Batman

Batman, also known as Batman: The Video Game, is a platform game developed by Sunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy, loosely based on the 1989 film of the same name. The NES version contains five levels culminating in a showdown with the Joker in the bell tower of Gotham Cathedral. It was received well despite changes from the movie it was based upon. Sunsoft followed up the release of Batman with Batman: Return of the Joker.

The game has a feature that was unusual in side-scrolling platform games at the time, largely to the NES itself. Unlike Sunsoft's Batman for the Mega Drive/Genesis, which features the grappling hook, Batman has the ability to do a wall jump. He is able to use three projectile weapons: the batarang, batdisk, and batpoon, which are powered by pellet cartridges.

The stages in the game consists of the Gotham City Streets, Axis Chemical Plant, Gotham Sewers, Mysterious Laboratory, and the Gotham Cathedral Belltower. A number of notable DC Comics villains appear as low-level minions in the game, including Deadshot, KGBeast, Maxie Zeus, Heat Wave, Shakedown, and Nightslayer.

The bosses in the game are Killer Moth, a device known as the Machine Intelligence System, the Electrocutioner, a machine known as the Dual-Container Alarm, Firebug, and the Joker. The penultimate boss will be skipped in the continued play if the player reached the Joker previously, so the player can directly fight the Joker next time.

According to Famitsu, Batman sold approximately 80,000 copies during its lifetime in Japan. In 1989, EGM gave it their 'Best Movie to Game' award. In the years after its release, it has been celebrated as one of the best games on the NES. Furthermore, it is also listed among the best Batman games. In 2009, IGN placed the title on their 'Top 100 NES Games' list at #33, citing its gameplay and high difficulty. In 2014, Digital Trends named it one of the fifty best games for the NES, although the publication noted storyline changes from the film on which it was based. In 2022, Destructoid identified it as one of the ten best games for the NES, opining that it was better designed than Ninja Gaiden but highlighted its difficult nature. In 2023, Den of Geek listed it as one of the fifteen best NES games based on movies and TV shows.