5 Great Batman Games Nobody Remembers

It’s not hyperbolic to claim that Batman is DC’s saving grace when, across comic books, TV shows, video games, and movies, the World’s Greatest Detective is as successful and popular a character as he has been for almost 90 years. Plus, Batman is only becoming more iconic and influential as decades go by, considering the unbelievable success of Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s Absolute Batman series and the soaring hype for DC Elseworlds’ The Batman Part II.

As for games, quite a few more have been lost to history, whether that’s due to a lack of preservation options for consumers who enjoy playing games on retro systems or because many of the most significant Batman games have been eclipsed by those that came after them. The Batman: Arkham games, which have far outgrown Rocksteady’s influence, have more or less buried all other Batman games beneath them, and that’s a shame when there are at least several that deserve the same amount of praise for what they were able to bring to the table.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is admittedly not a great game in and of itself. There’s a lot to love about it, particularly if you’re a huge fan of both Mortal Kombat and DC, in general, and are thrilled about the idea of both universes colliding in a fighting game, but the legacy this crossover installment was brewing all along is what makes it truly special.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was the bones atop which NetherRealm’s Injustice franchise could add meat and sinew. Love it or hate it (either Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe or Injustice, really), without Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, we wouldn’t have Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice 2, or any NetherRealm DC fighting games, for that matter.

Moreover, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has the honor of being the first NetherRealm game to introduce the story campaign mode formula that ultimately defined Mortal Kombat (2011), Injustice, Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat 11, and Mortal Kombat 1. Any future Injustice or DC fighting game to come from NetherRealm now owes a debt of gratitude to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for paving the way through hardship, and it’ll be neat to see what Batman plays like if NetherRealm does decide to develop Injustice 3.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is proof that there isn’t a single bad Batman: Arkham game, and, in fact, it’s a great 2.5D Metroidvania experience. Blackgate’s biggest blemish, which could be difficult to overlook, is that its combat leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to the phenomenal FreeFlow combat system that it failed to adapt well from the standard Batman: Arkham games.

That said, the reason why claustrophobic, Metroidvania-style gameplay works so well in Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate’s favor is because that’s where it all began. The franchise may be better known now for the open-world gameplay in Arkham City, Arkham Origins, and Arkham Knight, but Blackgate is exceptional because it returned the series to Arkham Asylum’s foundational Legend of Zelda and Metroidvania roots (just like the VR-exclusive game Batman: Arkham Shadow did recently).

Arkham Asylum and Arkham Origins Blackgate also lack much of an actual story, instead featuring Batman thwarting breakouts in Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary, respectively. It’s almost a guarantee that new Batman: Arkham games will arrive in the future, and, all the while, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate and Batman: Arkham Shadow will always remain criminally unsung.

Batman Begins

Batman Begins, inspired by Christopher Nolan’s cinematic Batman origin story, is one of the last truly terrific movie tie-in games. Like the movie, the game leaned heavily into Batman being an incorruptible symbol and an agent of fear, emphasizing stealth encounters and brutal combat. On the opposite end from stealth, driving Batman Begins’ Tumbler Batmobile also made for some memorable gameplay.

Following an atmospheric prologue, the Batman Begins game starts with a great tutorial sequence, focusing on Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne training with Liam Neeson’s Henri Ducard—secretly the movie and game’s main villain, the League of Shadows’ Ra’s al Ghul—in the Himalayas. And, like any movie tie-in game worth its salt, Batman Begins tackles the movie’s worldbuilding and narrative in a way that would have been fun to see explored further in a sequel.

Indeed, it’s interesting to imagine what its sequel, inspired by The Dark Knight, might have been like if it hadn’t been canceled. Today, the closest thing we may ever have to genuine movie tie-ins for the DCEU, DCU, or DC Elseworlds are Traveller’s Tales’ LEGO games, with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight recently being a brilliant celebration of theatrical Batman media (as well as comics and video games, including tons of influence being drawn from the seminal Batman: Arkham franchise in gameplay).

Batman: Rise Of Sin Tzu

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is not a great single-player game. But, as a two-player co-op beat-’em-up game that marinates in The New Batman Adventures’ wonderful universe, it’s extraordinary. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu plays quite similarly to EA Redwood Shores’ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, only lacking the latter’s dynamic level design (Rise of Sin Tzu’s is brutally elementary and one-note).

Thankfully, that can easily be forgiven. Ubisoft’s Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is not a long game by any metric, and its gameplay is wholly engaging. Players are also almost always racing against an insidious ticking clock to save a citizen, meaning there’s hardly any reason to stand around and soak up each stage or encounter, anyway.

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu features some excellent bosses besides Scarecrow, who is seemingly impossible to locate in the way that the game wants players to. Luckily, it can be much less difficult to find him in a cloudy mist of fear toxin in co-op, when both players (as either Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, or Robin) are throwing punches wildly.

Batman: Vengeance

Batman: Vengeance may be the greatest Batman game in terms of its acting talent, art direction, score, action, story, and overall atmosphere. And, like Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, it’s largely thanks to The New Batman Adventures. But while Rise of Sin Tzu is a beat-’em-up game that players can switch their brains off to play, Batman: Vengeance is an action-adventure game with a superb story and a lot of magnificent artistry in its world.

Batman: Vengeance’s gameplay features a wealth of gadgets that make each encounter dynamic and are instrumental in boss fights, such as having to cut canisters down from an overhead conveyor to deal damage to Mister Freeze, but players’ gadget use is optional when it comes to random goons. For instance, players can handcuff downed enemies in order to prevent them from getting back up, but gadgets like batarangs and handcuffs are a limited resource that players must loot in the environment, making those sorts of choices more impactful.

Batman: Vengeance has a surplus of character and mood, especially in its opening level and when players visit the Batcave. It’s essentially a crime noir thriller through and through that boasts a handful of the best Batman villains, and any Batman fans who either don’t remember Batman: Vengeance or haven’t played it are doing themselves a big disservice.