Batman Returns
Sega Genesis and Sega CD
Nostalgia Factor:
This is such a historic day for this blog. You are witnessing two “firsts” unfold right before your eyes. My first review of a Sega CD game, AND my first ever dual review. Why the dual review? Easy. The Sega Genesis and the Sega CD versions of Batman Returns are two extremely similar games, but they have key differences that I feel make them two separate entities. At the same time, since they are so similar I don’t want to write two different reviews where I just end up repeating myself 90% of the time. Hence, the dual review. I hope that makes sense. It feels weird breaking my strict video game review guidelines but ultimately I feel comfortable with that decision.
Some background: I first played Batman Returns for the Sega Genesis back in the year 1992. I was ten years old at the time. I loved this game. I had to have played through it from start to finish at least 20 to 30 times. As a result, I became quite good at it. I didn’t have a Sega CD at the time, but I was aware that the Sega CD version of the game had driving levels in it which weren’t included in the Genesis version of the game. I always wanted to check out those driving levels, but I’d never get the chance. Until now, in the year 2021, with the help of emulators.
I’d not only end up playing the Sega CD version of Batman Returns, I’d check out the Genesis one as well for comparison. It’s been 29 years since I first played this title. How would it hold up over that time? Would the driving levels be worth the wait? Which version would ultimately reign supreme? Let’s find out.
Story:
This game does a good job of following the basic plot of the movie Batman Returns. It’s Christmas time. You’re fighting the Penguin’s evil gang of circus hoodlums. You fight the Catwoman. The mall blows up. You take the fight to the Penguin’s icy underground lair where you face off against him as the game’s final boss. The end.
There are some key differences here. I think the Genesis version actually has the leg up when it comes to storytelling because of some things that aren’t in the Sega CD version of the game. At the beginning of the Genesis game, you see the Penguin knock the Ice Princess off the top of a roof of a tall building and you see Batman jump down in a failed attempt to save her. Some haunting music plays in the background during this whole scene. It does a really good job setting up the look and feel of the game. The Sega CD shows this scene, but from a different angle with different music playing. I feel it isn’t nearly as effective as the Genesis introduction.
The other big difference is that at the end of the Genesis game, you have one last fight against Catwoman on a rooftop as the end credits play. If you defeat her, she falls to the ground and a bunch of cats come rushing in to… EAT HER BODY!! The cats disband and there is only an empty space where her body once lay. Laid? Lain? Was Laying? Who freaking knows. In the Sega CD version, after defeating the Penguin, you see Batman standing on a rooftop shrouded in fog while the end credits play. No mention of Catwoman at all. Very lame.
Genesis: 1. Sega CD: 0
Gameplay:
The Sega CD version of this game offers both driving levels and 2D platforming levels. The platforming levels are identical for both systems. Controlling Batman, you must make your way to the end of each stage, fighting enemies, swinging from your bat rope, collecting items, and going into battle against boss characters. Batman’s basic attacks are a punch and kick attack, but as you play you’re going to get your hands on all kinds of different weapons. You can access these weapons by bringing up Batman’s utility belt, where you are given the option of which one to select. Your basic weak, disposable batarangs, gas bombs, powerful homing batarangs, and more. Learning to master the use of these weapons is key to excelling at this game. Don’t hold back or try to hoard them. Use them freely!
The actual platforming action itself is nothing to write home about. The game moves kind of slow. The jumping and swinging can be a bit clunky. You can’t see very far in front of you and a lot of times you are just blindly jumping into the void and hoping you don’t fall into a bottomless pit. The enemies appear suddenly on the edge of the screen and can cheap-shot you left and right. It’s not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, I just don’t think there’s anything too horribly special about it. That said, I still oddly REALLY like it for some reason. This has to be a nostalgia thing. I liked this as a kid, so I like it now. And maybe there’s something to that theory. But god dang if I didn’t have a fun time playing this game, even though I knew in the back of my mind that the game itself really wasn’t too great.
