Batman hasn’t had the greatest track record for video games in the past so you will always be a little hesitant to make the purchase. Batman Vengeance had a great opening level, but it got a little iffy after that. Still, I can’t resist anything that says Batman and also says Gamecube on it. That’s a winning combo, despite what previous experiences may suggest. Batman Begins was pretty good after all, so this one could be the next big thing! Did this game turn out to be the next DBZ BT 3, or would it be more of a Prince Caspian? Time to find out!

Well, the plot revolves around a mysterious villain named Sin Tzu and he has released all of the villains in Arkham Asylum. He’s actually pretty legendary and even Batman respects his power and influence. If not for the escaped convicts, I’m sure that Batman would have this in the bag. Unfortunately for him…..these villains mean business. Some of the bosses include Mr Freeze and Scarecrow. Batman may be able to give them a good fight, but just in case there’s trouble, he brings in the big guns. Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl are here to help and they’re not going to stop until the villain is defeated! Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordan is acting very suspicious. Is he really who he claims to be!?

The animation for the game is pretty fun. You can definitely tell that this takes place in the DCAU and the designs are all top notch. The actual animation may not be some of Gamecube’s best, but it’s still the way to play. It has a retro N64 or PS1 feel to it since the characters are a little blocky. The energy attacks can also look pretty interesting.

The soundtrack for the game is pretty unique and I’d say that it’s pretty solid. We get some intense rock themes and even some that contain lyrics. I’m not big on the lyrical songs in this case since they weren’t really my style, but the other themes were good. This game’s soundtrack may not be as impressive as Dawn of Fate’s, but it’s still pretty good.

The gameplay is usually the deciding factor of a video game so let’s talk about it! It’s essentially the same as the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for Gamecube. It’s a beat em up where you need to fight until the end to win! Well, not in those exact terms, but there will be a missions. In one level, you may need to rescue 9 hostages or diffuse 9 bombs. Basically, that means that you need to beat a lot of enemies which lets you advance from room to room. After you’ve beaten enough enemies, then the level will end. There is a timer for how quickly you need to make it to the next objective, but you really don’t need to worry about it. If the timer goes down to 0, it quickly goes back up so you’ll make it in time. I’m not sure if it’ll keep doing that indefinitely, but I wouldn’t stick around to find out! (Yes, that line is used a lot, but it still works!)

There are four playable characters in the game. We have Batman, who is the powerhouse of the group and his attacks deal a lot of damage. He’s pretty cool to play as since he’s the main character and he gets all of the lines. We’ve got Batgirl who may lack power, but she’s quick and shouldn’t be underestimated in a fight. Robin is the fastest character of the group and he can land a lot of hits on the enemy. Finally, we have Nightwing. He was my favorite character to play as in the game and he has a pretty sweet 6 hit combo attack.

When beating a level, you obtain points that can be used to upgrade your character or buy emblems that can unlock things in the trophy room. The points come in handy and while there are a lot of melee moves to buy, I also like the projectiles. The electric batarang comes in handy during the final boss and there’s also a grapple hook to buy. It’s pretty bad in a fight, but it does look cool to swing and hit someone with a flying kick. You’ll need to beat the game at least 5-10 more times if you want to buy everything. That’s definitely a lot of times so I wouldn’t count on unlocking everything unless you’re seriously a collector.

I give the game some props for the final boss. He was surprisingly difficult and you really need to have good reaction times to deal with him. All of the attacks in your arsenal cannot hurt him and you must rely on super moves. To get enough energy to use a super move, you must unleash some serious combos on Sin Tzu. Once you use a super attack, the meter starts going back to 0 and you have to rinse and repeat. It takes around 10-15 super attacks to finish him off, so you’ll be playing the level for a long time. Luckily, he calls out minions once in a while, which gives you time to breathe and also a chance to get some health and lives. Not a bad deal eh? The key to beating him is to use the roll-attack to get past his defenses and to make sure and dodge his 4 hit combo. For some reason, he cannot react to rolls and they will always allow you a free combo unless he is already preparing to attack.

Sin Tzu is a pretty good villain. He’s definitely powerful, which makes him a worthy opponent for Batman. He definitely likes being a general, but you have to question his motives. Aside from revenge, he doesn’t seem to have much of an ultimate plan. Taking over Gotham isn’t going to sit well with the other cities and he’d be out of office pretty quickly. It would be nice to see him in a comic or a TV show someday so that he isn’t a complete one shot character. He has potential!

Batman looked good as to be expected in this game. He definitely fears nobody and he acts like a seasoned veteran. He gets to show off his detective skills and effortlessly defeat everyone in his path. We also get some hintings at his past, but you should know about Batman’s origin by now through some other form of media. If not, it’s a pretty intriguing plot point!

The big negative that will keep this game from being one of the big winners, is the fact that the gameplay is very repetitive. It will feel like you’re playing the same level over and over again. There are only a handful of area and each area has a boss at the end. The problem is that each area has quite a few levels and it makes the game pretty time consuming. It may not be as long as Shattered Dimensions, but it will feel longer because you just don’t know when the level will end.

Most levels will involve taking out 60-80 enemies and you must keep on moving along. The scenery changes, but the missions and gameplay don’t. It’s literally the exact same thing for each level. The only thing that changes are the boss fights. Most of those just involve hitting the boss and then beating the minions that he sends out. Rinse and repeat. The boss battles were still fun, but they can also be time consuming.

Overall, Batman’s next adventure on the Gamecube may not have been that great, (Barely gets a 6) but we got to see him show us why he is…Batman! Batman looked really good and the story was definitely solid. They just needed to add some variety to the gameplay and make it a little less monotonous. The graphics were good enough and we won’t be forgetting them. I don’t recommend this game if you want something quick or something elite. This game is good for those who liked the Ninja Turtles game for gamecube or really enjoy beat em ups. I do slightly recommend this game, but there are much better choices out there for the Gamecube. If you want a true beat em up, check out Mystic Heroes!

Overall 6/10