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Batman Returns
  SNESBeat_em_upJ  
  opened by paleface at 12:02:32 03/12/23  
  last modified by paleface at 12:25:50 03/05/24  
  paleface [sys=SNES; cat=Beat_em_up; reg=JPN]
           
Cheat codes from GameFAQs:
- 9 Lives: "In options, use controller 2 and press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. Use controller 1 to adjust.:
- 9 Continues: 'Go to the options screen and highlight ''Rest'', then on Controller 2, press Up, X, Left, Y, Down, B, Right, A, Up, X'
 
Extra life every 50000 pts.
 
  paleface 18:30:56 03/12/23
           

 
The surprisingly small staff (although I guess most of the bosses aside from Penguin and Catwoman ARE fairly nondescript clowns) of this game was led by a director with no obvious beat-em-up experience, and maybe that accounts for the more-numerous-than-usual horrific Batarang-shooting platforming sequences, and the you're-just-gonna-get-hit boss fights. There's a block button, for Pete's sake! Which I forgot about until after Catwoman killed me about 20 times with her otherwise pretty unavoidable attacks: warp-slashing across the screen, or striking as you stand up, before you can move or attack. (Thank goodness for the 9 lives & 10 continues cheat codes. :P) Oh you'll still take damage from most things when blocking, they just may not kill you in three hits, is all.
 
And you can crouch during the non-isometric bits, or at least the Penguin fight, as far as I can see from YouTube. That might'a saved me another Continue. ; P
 
The music and ambiance is top-notch, and the art is mostly pretty good, in a very consciously "we have to be bleak and colorless like this American movie" way. Heck I even sorta liked the weird Batmobile sprite-scaling driving & shooting sequence.
 
But that ~15 minute stretch in the middle--insta-death platforming, two Camping Catwoman fights, and the Non-Isometric Penguin fight--felt like pure hate. Even with the very generous continue checkpoints (like, when I had to continue after getting wiped by Catwoman or Pengy in those boss fights, it rather surprisingly started back up right before those fights). Maybe if I go through knowing some of the game's tricks it won't be quite so maddening.
 
That screen-high giant mechanical duck boss with the pattern you can't QUITE squeeze past without taking a hit is totally gonna kill me a dozen or two times again though.
    

 
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