Failure of the Superhero Genre

Though there exist a few notable exceptions, superhero games in general fail to impress, especially when based on feature films. Batman has suffered more consistently than most, with instant classics such as Batman Forever, Batman Begins, and the non-film based, and artistic pinnable, Batman: Dark Tomorrow. In fact, with the arguable exception of Batman: The Animated Series The Adventures of Batman and Robin, only one Batman game has garnered any semblance of critical or popular praise. That game, of course, is the impossibly hard (and succinctly named) Batman.

The problems affecting Batman video games are the same today as they were twenty years ago, and before. These failures are not limited to Batman games, but span the whole of Superhero, and beyond that, licensed games. Everything from movies to television shows, from comic books to biblical texts, have faced these following issues which are analyzed at the detail level using Batman as the example.

Batman games have traditionally suffered from two flaws. The first is related to development time and effort. The second is simply a symptom of the character, himself. Development times have always been an issue for licensed games, back as far as the famous incident of 1982. Despite the widespread understanding amongst gamers and designers alike that licensed games are simply a cash cow pushed upon desperate parents, crummy games are made based on popular movies and other media each year. Children want to play as Batman, Superman, or Shaq, and parents want their children to be quiet so they can hear the latest developments on Survivor. So too is effort a non-factor in designing licensed games, children who know better don't play the games, and children who don't also don't complain. Thus, the cycle continues, and Batman can't get a good game.

The limits of the Batman character are as follows:

1. Batman refuses to kill anyone. Most of the time.
2. Batman's main weapon: The Bat-Punch.
3. Gadgets, Gadgets, Gadgets.

During game play, if Batman can't kill anyone he is limited to non-fatal weapons. This may seem obvious, and it is, but if Batman can't use explosives or firearms, he is severely limited in terms of creatively dealing with enemies. I guess he could negotiate, but for the sake of action he usually prefers to negotiate with fists and batarangs. The punching gets old quick, and when his gadgets are all limited to specific situations (such as swinging from pre-designated "swing points," etc) they actually limit the game play, rather than open it.