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Batman Forever: The Arcade Game
Background Data
Published By: Acclaim Developed By: Iguana Entertainment Released: December 3rd, 1996
Barcode: 0 21481 21083 2 PSRM: 005580 ID Tag: SLUS - 00387
CDs: 1 Players: 1 or 2 Players Co-operative ESRB: Kids to Adult (Animated Violence)
Accessories: Memory (1 Block) Size: 56.7 MB Digital Press Rarity: 6 out of 10

Description
     It's a fight to the finish as Batman and Robin take on the dark side of Gotham City's underworld! Power-up with devastating special moves and gadgets, then master the unique combo system which allows up to 400 hits! Batman Forever: The Arcade Game...100% computer rendered street brawling arcade action.

Review
Hello train, meet wreck. The game based off of the arcade game based off of the movie is one of those rare gems where no matter how bad you know it is you just can’t turn away.

A side scrolling game a la Final Fight heritage, Batman Forever fails on all cylinders sans one; hyper combos. As your stiffly animated character literally slides across the playing field, you can mash on the buttons in different street fighter patterns to see if any combos can be unleashed, resulting in 200 hits. The problem is, most enemies only need like, 4 hits to die, and bosses fall off around the same number, thus rendering the option useless.

To make matters worse, the game follows the insane psychotic color scheme of the movie, which means your eyes are bathed in pastels and bright primary colors that should never have met on-screen together. Cobble that with the horrible pixelated characters, awkward animation, and an almost seizure inducing set of special moves, and you have a concoction of visual crap with no game play to save it. I'm still not sure why our heroes have the ability to unleash what looks like a focused nuclear explosion from their capes...

Valid only to hardcore Batman fans and those going for a complete collection.

 

Trivia
  • This wasn't the first Batman arcade game! There was originally a very limited production of a side scrolling game for the original Michael Keaton Batman that never saw a home release. It too was a side scrolling fighter, but with classic 2D images and driving sequences.


  • Acclaim must have had a weird licensing deal where they could have the characters, but not the costumes. In every game they made based on the Forever movie, Batman and Robin's outfits don't match up. Batman's costume has an oversized insignia, while Robin has some minor coloring issues. Don't even get me started on the 16 Bit version costumes...ugh.


  • Plenty of sound bites from the movie are used in the game, a particular favorite being The Riddler quip, "Now THAT's impressive!" after the player performs a high ranking combo.


  • Practically every aspect of this game is digitized; i.e. just like how Mortal Kombat was developed. Sadly this really shows, since whenever you're in a crowd no one really matches up.


  • Also released on the Saturn. The only real comparison would be the Saturn's ever-so-barely better character renders, and that's about it. 


  • Despite teasing you in the opening trailer, and even having it bring your characters in, there's no Batmobile stages to be had. 

 

Greatest Hits
     This title was never released as a Greatest Hit...thank god. .
 Variations / Misprints
     There are no known variants or misprints.

PlayStation 2 Compatibility - Fast Load
     All times are rounded up to the nearest second. Tests are performed on a PlayStation 2 Slim Line with 1.11 PS Drivers.

Standard
  • Select to Level Load - 23 Sec
 Fast
  • Select to Level Load - 23 Sec

Game loaded fine with both options turned on, however there is no change in speed. Oddly enough, the area in between company logos and the title screen doesn't load at all. 

PlayStation 2 Compatibility - Smooth
     With the smooth option on, the characters finally get their real visual presentation groove on, but the backgrounds get the split treatment. See just above and left of Batman's head in the Smooth image.

(C) Game Rave 2004/05. All Rights Reserved. Game Rave is a (C) of Jason Dvorak.