GameHammer - Bat-Man

[Zoe Robinson]

I played this a lot as a kid and could never get all the four items, never mind find any of the parts of the Bat-whateveritis (boat?). Good game, though. Loved it.

[Munchausen]

Yeah, I had the same experience

Did you also play Head over Heels (similar game, also by Jon Ritman)? I played that a lot more and could never complete it as I couldn't find the last crown (though I could get to freedom and get the other 4). I always thought that the game was buggy and couldn't be completed. A few years ago (well probably 10, now) though I managed to finally find the blacktooth crown and complete it!

Should really give batman another go at some point.

Couldn't see your video at first, watching it now...

[Munchausen]

Nice video. You've got to keep the sound on though! CPC version is so much nicer, as (almost) always.

IIRC I could get several of the car parts, but always got tired of it eventually. Somehow not as fun as head over heels.

[reidrac]

I played it in my ZX Spectrum for hours and the bipy-bipy really gets into your head 

[Shaun M. Neary]

I never got the deal with those isometric games. I think I played too many duff ones, the likes of Sweevos World and Knight Lore.
Head Over Heels is meant to be the best out of the lot, but I think 3D view just put me off.

I may give this another shot over the Christmas period though.

[Munchausen]

HoH is great and definitely worth a play. For some reason the walking sound never annoyed me. I think its a lower pitch in HoH, so maybe not quite as jarring as Batman!

[Shaun M. Neary]

HoH is great and definitely worth a play. For some reason the walking sound never annoyed me. I think its a lower pitch in HoH, so maybe not quite as jarring as Batman!

The walking sound in Bat-Man is still better than the one in Knight Lore. Oh boy, did that used to grate my nerves as a kid!

[andycadley]

If I remember rightly, the trick to getting the jetpack is to pick it up with the carry key rather than just walking in to it, though I've not played it in years. If you actually want to get through it though, you really, really need to define a key which does both Jump and Carry - it's why the game lets you define multiple buttons for each action and is essential later on (the same is true in Head Over Heels). Pretty sure the manual warned you of this, but it's easily overlooked.

Still it's a great game, but definitely has the feeling of being a bit of an experiment with why does and doesn't work in isometric 3D. Which is probably why Head Over Heels feels a lot more polished.

[Munchausen]

If you actually want to get through it though, you really, really need to define a key which does both Jump and Carry - it's why the game lets you define multiple buttons for each action and is essential later on (the same is true in Head Over Heels). Pretty sure the manual warned you of this, but it's easily overlooked.

Was going to mention this as well. Also needed in HoH (well not exactly needed, but very useful!)

[Zoe Robinson]

You can jump and carry at the same time? 


This is what not reading the manual since I was 6 does, isn't it? 

[Munchausen]

You can jump and carry at the same time? 


This is what not reading the manual since I was 6 does, isn't it? 

Yeah I noticed you not defining it when watching! I used to define space as jump, shift as carry, and enter as shift+carry, IIRC

[EgoTrip]

Never played this, but played Head Over Heels which I got nowhere on. The main thing that pissed me off about that was the bar from Greensleeves each time you changed rooms.

[Zoe Robinson]

What was it with the 8-bit era and annoying sounds?

[Munchausen]

Never played this, but played Head Over Heels which I got nowhere on. The main thing that pissed me off about that was the bar from Greensleeves each time you changed rooms.

That changes when you get to the market, and is then different for each of the worlds after that too.

All this talk about HoH has made me feel I really need to play it again soon!

[MaV]

I never redefined the keys so it took a while until I realised that there's a more convenient way than to die to get some items when using the jump&carry key in Batman.  Manuals back in the day usually only spent a small paragraph to the setup of the game (Princess in the castle, you're the hero, et al.) and then just listed the control keys ... oh wait, reading that would've helped.

Both are HoH and Batman by John Ritman are THE essential isometric games on the CPC.

And while I liked Alien 8 and Knight Lore, the games suffered a lot by the lack of a stable frame rate. The lag experienced with more than a few objects on-screen was too distracting, and at other times the game just went too fast.

[Puresox]

Yes the Ritman Games were the definitive ISO games , I feel that Get Dexter is equally fantastic in the ISO world . I really rated the enviroment of Get Dexter and favour it slightly. But they are all at the top of the heap imo ,preferred them to The Sweevo games (Colours unexciting), Fairlight( Black and White). Alien 8 and Knightlore - (Slowdown a little too much) But great in there day and still great really.

[Gryzor]

I don't know why, but I never got into isometric games. True, the top ones on the CPC (this, Dexter, HoH) look really accomplished, but I never found them to be much fun...

[Zoe Robinson]

To be honest, few isometric games were worth playing. Bat-Man and Head over Heels were a lot of fun but the majority lacked the polish needed to make them entertaining.

[Shaun M. Neary]

Hydrofool, Sweevos World and Knight Lore were god awful amongst that genre, it has to be said.