A History of Batman in Video Games Part 3

Alright. We've seen some great Batman games, some terrible Batman games, and some shockingly mediocre Batman games. Let's wrap this baby up with the last few games on this list. And we start with...educational Batman?

2003 - Batman Justice Unbalanced (PC) 

Description: An educational PC game starring Batman. Here's a description from Common Sense Media:

"This exciting mystery, with five stellar, multi-leveled logic activities, is both educational and entertaining. Spooky music and dark scenes add to the excitement. Because the clues change each time the game is played, kids will enjoy giving it a second and third go. Plus it is very cool to be Batman's virtual sidekick!"

Corny parent description aside, it looks like a pretty decent puzzle game, with ham-fisted voice acting.

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2003 - Batman Toxic Chill (PC)

 

Description: Released simultaneously with Justice Unbalanced, Toxic Chill is another Bat-ducational game. 

"To help Batman unfreeze buildings, players need to discover patterns in the ice that can permit Firebats to travel up the buildings. By taking part in the activities, kids uncover coded riddles left by the Riddler -- when these are deciphered, players can solve the mystery of the Toxic Chill." - Common Sense Media

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2003 - Batman Rise of Sin Tzu (PS2, XBOX, GC, GBA)

Description: Going back a few Batman games, here is yet another one based off the cartoon series New Batman Adventures. It is yet another beat-em-up, and looks to be a pretty fair take on the license overall.

Reception: Mixed - while it stood out for not being an abysmal failure, critics bemoaned the repetitiveness of the gameplay.

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2005 - Batman Begins (XBOX, GC, PS2, Mobile)

 

Description: Praise the Lord! It's a Batman game that's not a beat-em-up! Batman Begins, based on the first movie in the Christopher Nolan trilogy, is a stealth-action game akin to Metal Gear Solid. It also features an "intimidation" system - allowing Batman to use the environment and his many gadgets to scare the guano out of his foes.

Reception: 

Despite the effort to break away from the mold, Batman Begins received mediocre reviews, averaging about a 65/100 on Gamerankings.com.

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2008 - Lego Batman (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Windows, Wii, 360)

  

Description: 

In 2005, Traveller's Tales game released Lego Star Wars. The first in a long running series of lego-themed licensed games. The games are always built with a high standard of quality, but are criticized for being kind of the same thing with new characters slapped on an old engine.

However, this is Batman - and that standard of quality rang out hope of actually having a Batman game that could be classified as at least "good".

Reception: 

It was kinda "meh". A lot of the complaints were based around the fact that not much had changed from previous Lego titles. But as a standalone game, it was the best Batman game in quite a while.

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THE SAVIOR RETURNS

2009 - Batman Arkham Asylum (XBOX 360, PS3, Windows, Mac, OnLive)

Description: 

A Batman game. Minus 1. A Batman game from a new, unproven studio. Minus 2.  

Rocksteady had a huge hurdle in front of it to prove itself. At this point everyone had the assumption that any Batman game would be terrible. But once people started playing it, and reviews started coming in, it didn't take long for the Batman stigma to drop out of the popular mindset. 

It was an action adventure stealth game that nailed every aspect of what makes Batman great: he was a badass, the villains came off as terrifyingly psychotic, detective based puzzles, and there was a great story tying it all together. It wasn't a cash grab movie tie-in. It wasn't rushed to market, and it was made by a team that cared about the final product. Not only was it considered the best Batman game ever, it was considered in many game of the year nominations. 

Read my review of the game here. 

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2010 - Batman The Brave and the Bold (Wii, DS)

 

Description: 

Based on the Brave and the Bold cartoon series, the licensed game provided a family friendly alternative to Rocksteady's dark and gritty Arkham series. 

The game is a fairly standard side scrolling beat-em-up but stands out by incorporating characters from other series like Aquaman, and Green Arrow. 

Reception: 

There seems to be two types of Batman games: terrible and OK. Brave and the Bold seems to fall into the "OK" classification. A solid game that got too repetitive for reviewers tastes. Graphically the game looks pretty great, and the animation looks fantastic. Seems like a great game to play with a little brother.

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2011 - Batman Arkham City (360, PS3, PC) 

 

Review coming soon.

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Batman and video games. A love/hate relationship that's spanned nearly 30 years. We are very fortunate to have the two best Batman games released in the past three years. I hope that this trend continues and we can look back on the days when Batman games were terrible, but expect the Rocksteady level of quality from all future games starring the Caped Crusader. And I hope I speak for all gamers when I say "We can't wait."