Batman: Vengeance for GameCube

Most games taken from a movie or TV show don?t turn out very well(with one exception of Tarzan Untamed which was really cool). The Joker Returns for the Nintendo 64 was the worst game I had ever layed eyes on, and was the worst game to come the N64?s way(SuperMan64 was also one of the worst, following close behind the Return of Joker). Batman Vengeance however, will not serve a similar fate on the Game Cube, as it?s a really fun game, and even challenging at some points.

Plot/Story
The Joker has fallen off a bridge to his death(finally! sheesh, I thought he?d never die), and a string of crimes occur in Gotham City including Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and others who want to fill in Joker?s spot as the prince of crime.

Lets See Here...
Batman Vengeance is based on ?The New Adventures of Batman? airing on the WB, and you explore 22 maps that expand over five episodes where you?ll have the chance to fight five of the evil criminals.

Of course, you take the roll of Batman, with an array of moves, gadgets, and...well I?ll just say he?s an awesome character to play. You?ll get to guide Batman through the streets of Gotham in his Bat Mobile, on the roof tops using good old fashioned feet, and flying through the air in the Bat Plane.

When you come against one of the many minions of the super-villains, you?ll go into a one on one fighting mode where you can use the ?B? and ?A? button to punch, kick, and use combos. In order to keep guys from bothering you after you?ve knocked them out and they come-to, you can use Bat Cuffs to cuff em? up and keep em? down.

Besides fighting, you can use the Metal Gear Solid approach of action by sneaking in the shadows to surpass one of the thugs(or thuggettes). There?s also the wall-hugging feature(looks like UBI Soft borrowed ideas from MGS for the better), where you can squeeze yourself against a wall and scoot across it. Only instead of having to hold yourself against the wall, you can just use a button combination and he?ll automatically stay in that position, unless you press ?X?.

You have a variety of different Bat Weapons to use including the one you use the most, the Grappling Hook. You use the Grappling Hook on special surfaces in high or hard to reach places, and it will pull you up. The items include Batmarangs, Nets, a Scope, and other useful items that you?ll make use of later in the game.

Boss fights range from Moderately Easy to Difficult. Each Boss Fight requires a different strategy for beating them, and each one could involve a simple strategy, to a complicated strategy.

Basically all you do is explore the area, beating up Notorious Thugs and finding the character behind all the madness, beating he/she, and moving on to the next area and repeating.

Oh no...I hate puzzles
Believe it or not, there are some puzzle elements in Batman Vengeance, that range from kind of simple, to pretty complex. Either way, the puzzles will make you think a lot more than you THINK one of these type of games would have.

I Believe I Can Fly
You can jump over any obstacle and even spread out y our cape to sort of float, or hang gliding as I liked to call it. When you?re chasing after someone or need to jump to a lower, just jump and press the button again and hold, and you?ll hang-glide(as long as you hold the button) to the building, a very useful feature indeed.

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Graphics
Wow! These are nice. Batman Vengeances? graphics are very good both in-game and CG sequences thanks to the Game Cube?s graphics capabilities. What impressed me the most about Batman Vengeance were the quality CG sequences that were shown on TV and stuff.

The city of Gotham is huge and while you scout the roof tops, there?s plenty of places to go, just be careful not to fall off. The other levels are nicely designed and character models look just like they do in the TV series and, well...if they look that close, than they?re pretty darn good.

Control
The control is a lot more responsive than I thought it would be, and I actually liked it. The controls are perfectly fit for the Game Cube controller, and the systems responsiveness controls made the game even easier.

Most of the time during Batman Vengeance, you?re in a third person control of Batman. When you?re in First Person mode, you use the C-Stick to look around and turn, and the Analog Stick to move forward, backwards, and to strafe. While in first person mode, you can use the Batmarangs, Nets, Scope, and Bat Grapple, along with the other items.

Sound
The voice acting was very good, and were voiced by the actual actors and actresses from the actual show including, Mark Hammil(Joker), Kevin Conroy(Batman), and Tara Strong(Bat Girl). The voices aren?t scratchy or anything at all and are clear as they would be if they were standing right in front of you talking.

The only other sounds you be hearin? is the voice acting and the little sound effects like punching and anything else that would be useful, like gun shots; of course they sound like gun shots(cartoon gun shots that is).

Overall
Batman Vengeance is surely a good title to own on Game Cube and is definitely worth a 3,4, or 5-Rental. There?s even a place where you can view the main cinematic scenes that occur throughout the game. If you don?t understand the story or you missed something, then you can refer to the Cinematic section located in the Main Menu.

~Happy Gaming