There used to be a myth in the 90s about how any game based on a superhero franchise was doomed to fail. It was mainly because back in the 8-bit and 16-bit era, just about every game followed a similar side-scrolling gameplay, which (depending on the execution) was a hit-or-miss affair. With Superhero games, the case was mostly a miss.
Superheros are complex characters in comics as well as movies. They do a lot more than just beat the bad guys and save the day. Unfortunately, the early years of gaming didn't give the developers much room to experiment with a character's "universe". And when we're talking about Batman, the universe is just as important as the character himself.
In the first of this three part feature, we'll take a look at the early years of Batman. We'll explore how some of the games managed to contribute so much, even within their limited scope, while others just took the franchise to a whole new low. Not all games are taken into consideration; just the ones that matter. Let's start with the most significant game in Bat-history...
Batman (1990)
Arcade
This game is relatively unknown in India, mainly because arcade machines were not that big here in those days. But what makes this game notable is that it was the first Batman game in which Batman actually looked like Batman! Jokes aside, this arcade classic was based on the 1989 Tim Burton movie, which was pretty much visible in the character design and the use of the movie's original OST. Besides being a beat-'em-up, the game had some cool Batmobile sequences.
The novelty factor of the game was enough to warrant a sequel, which came in the form of...
avgn came out with the similar feature last month. 
