Throwback Thursdays: A Look On the Development of our Favorite Games (6/19/14)

Starting off a new weekly event, I felt it was necessary to begin to look back on some older video games and to see how the titles have progressed throughout the years. Especially with the next gen consoles already out, we can get a good look at how far the video game industry has gone lately and make some predictions on how future games may look. There are some spoilers in this article, you have been warned.

The Batman Franchise

I figured to start things off, we will do a franchise we all know and love, the Batman games. This franchise goes all the way back to the 1980s where it was first seen on the 8-bit consoles such as the Amstrad CPC. From then, there have been over 30 games in which the Caped Crusader has starred in and even more where he has been featured in.

Since there is so many Batman games, I'm only going to cover the first Batman games of each of the video game console generations. These generations, for future reference, go from first gen to the eighth gen; which are the next gen consoles. To start off, first gen has systems that I feel no one has heard about like the Magnavox and Telstar, and go from the 1970s to the 1980s, followed by second gen (Atari 5200 and Intellivision), third gen (NES, Atari 7800, and Sega Mater System), fourth gen (Sega Genesis and SNES), fifth gen (Playstation, N64, and Sega Saturn), sixth gen (Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox), seventh gen (Xbox360, PS3, and Wii), and finally eighth gen (Xbox One, Wii U, and PS4).

Since the first couple of Batman games weren't on consoles, they were on computers, the franchise didn't start on the console until the Third Gen. I will still go over a few of the earlier games as well so we can get a good look at the evolution of this franchise.

Original Games
The first Batman game ever made was a self-titled game for the Amstrad CPC and other 8-bit consoles. In this game the objective was simple, rescue Robin by collecting the parts to Batman's Hovercraft.

As seen from the picture above, there wasn't much to go off of on the game, but it was rated one of the best games of its time in 1986. Video games have surely gone a long distance from these old games.

Third Generation
When entering the 1990s, the Batman games at this point weren't based off of any of the movies, they were just games developed so that the players can play as the Caped Crusader. The first Batman game that was officially based off of a movie was the self-titled Batman: The Video Game for the NES and Sega Genesis and changed a bit for the Gameboy. There were changes from the movie of course, but this five level game was the basis of all Batman games to follow. It featured some well known DC villains, such as The Joker and Deadshot, and had some unique weapons as projectiles; batarangs, a dirk, and a 'bat speargun'.

This game was also followed by a sequel a year later called Batman: The Return of Joker, which had the same game play as the previous game, it was just made more like the Megaman games at the time.

Fourth Generation

The first games on this generation were the reboot of the games in the previous generation made so that the players can continue playing their favorite Batman games at the time. The next original title for the fourth gen consoles was Batman Returns, made for the SNES, NES, and Sega Genesis. This was essentially a 'beat 'em up' game where the only objective was to keep on pummeling the enemy until the player reaches the boss. This game was let down due to its lack of originality, copying games styles from many other games like Final Fight and Double Dragon, but it gained huge praise for its graphics, sound, and controls. These praises were able to win this game the Best Licensed Game of 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. Having personally played this game when I was younger, it was one of my favorite games for the SNES and, although I never got too far, I still had fun beating up all the different bad guys that they throw at you.

Fifth Generation

The beginning of this generation gave very little to the franchise. The first game for this generation was Batman Forever: The Arcade Game. Not a very popular game, this one was an arcade style game (go figure) and the player can pick either Batman or Robin and fight against Two-Face or the Riddler and their henchmen. Simple enough of a game, it wasn't all that popular at the time. The next game in this generation was also rated very bad; Batman and Robin, based off the same titled movie. Although this game in particular had a different style of game play; it was a moving around Gotham that included real time events, traffic, etc., it was voted very badly to coincide with the badly rated Batman and Robin movie. If this game wasn't based off of the movie, I feel that it would have done a lot better, those types of video games where the player gets to walk around and do missions are one of my favorite types.

