Given the success of Batman: The Video Game, it should come as no surprise that 1992’s Batman Returns got some video game tie-ins of its own. Despite that title, Return of the Joker isn’t a sequel, but rather a more comic book-influenced game inspired by platforming shooters like Contra. Sunsoft followed up that game with 1991’s Batman: Return of the Joker. However, Ocean Software released its own movie tie-in game on home computers, one that added more variety in the form of a Batmobile level and even a puzzle where players have to figure out which consumer products are tainted with Joker’s Smilex. Unfortunately, jumping and punching is about all players were asked to do, and the game quickly built a reputation for being the most difficult NES title this side of BattleToads. But it’s the NES version that remains the most iconic, despite (or maybe because of) the fact that the system’s limited color palette forced Batman to be depicted as a neon-purple avenger of the night. It even threw in a number of other DC Comics villains like Killer Moth, Electrocutioner and Deadshot, for good measure.īatman: The Video Game was released on several consoles with varying levels of graphical fidelity. Based on the 1989 movie starring Michael Keaton, the game tasks players with jumping and punching their way through a series of levels in pursuit of the Joker. Batman at the Moviesįor many Bat-fans of a certain age, Sunsoft’s Batman: The Video Game was their first chance to take control of the Dark Knight in a video game. Think of it as an early prototype for 1995’s Comix Zone. The game is mostly notable for its attempt to mimic the look and feel of comic book panels. Ocean followed up Batman two years later with Batman: The Caped Crusader, an action-adventure title pitting Batman against the Joker and Penguin in two distinct chapters. The rudimentary, low color graphics weren’t much to write home about even at the time, but the game certainly had its fans. The game tasks players with dodging obstacles, finding the various pieces of the Batcraft and rescuing Robin. The very first Batman game is surprisingly different from the ones that would follow, as it’s more of an isometric exploration game than an action platformer.

British publisher Ocean Software was the first to bring the Dark Knight to gaming, starting with an obscure 1986 game simply titled Batman, which was released on home computers like the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad PCW. Compared to heroes like Superman and Spider-Man, Batman made a relatively late debut on the video game scene.

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