As I mentioned before, the Sega CD version of the game offers additional driving levels not found on the Genesis cartridge. I’ve read that these driving levels are a ton of fun and that some people play Batman Returns for the Sega CD ONLY for these levels. I decided to check them out myself. All I can say is that I am disappointed in them. To me, they aren’t any fun at all. They are long, they are overly challenging, and they are at times unfairly frustrating. Yeah yeah, I know. Get good. Maybe if I’d grown up playing this game and had spent hours and hours with it as a kid, I’d like these driving levels. I just don’t have patience for them as an adult. The worst driving level in my mind is when you are driving that bat-submarine thing though the Penguin’s lair. The tight spaces you have to squeeze through are ridiculous. Get hit and it slows you down. There’s a timer, so you have to go fast. If the timer runs out, you have to do the whole thing over again. But if you hit too much stuff, you die and have to start over again. It’s SO annoying. And this stage goes on forever and ever, too – broken up into five different timed sections. Ugh. I didn’t think it was ever going to end.
So if you ask me, I prefer the Genesis version of the game because I don’t have to bother with the driving stages. I HATE them. At the same time, the Sega CD version of the game offers you the opportunity to only play the platforming levels, so if I choose to skip the driving stages I can certainly do that. So it is all a wash in the end. No points for either system.
Genesis: 1. Sega CD: 0
Graphics:
The 2D platforming stages are identical. They look darn good though, for 1992. This is one of the best video game representations of Batman himself that I have seen. The Penguin looks good. Catwoman looks good. Gotham City is hauntingly beautiful. The whole look and feel of the game completely matches everything the movie is trying to do.
The driving stages might appear a bit dated when looking at them through the lens of the year 2021 (and beyond!) but honestly that doesn’t bother me at all. Back in the early 90s, these graphics were mind-blowing and as good as it could possibly get. Again, they capture the look and feel of the movies flawlessly. The Sega CD version also offers short cutscenes of Batman behind the wheel of the Batmobile. While these also might seem a little bit cheesy and dated, you have to remember that this was cutting edge stuff for its time. I certainly can’t fault it for that.
Sega CD gets the point here.
Genesis 1. Sega CD 1.
Music:
The Sega CD version of this game often gets praise for its music, but honestly I find the Genesis version of the game much better in this regard. Batman Returns for the 16-bit console has that classic Sega Genesis feel to its music and sound effects. It’s hard to describe it, but if you know what I’m talking about, you know what I’m talking about. The Sega CD version’s music, while good, sounds out of place for a Batman game and doesn’t match the look and feel of the rest of the game. The music for the Genesis game is a much better fit for the 2D platforming stages. The driving stages for the Sega CD have music that is more appropriate, but it still doesn’t quite do enough to elevate it above the Genesis for me.
Genesis 2. Sega CD 1.
Overall:
We’ve reached the end of this review, and the Sega Genesis version of the game has received more points than the Sega CD version. That means it is better, right? I don’t know. It’s all up to whether you like the driving stages or not. I personally did not like them, but at the same time I appreciate that they give you the opportunity to skip them and only play the 2D platforming stages for the Sega CD. When you line up both game’s platforming stages against one another, they are basically identical – with the exception of the music, which I liked more for the Sega Genesis.
So really, these games deserve almost the exact same score. I can’t hold the driving levels against the Sega CD version too much, because like I said you can skip them if you don’t want to play them. The music doesn’t do too much to lift the Genesis above the Sega CD game either. I’ve read many reviews where people have raved about the Sega CD’s music and has said it is better than the Genesis. I don’t know, though. The music feels like it would be more at home in another game, not a Batman game. And then you have to factor in the fact that the Genesis version gives you that extra Catwoman fight and a little bit of added closure to her story.
If I had a choice as to which one I would rather play, I’d say the Genesis game. The music and the few extra scenes put it over the top for me – but barely. You can’t go wrong with the Sega CD version either. If you like the driving stages, I can see why you’d like it more than the Genesis version. And I’m okay with that. I don’t agree with it, but I can see your point of view. That said, neither game is really that special or memorable in the grand scheme of things. If you’ve never played either game, you’re probably okay skipping over them. Personally I have some strong nostalgic feelings for this game as I lived through Batman Returns mania in the early 90s.
This may surprise you but I have decided to give each version of the game the same score. As far as gameplay goes, both versions are nearly identical when it comes to the 2D platforming stages. I've always stressed in these reviews that the fun factor is all that matters to me. Maybe I like one version's music a little more, but that's not enough to change my opinion on the core game. It's the exact same thing. I'm just going to pretend the driving levels don't exist.
Final Score:
Sega CD: C +
Genesis: C+
Check out some of my other Batman reviews:
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