Batman is a popular license, no matter what is being licensed. Batman Forever not so much. From toys to comics to movies to games, DC Comics’ Dark Knight is a cash cow of mega proportions. There have been duds in television (the cult followed 60’s show) and in gaming (this game for instance).

Source material matters

Being based on one of the “worse” Batman movies probably put this game on the avoid list of many gamers before it even released. According to how it was received by the gaming press of the day, gamers were rightful to be wary. Taking digitized graphics to a new realm, at least on 16-Bit as Phoenix 3 did it already on 3DO, Batman Forever had characters that looked “just” like the movie actors. The problem with this graphic style is that it is limiting in animation quality and variety.

Controls suck so does your game

On top of the clunky animation, the controls were quite difficult to master. Not unlike trying to master an early Neo Geo fighter but those were often fun. This is especially true about the Super Nintendo version, which has more buttons than the Sega Genesis. This being because the Sega Genesis required a separate purchase of the 6 button controller. That is unless you picked up a newer Genesis that included that controller.

Buy Batman Forever at your own risk

Venturing into this adventure will give you a single plain scrolling fighter with some platforming elements for your trouble. This is no Batman Returns on SNES or Streets of Rage on Genesis. That is to say, unless you are a diehard Batman fan, there are better games out there to enjoy.

If you are a fan of licensed games and want to see what else is out there, check out our coverage. Be warned, not all of it is good.

Batman Forever hit the PC, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and various handhelds. No digital method is available that we know of so used games stores and eBay or Amazon are your only choices on this one.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams