Batman Returns

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Batman (aka Bruce Wayne), the caped crusader and superhero is once more called to fight against evil and save Gotham City. Batman already defeated the Joker, a disfigured lunatic who threatened to demolish Gotham City, by putting a definite "end" to his plans. Gotham City enjoyed peace and prosperity, but not for too long. It's already Christmas in the city and there's a new "boy" in town called "The Penguin". This "evil Christmas gift" is a short, fat and disgusting persona and also a very dangerous and mean villain. The Penguin manages to gather numerous gangs of thugs to take over Gotham. He can also communicate with...penguins!(now that's funny!) His main purpose is -as Joker's was- to bring chaos in Gotham City during Christmas(!) and become the ultimate ruler! Along with that fat guy, Batman has to also confront another "badass" superhero; a female, very agile, charming and powerful lady called Catwoman who has the powers, the spirit and the senses of a cat (her name says it all I guess). So, this time, the threat is doubled and the battle will be more fierce than ever! This installment to the Batman series is a side scrolling action game, mainly based on the beat 'em up formula. It actually reminds me of Double Dragon and Final Fight, but the action here is faster than Double Dragon's and more intense than Final Fight's. Batman uses his physical strength to grab, punch and kick the attacking foes that vary from simple "macho" wannabes to disguised motorbikers and some huge, really huge, rednecks, all dressed funny (like clowns, . The enemies attack either by punching, kicking or stabbing the "Bats" or by shooting with any weapon they may carry. Overall, the gameplay's difficulty rises gradually so you'll have the opportunity to master Batman's moves and go further!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game's visuals on the SNES are impressive and colorful. The animation is very smooth with no slowdowns at all and the sprites look as if they were taken from a Batman comic book. In general, the game looks pretty much like Final Fight (at least the styling) and Gotham City during Christmas Time looks so beautiful! Along with its great visuals, Batman Returns also offers great sound with an intense in-game music score and a variety of nice sampled sound effects. As a whole, Batman Returns is among the most good looking and most intense beat 'em up games ever released for the SNES.