The Adventures of Batman & Robin is a series of video game adaptations released between 1994 and 1995 featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin based on Batman: The Animated Series (which had been retitled The Adventures of Batman and Robin for its second season). The games were released for numerous platforms, with the Genesis, Game Gear, and Sega CD versions published by Sega while the Super NES version was published by Konami (who also produced an earlier Game Boy video game based on the show).
Gameplay
For the most part, it is an action-adventure platformer in which the player controls Batman, and follows him to the end of each stage, where a villain is set to appear. Some of the more common features in the game is the possibility to equip with different gadgets, such as bombs and x-ray lenses. The gadgets are in some cases essential to complete some stages. The player can return to the Batcave in order to re-equip the gadgets and restart a stage with all the lives accumulated up to that point (in case the player had lost lives).
The game features passwords, which leave the player in the last played stage. The passwords also take count of the number of lives remaining and the continues used. Passwords cannot be used in hard difficulty, which means that the game must be completed from the beginning. Completion of the hard mode rewards the player with a special ending.
Super NES version
The Super NES version is developed and published by Konami. Each level consists of an episode that is loosely based on those from the animated series, taking Batman to an amusement park and other places where supercriminals do their work. Despite the title, Batman is the only playable character, as the game was developed before the show’s title change, but Robin still appears in the game as a non-playable ally during certain conversation sequences.
The soundtrack was written by Konami Kukeiha Club members Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko, Jun Funahashi, Masanari Iwata, Masahiko Kimura, Kayo Fujitani, and Masahiro Ikariko.
Genesis version
The Genesis version, developed by Clockwork Tortoise and published by Sega, is a run ‘n’ gun where both Batman and Robin must stop Mr. Freeze, who plans to freeze Gotham City. In order to keep the duo busy, he also frees the Joker, Two-Face and the Mad Hatter, each one with their own agenda. The Joker celebrates his birthday wreaking havoc in Gotham and stealing diamonds, Two-Face tries to take over the city from above, and Mad Hatter is creating a robot army in his surreal lair.
The game can be played by two players simultaneously; one player with Batman, and the other with Robin. Both characters are identical in terms of playability, and both use batarangs, bolas, or shuriken in long-range attacks, while using melee attacks at short range. There are four levels consisting of several stages, mostly of a straight left-to-right traverse to the end where the boss awaits. In some levels the game switches to a side-scrolling shooter, in which the players must control the Batwings.
The Genesis version of the game was released on August 2, 1995. The game features a dark electronica-styled soundtrack by Jesper Kyd.
