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"If the Bat wants to play, we'll play!"
Two-Face (after you select a mode in the game)[src]

Batman Forever is a beat 'em up video game based on the original motion picture released in 1995. This game used a slogan: "The Real Game Begins."

Plot[]

Taken from the various game manuals:

"A chance remark at Wayne Enterprises leads to madness. Join Batman and Robin as they battle Two-Face and a strange new menace who calls himself The Riddler. With his saucy sidekicks Sugar and Spice, Two-Face has all the ingredients necessary to make mayhem! You'll see the Dark Knight battle all kinds of monstrous malevolence. You'll see a night at the circus turn into a free-for-all with Batman in the center ring! The action takes you from Gotham City subways to the inner recesses of Wayne Manor as you fight one fierce foe after another to ensure that the legend of Batman lives on... forever!"

Main Characters and Profiles (taken from the various game manuals)[]

Val Kilmer Poster

Batman (Playable Character) - Millionaire Bruce Wayne felt responsible for his parent's murder outside a movie theatre when he was a little boy. To deal with the senselessness of their death and his own anger, Wayne turned himself into a crimefighter second to none, spending countless years mastering martial arts, crime science and advanced gadgets engineering.

To protect his privacy and strike fear into the hearts of criminals in Gotham City, Wayne came up with "Batman". Equipped with a cape and a cowl and a utility belt full of unique fighting devices, Batman set about the never-ending task of riddling Gotham City of crime. Operating from a Batcave far below Wayne Manor, Batman responds to the call for help from the Bat-Signal at police headquarters, while continuing to exercise dynamic control of Wayne Enterprises' vast holdings.

With the help of Dr. Chase Meridian, Bruce Wayne now wrestles with the obsessive drive that made him the Dark Knight, a drive that he hopes to understand as he battles against villains that know his innermost thoughts and are eager to exploit any weakness!


Batman forever robin

Robin (Playable Character) - Like Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson witnessed the murder of his parents and swore to dedicate himself to bringing the criminals to justice. Under the strong wing of the Dark Knight, young Dick managed to set aside his bitterness and thirst for revenge into a passion for righting wrongs and battling evil. As "Robin", he is Batman's trusted crimefighting partner. When one of them is in danger, the other is sure to help find a way out of it!


AlvinTommy

Two-Face (Boss) - Doctors and lawyers might argue about what it means to be "criminally insane", but there's no doubt about Harvey Dent: he's stark raving kill-crazy!

His world is evenly and absolutely divided into opposite: black or white, good or evil, life or death!

Many years ago when serving as the District Attorney of Gotham City, Harvey Dent was horribly scarred by underworld kingpin Boss Maroni during an indictment hearing. The resulting left-brain damage turned Dent into a violent criminal. Dent went on a vicious crime spree until he was brought to justice by Batman and sentenced to life in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Since then he has obsessively plotted his revenge against Gotham City and it's mysterious guardian. Dent now calls himself "Two-Face", and it is a very fitting name for this villain. He is two minds about everything save this: a raging desire to destroy Batman and Robin!


The Riddler (BF)

The Riddler (Boss) - For a brilliantly talented young man to want only the notice and approval of his idol Bruce Wayne, might be merely pathetic, if that desire didn't hold the seeds of a pathology that would bring his brilliance to the full flower of madness! When his employer Bruce Wayne dismisses Ed Nygma's 3D entertainment invention as raising ethical concerns over mind manipulation, something snaps in the fragile psyche of the inventor. His hard work derided by his idol! Snubbed by the man he most wishes to be like! Revenge will be sweet, Mr. Wayne!

Nygma discovers that his invention works as a "brain drain", with the capability to read and capture the neural power of others, increasing Nygma's knowledge by an order of magnitude! Is there no stopping the pondering powerhouse? He teams up with Two-Face to make use of Two-Face's criminal expertise in order to raise enough money to market the 3D entertainment device. At the resulting crime scenes, the green-costumed Nygma leaves puzzles to goad Batman. Soon the media have dubbed Nygma "The Riddler". Once he has accumulated sufficient capital to get NygmaTech off the ground, the results are immediate and impressive. He sells millions of his holograph devices as an entertainment, all the while siphoning off the neural energy of his unwitting customers and making it his own. He even manages to overcome his physical frailty by creating an armored suit that is more than a match even for the battle strengthened likes of Batman and Robin! His ever-increasing intelligence makes him all but impossible to outwit!


Chase Meridian John Alvin

Dr. Chase Meridian (Non-playable character) - Mental health never came in such a beautiful package! The lovely Dr. Chase Meridian is in love with two men: Batman and Bruce Wayne! As she helps Bruce Wayne struggle with the repressed memory of his parent's murder, the demons that drove him to become Batman come to the surface. When the expanding consciousness of the Riddler reads Batman's mind, he learns of Batman's affection for the beautiful doctor and kidnaps her: sweet bait to trap a flying bat!


