Reviews

It's Batman again, and he's the Caped Crusader somehow...oh wait you mean he was always the Caped Crusader? Like from the very start? Well that's this intro buggered then!

Ahem anyways this is vastly different from the original Batman. Instead of an isometric enviroment Batman finds himself in an arcade type game that's played like a comic strip. It's very cleverly done but does get a little annoying when you travel back from screen to screen and not knowing where to go next.

The most interesting part was it was essentially two games in one tape. A Bird in the Hand on side A and A Fete Worse than Death on side B. Very clever that.

Unlike the Superman games which were a load of tosh the Batman games really were something. This for me was the best of them.

Action and strategy in the same game and in the same measure ... lead Batman through the caves and into the streets of Gotham .

A bit slow for me , but full of action , not thoughless action . This is why I like Batman , if there were only action then I would avoid it .

Pretty decent and playable with a bit of strategy and with an atmosphere of its own , that´s enough for me !!

On Spectrum, whichever game of Batman you choose is magnificent.
This one isn't an exception, features super graphics, lot of action, puzzles and two different missions. First mission is against the Penguin and his bomber plan for Gotham. Second mission is to rescue Robin kidnapped by Joker.

Players have to get used to constant energy losing. Something not unusual in Spectrum arcade adventures. One time you learns how to manage yourself with this issue, get ready to look for objects and improvise where to give them use.

1988 Ocean Software (UK)
by Jonathan Smith, Charles Davies, Karen Davies and Keith Tinman

Batman is probably the character with the most quality consistent games on the Spectrum. After the great isometric one, the first game featuring the Bat, comes this different approach to one of the most important super heroes around.
In 'Caped Crusader' you play an adventure game, there are hints to the comic books, with the way screen panels appear and the narration on top of some screens, this is a nice feature but not essential, in fact I find it annoying after awhile (by the way if you don't like the white background, know you can change it).
The game itself is very well written, with Jonathan Smith onn board it was bound to be a hit, features nicely done graphics but not the best I've seen from Ocean. The great quality of the game is the fluid movement and the plot of each of the 2 missions. As you guessed there objects to pick and use, some give you special powers, like a shoe for walking quicker, or a torch, or even the batarang, then you get other useful objects essential to move forward in the game. Overall, not the most original game around but a very good one, both for the Batman franchise as well as to the adventure genre.

Another great Batman adventure from 1988 as good as the previous 1986 game by Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond.

Both released by Ocean, this time the game coded by Special FX (the great Joffa Smith, Charles Davies, Karen Davies and Keith Tinman) uses an original visual interface made of comic strips and caption boxes. Even the bat logo appears when the scene changes, as in the 60s TV series.

The game consists of two separate missions, both starring the two most evil Cape Crusader's enemies: 'A Bird in the Hand' where you must avoid the Penguin making an army of robots to take over the world. In 'A Fete Worse Than Death' Robin has been kidnapped by the Joker and you must rescue him and defeat your worse enemy.

You must progress through the game by solving puzzles and interacting with different objects using an icon system, and also fighting different enemies that hang around.

Very good graphics and sounds, a cool intro tune and touches of action and adventure make it an original game nobody should miss it. Excellent artwork by Bob Wakelin.

In theory it's a proper Batman game and one that would be more appealing to avid fans. This has two sides, A Bird in the Hand on side A and Fate (or Fete) Worse Than Death on Side B, and I have to say I seem to have not played the second side much because I barely remembered it whereas Bird in the Hand was night and day. I do feel this is a better game than the isometric game and I think this would be my favourite Batman Speccy game as a result because The Movie, whilst still a nice game, is too difficult for me, oh and I reviewed that one yonks ago so don't expcet that one to come next.