of my all-time favorite video game soundtracks.
Joker's Theme is fucking great. Psycho Section sounds like NIN
You’re videos are always spectacular dude, thank you for these! Just chilling today enjoying one of your playlists 😊
12:28 Wow even back then game reviewers were people who didn't know anything about games, eh? Pretty harsh and low-effort review considering how much work clearly went into this game.
Technically it's awesome in every category. It's also a lot of fun, but too difficult for me to complete without cheating. But, just like with other 90s too-hard games, there are codes so I don't care.
The recap of magazine reviews from the time is a really good feature in these. Context for the time is important, and I don't see anybody else doing it.
This is my favorite game for the platform. There is sort of a flow that you get into when you play and understand the game mechanics well. The Mad Hatter boss is probably one of the best boss fights ever in a game.
Coding Secrets did a great video explaining how all those wonderful effects were created
Still is amazing. That soundtrack and action is over the top 🔥
With a save feature this could be easier.
Got this game new back in the day, used to thinki was pretty good at it. Been playing it again for the last few days and wow. I was so relieved to hear you say you never beat it start to finish. 😅 The downward jump-kick DESTROYS enemies, especially while letting you keep your forward momentum going.
It never ceases to amaze me when I see what a little 7mhz 68000 cpu was capable of. This game is incredible visually. If only the sound were of equal quality.
love this game! excellent visual design.
BUT it was damn hard as I remember.
Omg memories as a kid playing this and how crazy fun it was, still need that 1 back in my pretty decent collection ive got over the years. must play, must have!
This game is without a doubt, the ultimate showpiece as to what could be accomplished on the Genesis with the right developers.
Didn't have a Sega growing up, SNES only, so I couldn't play this until emulation. Fired it up last week and I knew this was gonna take some time to master with everything being thrown at me. Love a challenge, hopefully this summer I can give it the attention it deserves.
at a buffet, i personally sneak corndogs into the buffet so others can enjoy them. I hide 6 corndogs in my jacket pockets. it then, is a joy for me to see other patrons of the establishment eat my corndogs thinking they were part of the buffet.
very inspiring comment
Great looking game, which still holds up today. Has there been any type of difficulty /ultimate edition hack/patch for it? A few tweaks here and there could make it a lot more fun to play.
This game has one of the best soundtracks available on the Sega Genesis! I remember turning the volume all the way up when I used to play it. Rocking music!
Yeah, X...BNR is balls hard!!! As like Ninja Gaiden Black, it's doable...but HELLA hard. 🤬🤬🤬 As usual, great video!!! 🤩🤩🤩
What a games what music wow
happy to own this rare piece complet
from morocco north africa land of amazigh 😉
I'm glad that you made note of the difficulty. I feel like other reviews haven't mentioned it very much. Bit of a shame since I love TAS and this is a gorgeous game. I agree with the critical points you bring up in the end about the difficulty and this being a run n gun. I was just thinking about how Batman must carry a million batarangs in this game.
Okay, I just KNOW I have to get this one someday. There are many good Batman games from the 8-Bit to 16-Bit era of games (with some stinkers sandwiched in) but this one blows me away just by watching it. There are visual effects in this game that I would have never expected the Genesis to be able to do, the hand-drawn sprite animation and use of color are astonishingly faithful to the 90's animated series it's based on, and the soundtrack is freakin sweet (some of them are real boppers and would make for perfect dance club or rave party music)! The gameplay looks fun and challenging too. This one is definitely a showcase for Sega's flagship gaming machine!
Dude, you need to stop switching power ups if you want to beat this game. Great review!
Dope game, but I like the SNES version better...dope show too.
Batman & Robin is one of my all time favorite games. Can you imagine its for a $200 console from 1988, and has better special effects than basically all 2D games released in recent years.
Awesome game! You earned your Batman title with this game. My friend and I would play this for hours trying to beat it. So much fun when we did.
I always felt like the music in Adventures of Batman & Robin was super impressive, especially for the SEGA Genesis hardware.
My only issue is that it feels like it doesn't match the ip & is more adequate to a Contra-like run & gun or beat'em up. I mean, did Jasper Kidd ever listen to the score from the TV show?
This game is so good and challenging it sits well next to Alien Soldier and MUSHA.
Shame we haven't seen a Batman Retro collection yet, be nice to see this game and others available again.
I was gonna see the new movie yesterday and the damn place was shut down. Instead I went home and watched the old ones on VCD on my Saturn.
The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the Mega Drive is an absolutely amazing feat of programming wizardry with a banging soundtrack that I’ve listened to from start to finish and is my favourite soundtrack from Jesper Kidd.
*subjective opinion* Blows batman returns out of the water, especially the music! I'm just glad you finally did a review on it, 😎
This game is and will always be a legend. It has mythically good visual effects and the music is written by Jesper Kyd. It's basically a Scavenger game but it's not called that. And... it's impossible. I've never beaten the first level, and I don't know if I will ever bother. What a shame.
you think the first level hard try two face level Lol
Please keep the content coming! I love this the last link I have to the past! Especially because it is about nostalgic gaming.
Another monster title.
Another butt kicking showpiece.
Batman Returns?
No.
This is the Batman game we all needed but didnt deserve.
Who needs 32x?
I remember renting this a few times and not making it too far, but still loving the look and feel of it. Very impressive
Amazing game, one of my absolute favorites. Love the music as well. This game is actually pretty easy when you learn how to play it) It has a snowball effect, if you keep steadily improving the weapon of choice (green thingie rocks most of the game) you end up destroying almost everything in your way, and doing so will let you easily kill enemies in one swoop which sometimes gives more power ups and lives. But if you die or accidentally change the weapon and lower its level - you're gonna regret it and will struggle to get back to form since everything is not dying now as it supposed) When I was a kid I couldn't even beat the first boss for quite some time, then I learned I should avoid loosing lives at all costs and was able to go farther and farther.
When I started collecting retro consoles and bought sega again I went through that game without losing a single life, considering last time I played it was like 15 years ago or something.
If you complained about the audio, you were either deaf or playing it on a genesis 1 va7 or a model 2.