Batman

Copyright : Ocean Software | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Nana nana nana nana na Batman, sorry couldn?t resist typing that because this is without a doubt one of Oceans finest licensed games ever (as you?ll see in the review). Batman has once again gotten himself in a bit of a bother, villains have vandalised the Batmobile which of course makes Batman crippled, your job is to get these parts back by solving various puzzles in this action packed 3D adventure game.

Graphics

From the moment the loading screen presents itself you know or at least knew that you were in for an extra special treat, once the game loads you are presented with a very funky little menu system which enlarges the text as you move over an item and has the animated Batman character impatiently tapping his foot in the top corner. Once you?ve set everything up the game will start by first showing you an incomplete Batmobile, this is followed by Batman sliding down the "firemans poll" and into action. Colours are varied, this isn?t just a problem in the Amstrad CPC version because all of the 8-bit versions (Spectrum included) featured a difference in palette on every screen - still you would have thought Ocean would address this in at least one conversion. The characters look amazing, Batman is presented in true, tiny cartoon form and is perfectly animated! there are various enemies to confront along your way (balls, deadly dogs, trap floors and strange goblins to name a few) and loads of power-ups to make the game that little more interesting. All in all this is one of Oceans finest looking 3D adventure games and we can?t believe it came from a license, we all know how bad these can be.

Sound

Sound is again superb, featuring a cut-down version of the Batman music just before the game starts (the Batmobile screen) which is then followed by the sound of Batman sliding down the poll and an almost musical noise as you walk around the maze like game. Batman also has plenty of in-game music and effects which range from jump sounds, elevator sounds, death music and much more. A lot of effort has gone into this game and nobody can deny that fact, unlike other licenses it seems like Ocean really pulled out the stops on this one, full marks!

Gameplay

Now Gameplay, if you love adventure games then this is one that should be added to your collection right NOW. While the game is a long way from being easy or short it?s perhaps one of the most addictive games in this 3D style genre, the controls are perfect, the variation between room to room and the massive array of puzzles and bad guys to confront only make the game that little bit better.
We have played around 90% of the games in this field and we can honestly say that we like Batman the most, since purchasing this game on original Amstrad cassette in 1989 I have never regretted my choice and you should certainly not hold back from adding this awesome retro title to your Amstrad collection, well done Ocean and thanks for a great game.