Batman has fared greatly when it comes to video games throughout the era, and there are quite a few to sift through on home consoles. Batman Returns in particular saw several games from different developers and publishers. There are versions on the Master System, Game Gear, and Atari's handheld, the Lynx. This Retro Reboot VS will focus on the heavyweights of the gaming world at the time, Batman Returns for the Super Nintendo and the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.

PLAY STYLE

Batman Returns on SNES is a side-scrolling arcade style brawler developed by Konami, while the Genesis version, developed by Malibu Interactive, incorporates more platforming. These are two very different games in terms of execution.

The Genesis game borrows a few elements from the Sunsoft-produced Genesis game based on the first movie, like the HUD layout at the bottom of the screen. Batman can melee combat, as well as using his signature arsenal, which can be selected in the pause menu. The controls feel a little finicky, especially when jumping. The attacks take a little bit of getting used to, you can punch and kick, along with tossing Batarangs, swarms of bats, and the wire gun. The grappling hook takes a little bit of getting used to, and it's necessary to clear some awkward jumps in early levels. When under a platform, it can be aimed straight up, but only if it's on screen. Avoiding damage in the melee takes some practice, Batsy feels like a large target and everything moves so much faster. 

SNES Returns is way more straight to the point; a simplistic, satisfying beat'em up where the Dark Knight just throws clowns around. In the first boss fight, you can even recreate the scene where Bats knocks the taser clown that's holding Selina Kyle hostage out with the brick. Smashing them against the background buildings and obstructions never gets old. But in case it does, at various points, the gameplay shifts to more of a side-scrolling shooter where you fire Batarangs against enemies and bosses. There's also a driving stage that's similar to the Sega CD racing portions. 

Batman Returns on SNES is a little more beginner-friendly, while the Genny requires sitting down for a minute and getting the hang of its nuances. ADVANTAGE: Super Nintendo.

GRAPHICS

Well, this might not seem fair on the surface, as Konami's offering sports brighter colors, better animations, sharper backgrounds, and features digitized stills from the movie to move parts of the narrative. The game bears a very strong resemblance to Final Fight. While the Drive has some horsepower limitations compared to Nintendo's 16-bit beast, the darker palette accommodates the shadowy, ghostly aesthetic of Gotham City. Batman himself looks far more imposing in the Super Nintendo game. His Sega sprite design isn't too bad, he just happens to blend in with a lot of the shades of purple that make up the scenery. This also makes it a little tough to gauge where you're allowed to jump and descend from. If there's any real knock 

This one is a little closer, and while the Malibu game embodies the universe a little more and has a wider enemy variety, it also does a healthy amount of foreground obstruction, which I hate. Super Bat may be a little squeaky clean, but it's much more clear and pleasing to the eye. ADVANTAGE: Super Nintendo

CHALLENGE

Both of these games are pretty tough. Batman Returns on SNES is a rough gauntlet of clowns, explosives, and brutal boss fights. The Batmobile segment can get pretty daunting, because it just goes on for an eternity, and the more projectile-focused rounds leaves Batman as a rather large target. It's a game of patterns, so some modest practice. It has seven battle areas in total, which is adequate for a brawler. 

The Sega Batman Returns is two levels shorter, but figuring out how to keep everything from killing the hell out of you takes a decent amount of time. It feels cumbersome and enemies can be incredibly aggressive. I have a gripe with games that make you scroll the screen beyond the halfway portion, it makes it really tough to get a read on enemies coming at you. Clowns and gargoyles will zip seemingly out of nowhere. There's life drops, thank the stars, cuz your health bar depletes FAST. With more erratic boss patterns (Catwoman seems to kick you from 40 feet with her flip) and the fact that Batman lumbers around like an oaf, Sega is most certainly a tougher nut to crack. ADVANTAGE: Sega Genesis

OVERALL: Batman Returns for the Super Nintendo is a more complete and entertaining game to play. The nature of beat'em ups makes it easy to hop into on a casual level. Along with the great graphics, the 16-bit rendition of the Danny Elfman theme, so sounding liek the movie goes quite the way for presentation.

Malibu Interactive's learning curve is pretty obtuse for an action platformer, and just feels older by comparison. The weapons make things easier, since there's tons of ammo and resource drops. It just takes such a long time to get good at this, it wears on my patience. My threshold for what I intend to deal with when I play one of these games can vary, and this Sega Batman doesn't really do it for me. If you want a Batman fix on the Genesis, there are better options.

WINNER

KONAMI'S BATMAN RETURNS (SUPER NINTENDO)