This is a generic, very plain, platforming beat-em-up with little
merit. It doesn't do anything special to separate itself from any basic platformer and the
combat is too simple to be the focus. Batman's powers are limited to punching, Batarangs,
and a grappling hook. There are some horizontal shooting stages to break things up, and these suffer from the same flaws that make the main game brutal. The level design here is awful, as enemies are tossed into the stage with no thought as to how the player should navigate around them. Whether it's the bullets being fired at the Batmobile or the jump-kicking clowns positioned ridiculously on a hanging windowsill, it's just not fair. There are points where you are required to take a hit to move on.
If the game succeeds at anything, it's atmosphere. This is a dark one, matching the tone of the Tim Burton directed movie flawlessly. The sprites are simplistic aside from Batman himself, and it's the backgrounds that provide most of the ambiance. Again, it's not necessarily Batman, just nice art design.
The redeeming feature here is the music. Very few of the tracks
have been stripped from the movie, giving the game a sound almost entirely its own. It's
moody and deep, matching the graphical design flawlessly. It's the game's sole highlight,
and aside from Yuzo Koshiro's work, some of the best on the console.This is a game that might of fared better if it felt at least somewhat different from Vigilante. If it weren't for the platforming, there would be nothing here to separate it. This is one of those titles that played far better during its release then it does now. The flaws are far more apparent here since the aging process kicked in.
