Please login to submit a screenshot

"Holy Game Gear, Batman"

The Adventures of Batman & Robin. More like the adventures of Batman without Robin (since he doesn't appear until the very end). I have not played this game in a really long time. I still remember how it is played, though. And seeing as how the other versions of this game have reviews, the sega game gear version deserves one as well. After all, it's not a horrid game, though, it could have been better (of course, the same could be said for a lot of other games, just for varying reasons).

Story 7/10
The story is okay. There's not much to it. So, maybe I'm being too generous with a seven. But, it's a story you'd find in a lot of super hero games, especially for a game that came out in 1995. The story is about Robin being kidnapped by the Joker, Mr. Freeze, The Mad Hatter, and the Scarecrow. You have to go through these four bosses and their worlds before you can save Robin which leads to a less than stellar conclusion. That's it in a nutshell. Now you can see what I mean by the adventures of Batman minus the Robin part. Meh, I guess it can still be said that Robin has his own little adventure. Being held captive by the Joker can be quite an adventure, I guess. Of course, taking advantage of the linking system and having multiplayer with Batman and Robin would be one of a few improvements.

Graphics 8/10
The graphics are fine for the game gear. Everything is visible. Not necessarily beautiful, but visible. Well, almost. I think there may have been some trapdoors that snuck up on me every now and then. Sometimes, there are graphic glitches, such as a wall being overlapped by the elevator, etc. However, it's very minor. Mostly, I believe that happens once in a while after playing the game so darn much. Other than that, the sprites are decent size and identifiable. It's a fine achievement for the Game Gear.

Music and Sound 9/10
Not much in the sound effects department, but I did like the music in various parts of the game. I felt like I was being cheered on by the game to take down the bad guys. It was a nice motivational melody. Some more sound effects would have been another nice improvement. After all, when I would beat a level, it made a noise that sounded as though the game was going to crash on me. Of course, that never happened, but how about more of a victorious sound, just like the music?

Gameplay 7/10
Well, it wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but it wasn't bad either. It was just okay. It was a simple platformer, nothing else. The levels were slightly maze-like, but there wasn't much to explore. Your gadgets varied depending on the pickups you received, but they weren't real special either. For each level, you went through it, fighting henchmen, and then, you would fight a boss at the end. It would have been nice if some more powerups were included or different routes could be taken for extra gameplay and puzzle-solving. But, such is not the case and all you do is throw a batarang or nunchucks, and jump and repeat. The game is more fun if you're not looking for anything more.

Difficulty 7/10
It can be quite a difficult game. The enemies can be rather difficult, in fact, they are extremely difficult. There's a reason why I never really went back through it after beating it the first time. But it's not just the bad guys. Other difficulties include some timing when jumping and constantly having to go back to the same spot over and over again to get further. Normally, a fair amount of difficulty is not a huge deal, but if you find yourself trapped in repetition and not advancing throughout the game, there's a problem. There needs to be a nice balance between easy and hard. It should be difficult in a sense that you want to keep going to keep up with the challenge, but not provide too much monotony.

Controls 6/10
Another issue which added to the difficulty was the control system. That was actually the reason why jumping could be a real pain. If you didn't time it right by controls, there would be problems. He wouldn't always respond as fast as you would want him to for fighting which would cause more fun problems. That would also add to the difficulty. Controls needed much improvement.

Replay 6/10
Well, there's not really any good reason to go through it again, unless you haven't played it in a while and want to see if it's easier or better than you remember it. I may go back through it again at some point to see if it is better than I remember. Who knows?

Overall, it's an alright video game. The controls, difficulty and gameplay could have been executed a little better, but there's not a whole lot to expect from this version of the game. At one point I said a linking multiplayer may have made the game slightly better. I'm not so sure. The other problems would need to be rectified first. If you can borrow it or rent it, I would recommend that over buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/08

Game Release: The Adventures of Batman & Robin (US, 1995)