The Top 5 Batman Video Games – SiruS Staff Picks

In commemoration to the less than one week release of the newest Batman game, Batman: Arkham Knight. The staff of SiruS Gaming has compiled a list of the Top 5 Batman Video Games of all time. From the most challenging, to the most eye-catching, we chose our best of the best and the reason why they have deserved a spot on our Top 5 List.

1. Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Batman: Arkham batman__arkham_city_by_pacduck-d4eipn9City has been highly acclaimed as ‘the’ Batman game so far claiming its spot on our Top 1 Batman game. It is the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum and the second addition to the Arkham games. The versatility in this game is amazing from the wide range of places to explore in the game to the different characters you can play as and the increased amount of upgrades you can achieve on your armor, weapons and other gear. Interaction between the player and the game grew incredibly with more skills that made you become more like Batman than ever before with more stealth and investigation options in the gameplay. There was no disappointment with the combats and boss fights and how intense they became throughout your game experience while the graphics and scenery of the game was completely stunning. Of all the Batman games, Batman: Arkham City will definitely be a classic Batman game that perfectly puts you in the life of Bruce Wayne and his heroic adventures against evil.

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

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Claiming Top 2 on our list is Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first game in the Arkham series. All in all, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great game and definitely has deserved a spot on our Top 5 list. The graphics are very notable especially for a game of its time. The gameplay was pretty good, minus the fact of limited nooks and crannies and not very agile control capability for Batman himself. The sound effects and music doesn’t pop out as amazing but they were acceptable. On the other hand, you are quickly absorbed into the game through a combination of great combat scenes and mental challenges where you have to be clever just like Batman himself to succeed making it feel like you’re in his shoes. The boss battles are extremely a great joy to the game as they are known for being quite intense and enjoyable to defeat. Another great thing about this game is its fantastic job of bringing out the characters we all know and love from the comics. Every villain gave you a feeling of excitement and anticipation to what is going to happen next. Also, Batman: Arkham Asylum has been known to be one of the first games to introduce the “reaction” feature where during combat, you have to tap a certain button to get out of a pinch. The only real peeve about this game is the ending which is does not give justice to the rest of the storyline and gameplay but overall Batman: Arkham Asylum will definitely be close to gamers’ hearts.

3. Lego Batman: The Videogame (2008)

Third on LBatmanTVGour list is a crossover between two things we love: Batman and Lego. It’s Batman as you’ve never seen him before. It incorporates the childish fun of Legos and takes in one of our fondest childhood figures all in one go and its gameplay features are similar to its predecessor Lego games. Lego Batman: The Videogame is notable for being the first Traveller’s Tales LEGO game to have an original plot. Unlike previous Traveller’s Tales LEGO games, it is based more on the concept of a franchise, rather than following the plot of a particular movie or other story from it. The game features Batman and Robin fighting crime and villainy in Gotham City. The game takes its players to fight on land, sea, and in the air, using a number of character-controlled vehicles, including the Batmobile, Batboat, and Batwing which are of course, in Lego form. In this game you get to face bosses such as the Riddler, the Penguin, and of course the Joker. The villain missions mainly show how the villains set up their plans, while the heroes show the fates and outcome of the villains and their sadistic plots. The general pattern in each story is that the leaders often leave their associates at the hands of Batman or the police as soon as their use is over. Eventually, Batman and Robin disrupt all their plans and send all the villains back to Arkham. The Riddler is captured due to the clues he leaves behind, the Penguin’s robots and equipment are destroyed, and the Joker fails to detonate the bombs. The last scenes show most of the villains being oddly content to be back in Arkham except for the Joker, Penguin, and Riddler as their plans have failed. With the combined fun of Legos and childhood nostalgia brought about by Batman, it is no wonder that Lego Batman: The Videogame seals itself on the Top 3 in our list.

4. The Adventures of Batman and Robin (1995)

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Considering this game is on our Top 5 list, the game was released 1995 on SNES and SEGA Genesis. Numerous childhood memories are fulfilled with this game as it was frustratingly hard and fun. The game needs to certainly have another player to help you out because when I played the game just a while ago, I wasn’t able to defeat the first level: Amused to Death. I do well know that the title “Batman and Robin” certainly entails that we actually need our Robin when playing the game. The Adventures of Batman and Robin was actually hard where there are rare health items to pick up, impacting thugs, and challenging bosses. Even with repetitive gameplay mechanics where Batman throws random gadgets at enemies and a super item that instantly kills every enemy on the screen, the game is actually fun to play with a friend. With the fused intensity and teamwork ability, The Adventures of Batman and Robin  definitely deserved a retro but loving spot as the Top4 on our list. Turn on Gamepad number 2 as you will need your Robin to help out in this adventure of defeating villains that escaped Arkham Asylum!

5. Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

Batman: Arkham Origins is the third main installment of the Arkham series and serves as a prequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum and as the successor to 2011’s Batman: Arkham City. Released worldwide on October 25, 2013, Arkham Origins is set five years before the events of 2009’s Arkham Asylum. In this game we get to see Batman before he was a refined vigilante and before he became Gotham’s caped crusader. Although it was primarily criticized as only incorporating Arkham City in it without necessarily modifying the mechanics of the game besides adding a multiplayer feature and its lack of cohesive narrative as the primary point of Batman facing eight assassins who were sent after him was quite forgotten as the Joker made his appearance. Although so, Batman: Arkham Origins still made it to our Top 5. While it has its flaws, it does however share quite many strong points. One of the plus points was the unveiling of the Joker’s character and the storytelling of his origins story which made Batman fans all over drool as it took familiar elements from Joker’s origin stories such as from Moore’s, The Killing Joke’s story. In that story The Joker donned the identity of the Red Hood before his fateful encounter with the Batman and his iconic drop inside a vat of acid. It also had other memorable scenes like when the Batcave 2_batman_arkham_originswas infiltrated and nearly cost Batman his greatest ally, Alfred.

While not really improving from the gamestyle from where Arkham City left, Batman: Arkham Origins did have added features like the game’s fast travel feature, new equipment in Batman’s arsenal; including the Remote Claw which allows Batman to target two objects and pull them together allowing him to throw enemies into each other or hit them with objects wherein tethering two walled points creates a tightrope for Batman to cross. Also there are the Shock Gloves, which allow Batman to block electric attacks, disable some enemies and stun shielded ones, and short-circuit objects. Then the Concussion Detonator is capable of stunning large enemy groups, it has improved detective vision where you can investigate a crime scene and even recreate the events that took place when the crime happened and you can even watch it and yes you can replay it which makes investigating crime scenes more interesting and makes you understand why Batman is also called the world’s greatest detective. Taking all of these features into account, Batman: Arkham Origins has definitely deserved a spot on our Top 5.

What are your top Batman games?

Have you already pre-ordered or saved up for Batman: Arkham Knight?