Sixth Generation

This generation begins with one of the better Batman games of the franchise, Batman: Vengeance. This game was featured on all of the major consoles in the sixth gen and was one of the better games for that gen as well. Based off of The New Batman Adventures animated series, it takes place after The New Batman Adventures but before Batman joins The Justice League in the self-titled animated series. It contained the whole voicing cast of the series, including the great Kevin Conroy, as well as having a great story line taking out villains such as the Joker, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and many others. The main criticism for this game was its first person mode, which limited the abilities of the player and made it harder for them to control, but the cinematic parts and the voice acting saved this game from being bad.

This gen also includes many other great titles, such as Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, Batman Begins, and Batman: Dark Tomorrow.
Seventh Generation

This generation is the gen we are most familiar with and has some of our favorite titles. The first game for this gen is one of mine and one of Christians favorites, Lego Batman. We are all familiar with the Lego series and all of their games, but this one is definitely one of my favorites. The game play is just like all the other Lego games in the series, where you can switch in between your favorite Lego characters, but also added a feature where you can play the story mode as the Villains. This is one of those games that you can grab a couple of buddies and just chill around and play a few games with.

Of course, this isn't everyones favorite game of this generation. The Batman: Arkham series started in this generation as well. These games added a whole new aspect to the Batman series, starting with Batman: Arkham Asylum. This game allows the player to sneak around Arkham Asylum as Batman like he would in the comics or in the movies and added more skill to the games. In these games, the player goes through Arkham and uses a plethora of gadgets to go around and stop the Joker from taking full control of Arkham. There are many different bosses in this game as well that the player has to beat before reaching the joker, such as Bane, Killer Croc, and many others. This game has the best game play and combat system of all of the Batman games to date and has won the Game of The Year by many different media outlets and has also won a Guinness World Record for Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever. One of the coolest parts of the game is the 'detective mode', shown in the picture below. This mode allows the player to see the enemy and track them or to stay hidden from them or to even fight them in the best combat system to date in the Batman franchise.

Eighth Generation

The only games listed for the majority of the eighth gen consoles are Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham and of course the most anticipated game, Batman: Arkham Knight. I did go over the latest from E3 on Arkham Knight so I suggest checking that out for a more in depth look for the game, but it is to be set after Batman: Arkham City and contains a drivable Batmobile and much better combat and mobility systems.

For the 3rd Lego game in the series, this one has the main villain as Brainiac as he goes around the universe collecting planets and galaxies for his collection, sort of like the plot for Superman: Unbound, the animated movie with Superman stopping Brainiac from collecting the capitals of planets and then destroying those said planets.

As you can see, the Batman Franchise has grown a lot since the 1980s, as well as video gaming itself. It has been great to be able to play some of these great titles and we can only hope for the best in the future. Who knows, maybe someday when virtual reality becomes the main thing, we will be able to become the Caped Crusader ourselves and fight the infamous villains with our own hands. Tune in next week for the next installment of Throwback Thursdays, where I will go in depth in even more of our favorite video game franchises.

Arkham Knight E3 Overview

Arkham Knight E3 Overview
Before I start getting into the coverage from the E3 gameplay trailer, I would like to start off with a little background information about the series and the game for the people that don't know too much of this game series. Arkham Knight is the fourth installment of the latest batman franchise, which also includes Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Origins. These types of games have a sort of Assassin's Creed like game play and combat system going over a wide, explorable map that is riddled with enemies and secrets. The newest installment, Arkham Knight, is the sequel to the Arkham City game and takes place in Gotham City and is voiced by the almighty Kevin Conroy. The original trailer for this game was released in early March and since then, there have been many speculations on the gameplay and the landscape. The best part from that original trailer was the Batmobile and the fact that the player can now officially drive it around Gotham City. Although the game has been pushed back to 2015, it is still one of the most highly anticipated games for the next gen consoles and with the game play footage being released at E3 this year, everyone can now see it in its glory.

With the game play trailer above, lets begin to pick it apart and see what makes this game one of the best games to come out for the next gen consoles.

The Overview
This game takes place one year after the Arkham City game in the City of Gotham. He is helped by James and his daughter Barbara Gordon, as the Oracle, to help rid the city of the criminals that escaped from Arkham Asylum. The main villain, introduced briefly in the first trailer but more so in this one, Scarecrow, enlists the help of many other super-villains to help take out the Batman once and for all. This game also introduces a new villain to the playing field, The Arkham Knight. This villain is like a militarized version of the Batman that wears a coveted 'A' on his chest to symbolize Arkham. The player will have to take down all the super-villains in Gotham to save its citizens and himself from the Scarecrow.

