''Batman'' is a 1986 isometric

action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action ...

by Ocean Software for the Amstrad PCW,

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

, and

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

, and the first

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

game developed. The game received favourable reviews. An unrelated Batman game was released two years later, titled '' Batman: The Caped Crusader''.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to rescue Robin by collecting the seven parts of the Batcraft hovercraft that are scattered around the

Batcave The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal r ...

. The gameplay takes place in a 3D isometric universe, which programmer Jon Ritman and artist Bernie Drummond would further develop for 1987's '' Head Over Heels'', and is notable for implementing an early example of a save game system that allows players to restart from an intermediate point in the game on the loss of all lives rather than returning all the way to the start (in this case the point at which Batman collects a "Batstone").

Reception

''Batman'' was received well by the computer game press at the time. '' Crash'' gave it a rating of 93%, '' Your Sinclair'' scored it 9/10 and '' Sinclair User'' gave it five stars and rated it as a "classic". The game reached the number one position in the Amstrad, ZX Spectrum and All-Format charts in the same week in May 1986.

References

External links

* * {{Batman video games 1986 video games Amstrad CPC games Amstrad PCW games Batman video games Crash Smash! award winners MSX games Ocean Software games Superhero video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games set in the United States Video games with isometric graphics ZX Spectrum games