Sugar1

Sugar (Sub Boss) - Is she sweet as she seems? Sugar is one of Two-Face's two consorts, and while she may satisfy his villainous sweet tooth, she's not a lady to be taken lightly! This super-refined female is a formidable foe.


Spice -2-

Spice (Sub Boss) - Spice is the second of Two-Face's Duo of damsels. This gal's idea of a spice is bella donna or deadly nightshade: she's poison! She's tempting, it's true, but her icy had belongs to mammon. A gold digger who will use your soul as the spade!


Other characters included a Security Guard, Arkham Asylum Inmates, Two-Face's Thugs, Riddler's Thugs, Suited Thugs and Circus Thugs.

Cast[]

  • Brian Smyj - Batman, Arkham Asylum Inmates
  • Jeff Gibson - Robin, Suited Thugs
  • "Peewee" Piemonte - Two-Face
  • Matt Norklun - The Riddler, Two-Face Thugs
  • Elizabeth Rossa - Dr. Chase Meridian
  • Jan Dalziel - Sugar, Spice
  • Sasha Raught - Circus Thugs, Riddler Thugs
  • Michael Margotta - Security Guard

NOTE: In the PC version, Robin was portrayed by Brad Martin.

Gameplay[]

The player plays as either Batman or Robin. There is also a fighting game mode called "Training mode" where the player can play as Batman, Robin, or any of the enemies found throughout the game against either a computer-controlled opponent, against a second player, or cooperatively against two computer opponents.

The controls are largely based on move lists and key sequences. Some gadget moves involve moving away from the enemy right before pressing a punch or kick button, which creates problems since the game only keeps the players facing enemies if they're close enough to each other.

To use the grappling hook, the SNES version uses the unconventional combination of pressing the Up button slightly after the Select button.

In order to jump down off platforms, you have to slightly push the R button, before you push down on the Super NES version.

The gadget list is selected by the player each level, with three standard gadgets for each character and two gadgets selected from a list. There are also four hidden "blueprint" gadgets.

You will also find riddles along the way to help you in the game if you can solve them and Two-Face's coin which gives you something depending on which side of it is shown; the clean side gives you and extra life and replenishes your energy, whilst the scarred side only gives you an extra life.

Version differences[]

The Super NES and Genesis/Mega Drive versions of the game present very glaring differences. The two most prominent ones are the constant load screens (where the game will display "HOLD ON") on the Super NES version, and the much more Mortal Kombat-like controls on the Genesis version. The PC version is the same as the SNES and Genesis versions but has superior graphics and Batman & Robin wear different costumes, it also had loading delay.

Game Stages[]

The game stages differed from the console, PC and handheld versions but all were based on the storyline of the movie. These were as follows:

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES and PC Versions[]

Batman Forever Gameplay screen (Sega Genesis)

Sega Genesis Gameplay screen

Batman Forever Gameplay screen (SNES)

SNES Gameplay screens

  1. Arkham Asylum
  2. Second Bank of Gotham City
  3. The Circus
  4. Two-Face's Hideout: Warehouse
  5. Ritz Gotham
  6. Abandoned Subway Station
  7. Wayne Manor/Destroyed Batcave
  8. Claw Island

Sega Game Gear and Game Boy Versions[]

  1. Second Bank of Gotham City
  2. The Circus
  3. Abandoned Subway Station
  4. Claw Island

Versions of the Game[]

Promotional Posters[]

Commercial[]

Co-op[]

There are two kinds of Co-op modes in Batman Forever. Players chose between Batman or Robin. In one mode, Batman and Robin work together and cannot harm each other. In another mode, however, Batman and Robin can attack each other, but still need to look out for enemies. The co-op mode was not available on Game Boy and Game Gear systems.

Reaction[]

Most game players found it disappointing depending on what console they used because of the controls being too hard, lack of graphics and the soundtrack not being based on the movie. The fact that the ending was terrible after all the trouble going through the hardness of the game didn't help either. Also, the gameplay to most players felt very similar to Mortal Kombat. To most Batman fans, this was by far one of the most unpopular Batman based games ever.

Trivia[]

Batman Forever Video Game - Big Riddler

Fighting Riddler in his muscular form. (Sega Genesis, SNES and PC)

  • In the Sega Genesis, SNES and PC versions of the game, during the final fight on Claw Island, you face the Riddler in two stages. During the first stage, he wears a large jade and silver muscular suit with the identity of "Big Riddle" and then after he is defeated, he falls and the suit is destroyed. He gets up for the second stage, wearing his traditional green leotard. After you defeat him for the second time, the game is won.

This was based on early story concepts of the film as well as described in both Peter David and Alan Grant's novelizations except Riddler's muscular form was revealed to be a bodysuit built into his throne, that split in half after he twisted the Thinker armrests and he stepped out of it, wearing his original jade and silver rhinestone leotard.

The final battle in the Game Gear and Game Boy versions is different with the Riddler only using holograms to attack you.

  • The sprites for Sugar and Spice are identical as they wear the same costume and have brown hair making them look like twins, except Sugar has a bit of white in her costume, whilst Spice has a bit of grey in her's.
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