Developer: Malibu Interactive Publisher: Sega Release: 05/19/93 Genre: Action
Batman Returns is one of the most interesting movie licensed games of the 16-bit era. Like Aladdin it hit many platforms with each one being unique. But Batman’s reach went even further than consoles as it also hit computer platforms like the Amiga and MS-DOS. Like many other Sega CD titles the CD version of Batman Returns is a port of the Genesis game. But this time Sega went above and beyond and included a new driving mode that doubles the length of the game. It is visually stunning but the ridiculous difficulty lessens the experience.
Like all of the previous versions of Batman Returns the game follows the plot of the movie overall. If you were expecting clips from the movie to tell the story than you will be disappointed. It is probably for the best as the FMV quality would be terrible like most games on the platform. Coming almost a year after the movie this was the last version of Batman Returns released. Sega could very easily have put the Genesis game on a disc with a CD soundtrack and called it a day. Instead the adding racing levels could have been an entire game by themselves. If they had bothered to balance it properly this could have been an amazing package. Instead it is a very flawed game overall.
Batman Returns offers players a variety of choices in what parts of the game you want to play. By default you will alternate between the platforming and driving segments. But if you do not want such a long experience you can play the Genesis game as it was released originally or the brand new driving mode by itself. Aside from my problems with the game that I will get to probably my biggest disappointment with this game is that Sega left the platforming levels as is. This was the perfect opportunity to fix its flaws like the bad hit detection, suspect enemy placement, and wonky grappling hook mechanics. There was a good game there buried under its myriad problems. Sega could have made it better but instead left it as a side dish to the main course they want you to play on this disc.
The pseudo 3d levels of Batman Returns CD are the true star of this game and on a technical level you easily see why. Batman Returns makes extensive use of the Sega CD’s advanced scaling capabilities to create an experience that resembles Sega’s Super Scaler arcade games. The tracks have hills and wild turns along with plenty of trackside buildings that do an exceptional job recreating parts of Gotham City. There is heavy pixelization at times, especially during explosions and when there are multiple objects in the distance that blend together to form an ugly blob of junk. But overall this makes a great showcase of the Sega CD’s capabilities. It makes me wonder what arcade ports of stuff like Galaxy Force 2 and Power Drift would look like rather than the compromised ports we received.
Each level in Batman Returns is broken up into multiple stages. Each stage challenges you to kill a set number of enemies within the time limit or defeat a boss. Your only weapons are batarangs and limited missiles. It is like a high speed version of Chase HQ with a Batman skin. Despite the limited mechanics they pack a lot of action in each short timed stage as the enemies are aggressive and time is tight. The boss mechanics are varied in spite of the setup and are fun when they are not being cheap. The last levels take place in the Batskiboat as you navigate grueling obstacle courses en route to the Penguin’s lair. There is a lot to like about this driving mode and when it all works it is exceptional. The problem is the difficulty is through the roof and ruins the game.
Batman Returns CD desperately needs a tuning pass as it is hard from the start and gets worse as you progress. I was not joking when I said the timer is tight. Unless you play at 100% efficiency you will complete most stages with seconds to spare if that. The damage is off the charts with some enemies able to kill you in seconds. It means you barely have room to make mistakes and this is apparent by level four. Once you are in the bat boat the stages rely on gotcha mechanics and rote memorization that is not fun. They are also far too long and crashing in to a wall or object a few times is enough to kill the whole run. Conceptually these are some of the best levels in the game. But mechanically they are the most frustrating. They ruined what should be a great game.
In Closing
So close. Batman Returns CD is so close to being a worthwhile package. Technically it is brilliant and moment to moment it shines. But the difficulty curve is so insane that it quickly becomes an exercise in frustration. With rote memorization you may see the end of this one. But this path leads to many hours of aggravation. If Sega toned down the difficulty Batman Returns would be an amazing game I recommend to any Sega CD owner. But I cannot in good conscience.
