Batman, the 1990 game, is probably the worst Batman game for the Game Boy. What makes it not fun to play is a combination of its trueness to Batman media in general, its mechanics, and more. I do not hate on it too much since it was one of the earliest games released for the system. I find it funny that Sunsoft, the developer of this game, made what I consider the best Batman game on the Game Boy in 1992.

Probably my biggest gripe with the game is Batman’s almost exclusive use of a gun to attack enemies. As any Batman fan would know, Batman never uses guns for combat, or at least uses them very rarely. The only other way to attack enemies is with orbiting batarangs, which are powerups that act like a shield. There is no kicking, or punching here. Even the bosses only attack you with bullets.

The game would still be bad even if it wasn’t Batman themed since the game mechanics are frustrating. This game makes mundane things too difficult and is not rewarding. You can’t fire upwards, downwards, or diagonally with the gun, so you end up having to jump and shoot hoping you time your fire just right. It is frustrating to destroy the tiny boxes, with your tiny bullets, tiny Batman (Why is everything so tiny?), and big floaty jumps. By the way, the floaty jumps are so hard to control and make jumping from platform to platform an ordeal.

The graphics on each stage are too simple and boring. The boss battles (minus the Batwing stage) are too similar with each other. Probably the only decent aspect of the game is the music, however, it is not free from flaws. The music does sound above average compared to Other games, but I think the length of the loops are too short. This is a problem when you are stuck on the same level for too long.

Here is a video of someone doing a longplay of the game: