Batman the Video Game Spreads its Wings on the Game Boy: Today in History- April 13th, 1990
The original Game Boy was a seminal system for Nintendo, it set the pace for the hand held market and did things prior hand helds of the time couldn't. The Game Boy was different enough to warrant millions of units sold which was able to solidify Nintendo in this new market that up to that point had been dominated by Tiger Electronics single game pre-defined LCD games that were actually worse off than most Atari 2600 games from nearly a decade earlier. While the Game Boy's screen was not suited all that well for action titles, it did not stop companies from releasing them- including games based on blockbuster movies like Batman.
Batman's return to the movies in 1989 was a turning point for comic book movies, though not many other licenses were able to recreate that same level of magic. The cast was just right, the story was great in most places and it was received quite well by fans. The following year, the Game Boy got its version of this movie, for better or for worse.
Obviously the graphics of the Game Boy were quite limited- lettuce green screen that was prone to blurring when moving was really a hindrance. While levels were loosely based on the movie with some cut scenes mixed in to help push the story forward and continue that tie to the movie, the game was pretty decent. Sure it was no Batman on Sega Genesis or even NES though the Game Boy version was similar (side scrolling platforming) it was unique enough to be its own game.
The big difference between the Game Boy version and the console version of this license is the removal of physical confrontation with enemies. Rather than resorting to punching the enemies, Batman on the Game Boy resorts to shooting batarangs and other projectile weapons to eliminate the bad guys.
Batman the Video Game is not available in any digital form so if you want a copy you will have to hit Ebay, Amazon
for a physical copy.
These "today in history" has become a favourite of mine, nice to be reminded about games forgotten!
I am glad you are enjoying them. Since 2008 I have written about 800 of them, not all published yet as I really like releasing them on key anniversaries the first time.
I love writing them up too. It is great reliving these memories and going down memory lane from time to time.
Knowing others enjoy them is simply awesome to me.