Batman
1989 · Platform / Action · NES
Overview
Batman is an action video game developed and published by Ocean Software based on the 1989 film of the same name. It was released on 11 September 1989 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum with Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS and MSX versions following soon after.
Deep Dive
Batman is an action video game developed and published by Ocean Software based on the 1989 film of the same name. It was released on 11 September 1989 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum with Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS and MSX versions following soon after.
Developer Story
Batman for the NES was developed by Sunsoft in 1989, timed to the Tim Burton film release. Unlike most licensed games of the era, Sunsoft's Batman was genuinely well-designed — tight controls, excellent wall-jumping mechanics, and a superb soundtrack. The game bore only superficial resemblance to the film but stood on its own merits as one of the best NES action games of 1989.
Did You Know?
- Sunsoft's Batman is regularly cited as one of the best licensed games ever made — it succeeded as a game first, with the licence secondary.
- The wall-jump mechanic — bouncing between walls to climb sheer surfaces — was more sophisticated than most contemporary platformers.
- Sunsoft's soundtrack, composed by Naoki Kodaka, is considered among the finest on the NES.
- The game bore minimal resemblance to the film — Sunsoft created an original Batman story rather than adapting the movie's plot.
