Batman (NES)

Batman for the NES was released in 1990 and was developed and produced by Sunsoft.  This game is REALLY tough once you get past the first few stages.

The game starts off being pretty good.  Stage 1-1 is a pretty easy level, about what you would expect from the first level of a game.  Stage 1-2 is a lot harder, but still not too bad.  It's more of the "Oh yeah, this is a good, fun challenge" type of hard, not the "HOLY CRAP OH EM GEE I'M GONNA DIE" type of hard.  Stage 1-3 and you're already fighting a boss, but this boss is really easy; 3 hits with your spinny tri-circle thingy of death (actually called batdisks) and the boss is dead.

Stage 2-1, and you're like "Wow, this is really getting hard...."  After some frustration and a lot of trial and error, though, it's beatable.  Stage 2-2 is really hard, but again, beatable.  Stage 2-3 and you're screaming "OH MY GOD, DOES THE MADDNESS EVER END?!?"  Stage 2-4 is the stage 2 boss, and after you die and get sent back to the beginning of 2-3, you're like "Whatever.  I'm sick of this game."  I rarely get past this boss.

The graphics aren't bad at all for an NES game.  The gameplay is REALLY good; it's just really hard.  The music is nice and dramatic, and the sound effects are good.  The only real problem is that starting with stage 2, the levels are way too hard.

Another thing I don't like is that they managed to reverse the buttons!  I'm not talking about the A button attacking while the B button jumps (it's like a law of nature that B attacks and A jumps).  No, they got that right.  I'm talking about the most obscure button screw up I've ever seen in my life; Select pauses the game while Start cycles through your weapons.  What the heck?  I've never heard of that.

Presentation - 8.  It's got a cool title screen and nifty Batmobile cut scenes.  It even shows Batman shooting his way through a garage door with a machine gun on the Batmobile after Stage 1-3.

Graphics - 8.  For an NES game, the graphics are quite good.  Still not sure why Batman explodes upon death as if he were a robot, but the graphics are good.

Sound - 8.  The music is pretty good and very fitting.  The sound effects aren't too bad, either.

Gameplay - 8.  The gameplay itself is very good and really fun.  Despite the fact that the game is really fun and addicting, however, it's REALLY HARD.

Lasting Appeal - 7.  Ohh, you'll definitely remember this game; you'll remember how incredibly difficult it is.  It is a fun game, though, and worth replaying, even if only for the first two stages of the game.

Overall Score - 8