0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Batman & Robin

       

Batman & Robin is a licensed sandbox action adventure game starring the dynamic due of Batman and Robin, not to be confused by the 1997 released Batman & Robin on the Tiger Electronics Game.Com, even though both were based on the 1997 movie of the same title. The Playstation version of the game was Developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Acclaim Entertainment.

The Playstation version released in North America and Europe in 1998, the game releasing first in North America at the end of July of that year, with the European release the following week in August of 1998, the game like the film that it was based on was largely a commercial failure critically the game was not that badly received.

Notable people who worked on this game David Shea who worked as Lead Programmer on the game worked as an Engine Programmer for Viva Piñata Party Animals in 2007, before filling the same role in 2008 for Star Wars The Force Unleashed and a year later on Star Wars The Clone Wars Republic Heroes.

Justin Heyes-Jones who worked as a Programmer on the game went on to work as a Senior Programmer on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine in 2011, the same year he worked as a Senior Programmer for the Online portion of Homefront. Since then he has worked as a Senior Programmer on Darksiders II, Company of Heroes 2 and Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition in 2015.

James Vale also known as Jim Vale was a Graphic Artist on this game, he also worked as a Graphic Artist on Street Fighter Alpha 3 in 2002, more recently he worked as a Technical Artist on 2010s Fable II, before moving on to be the Art Director for Fable Anniversary.

Batman & Robin use elements of a sandbox style game such as real time events, traffic and population movements. Upon starting the game the player is able to choose between the three main protagonists from the Batman & Robin movie, these are Batman, Robin or Batgirl. Each of the three protagonists have access to their own unique vehicles for traversing around Gotham, Batman has his trusty Batmobile, Robin has the Redbird Motorcycle while Batgirl has the Batblade.

 

The player is able to traverse the city of Gotham either by vehicle or on foot, when traversing by foot the player users the D-pad or left analogue stick to move, the player character can also jump by pressing the triangle button, gadgets can be used by pressing the square button.

Combat in the game is quite varied with the developed quite proud of the 20 hand to hand fighting moves that are available, each of the player characters also have their own special attacks, with Batman having a 2 hand hammer punch, while Robin has a running superkick. The player however must activate combat mode by pressing the L2 shoulder button.

In addition to the various hand to hand moves the playable characters have access to over 20 projectile gadgets including missiles and blades. The game also has investigation elements to it as well.

For example Mr Freeze is planning a bank robbery the player must gather clues and analyse them using the Batcomputer, if the player fails to find enough clues then the crime will take place with no chance for the player to stop it. In game missions are a mix of ones conceived by the developers or ones taken from the plot of the movie

Set one year after the defeat of Two Face and The Riddler, while some of the various missions in the game are unrelated to the 1997 movie, the main story of the game follows the plot of the movie, with Batman, Robin and Batgirl facing off against Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy. With the pair out to freeze the entire world, killing off mankind and repopulating the Earth with mutant plants, Bane also shows is venom infused face in the game.

Critically while the game was not a world beater it was decently received by many review outlets with the game peaking with an 80 rated review with several above average scores following this. The game did have its fair share of critics though with several reviews also falling into the average or worse scoring range.

As usual though we will start with the best which comes from GameGenie who scored the game at the aforementioned 80, the review calling Batman & Robin a game that will give games a whole lot of things to keep them entertained, the review also praised the sound in the game which was taken from the 1997 movie, the reviewer was however critical of the developers decision to opt for more realistic graphics rather than the usual blocky animations, with the review finding the latter preferable with it giving them the feel of the cartoon.

Absolute Playstation were next up and were just 1 point behind GameGenie with a 79 review score, the review commenting on how close the game was to succeeding, with the review critical of the developer trying to cram too much into a single game, in addition smoother controls over the characters and vehicles Batman & Robin could have worked, concluding with as it stands it is another nearly licensed game.

NowGamer were next up with another 1 point drop in review score with a78 from them, the review recommending the game to fans of the caped crusader offering a lengthy challenge both cerebrally and action wise. However the review concluded by saying by the end of the third day it just looks a little ragged around the edges and after the initial promise fails to deliver.

German Publication Mega Fun were up next with their respectable 74 review score, the review had high hopes after the preview version of the game and had expected more from Probes Batman, unfortunately many good ideas like finding and analysing clues and the impressively designed polygon Gotham City are overshadowed by many shortcomings.

Dropping down to the other end of the review scale we find the lowest review score for the game, which comes from The Video Game Critic, who scored the game at a lowly 25. The reviewer criticising the games confusing controls, awkward camera angles and graphical glitches.

Collision detection is also another major problem for the game according to the review, with the review calling each fight a painful experience, add in the poor sound quality of lots of annoying alarms and voice samples that sound nothing like the real actors.

Concluding the reviewer also commented on the poor loading times, with the reviewer saying, prepare to spend a lot of time staring at loading screens, finishing off the reviewer said they liked the concept behind Batman and Robin but Acclaim could not quite pull it off.

The next lowest score for the game as a poor 35 from Consoles News, the review praising Probe programmers for including so many various game styles, the review continued by saying, unfortunately wanting so much in the game has resulted in nothing but a very average game, with average graphics and poorly positioned cameras.

IGN were next and a jump up in review scores to a very average 50, the review commenting on the visual attention to detail that Batman and Robin has, details that would normally push most games over the top, in the end it is attention to detail that makes a game great. The review continued, attention to great gameplay also makes a game great, and that seems to have taken second place to the great graphics

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, where if you are looking to trade in your copy of Batman & Robin, you will be looking at $12 for your copy from Gamedude. If on the other hand you are in the market for a copy of the game, it will set you back $24.

Retrogames.co.uk are up next who have one copy of the game currently available, this copy is priced up at £9, the game is listed as been in complete and excellent condition with a disc quality rating of 9/10, moving on from here we have eStarland.com up next.

Arriving at eStarland.com we find Batman & Robin listed, however at the time of writing this the game is currently out of stock. The game is listed as having a price of between $10.37 and $19.50 when in stock, eStarland.com do offer a trade in for the game, which is currently under a trade in bonus, with the usual $8.50 for a complete copy now set at up to $13.60 for a complete copy

 

Lastly we have Amazon.com where we find a small number of copies available, with completeness of the copies a serious issue, the entire first page of available copies are disc only copies. With prices for a disc only copy ranging from $17.75 in acceptable condition, up to around the $25 mark for a good or very good condition disc only used copy.

If you are looking for a complete used copy of the game you are looking at a minimum of $29.59 for a very good condition copy of the game. Another very good condition copy of the game is available for $29.86, both of these copies come with free shipping. There is also a like new copy of the game available this will set you back $41.99 once shipping costs have been added in.

Written by

P J Gibbon