Still, the atmosphere and tone really nail the 'feel' of the film. If Batman Returns had incorporated more variety in its level design, a larger enemy roster to contend with, and a co-op mode, I would have scored the experience higher. But those ancillary segments feel half baked and tad sloppy, compared to the main course of beat 'em up action. Batman Returns does try to break up the monotony with some platforming and driving segments. This limited offensive set versus a small roster of constantly repeated baddies gets stale soon enough. Batman only has a few different attacks (grab and slams are the best), and barely gets to use any of his elaborate gear. Because while it's true that most beat 'em ups get repetitive over time, Batman Returns does so alarmingly quickly. Batman Returns takes less than an hour to beat, as well. For one thing, you can only play single player, no two player love here. The thing is, Batman Return's gameplay is a tad too shallow for keepers. But notice I said 'rented' and not 'bought'. If someone had rented Batman Returns on VHS, and then rented this SNES game in tandem to play afterward, that would have made for a good bit of fun on some December night in 1993. So from a presentation and tie-in perspective, Batman Returns does a great job. There are digitized stills from the film incorporated into the plot exposition, making for convincing story telling. Cutscenes follow the plot of the film verbatim, making the player feel as if they are reliving the same events. The OST sincerely mimics the film's own OST, to the point of sounding more like a CD playing than typical SNES stuff. Its graphics match the same tonal feel of the film perfectly, as does the moody OST. Batman Returns controls well, runs smoothly, and provides plenty of tactile combat action.

(I chose to play Batman Returns at this point in time, because it takes place during Christmas and has related thematic elements.) Konami was no stranger to making beat 'em ups in the early 90s, and their genre expertise rings true here. It is a licensed game based on the 1992 film of the same name.

(I beat the SNES version, but the SFC version's cover is so much better.)īatman Returns is a SNES beat 'em up, developed and published by Konami in 1993.

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