The Suit

One of the first things that is seen in this trailer is Bruce putting on the bat suit. The detail the game designers went into the suit alone makes this game worth while. It's more robotic than the normal cape and cowl, but it makes it more realistic as an armor to protect his body during fights. And the fact that you can see the suit fitting perfectly to his body adds to the game experience to the new and the old fans. If they can get this type of suit into any of the upcoming Batman movies, I think we would all be very happy.

The Landscape

Starting with the Wayne Tower, you can see the amount of details put into the surrounding area. In a small area like the starting place, seeing that much detail can only speculate what Gotham City is going to look like. At first, I thought that if they put that much detail in a small area, the overall map may not be as well done and thank God (or whatever religious deity you thank, if any) I was wrong. The map of Gotham City spans over 5 times the area of Arkham City and every area has so much detail put into it, it probably wouldn't be physically possible for it to work for the previous console systems, such as the 360 and PS3. When Batman first steps out onto the ledge at 0:42, you can see what I mean by a huge landscape. From what is know, everything that is seen from the view is traversable, giving Arkham Knight one of the biggest maps in video game history.

Not to mention how far he drops as well. The closer he gets to the bottom, the more the map expands and you can see the detail put into every little window and door and light etc. Although I still want to keep my old 360, I am glad that this game is a next gen exclusive, just because of the sheer detail put into the design of the game.

The Batmobile

The most anticipated part of this new game, the fully rideable Batmobile. For it being one of the coolest features in the new game, it comes at a cost. The amount of work and detail put into the batmobile made it use up so much data that it would take up an entire 360. How it looks however, it makes a lot of sense in its memory usage. From shown on the game play trailer, the player can summon the batmobile when Batman is nearing the ground and the fabled batmobile appears. The actual driving of the batmobile looks like any other game with cars in it and looks pretty unwieldy. But unlike other games, the batmobile doesn't crash when it hits a lamp post or a blockade, it completely decimates them, not even slowing down. Now the best part of the batmobile starts at 1:52 of the game play trailer; when it gets ready for combat. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the batmobile getting combat ready and I have to say, it is probably the best feature of this game by far. The wheels widening and being put on a pivot point instead of the axle makes the batmobile more mobile and agile, being able to move side-to-side, diagonally, and front-to-back as easy as it is to drive normally. And when the turrets came out of the top, I was ecstatic. The detail put into these guns are just astounding. From the fighting in the batmobile, it looks like you have a rocket, a lock-on missile, and a gatling gun, which I feel is just enough to have, you definitely don't want to go overboard with the amount of weapons, then it would make the game too easy. The last feature that is shown of the batmobile is the ability to rocket yourself out of the batmobile and be able to glide away easily. This, I feel, will be one of the more useful tricks the batmobile can pull off. It makes it easier to dodge enemies while in the batmobile and it makes it so the player can easily start exploring the skies again.

The Combat and Stealth

The combat in this game is just like the other games in the series, where you can gang up on multiple enemies and start combo-ing the crap out of them. One of the newest features added to the combat is called the "Fear Takedown", which is shown at around 2:55 where in the top left corner of the screen, you can see a "Fear Takedown Meter". From what I can understand, the diamonds underneath the Fear Takedown label are the amount of targets acquired. This move can select up to three targets when undetected and slows down the time to be able to take the enemies out quickly and quietly, and all it takes is to look at the target and press one button, easy enough right? This makes the stealth game and combat game a whole lot easier for the player while still making the combat interesting. Like in all the other games, the stealth makes the player essentially invisible to the enemies in the area. We get a good look at the stealth towards the end at around 3:36. I think its cool having the player be able to traverse underneath the enemy in the vent system and then pop out when close enough to the enemy.

The Ending

When I saw the first game play trailer while watching E3, I thought to myself, 'why would they bring in a broken trailer, I feel like they should have checked it out before launching it'. But when Scarecrow was revealed, it took away my sense of shame for the broken trailer and turned it into acting like a giddy little school girl. His reveal as the main enemy for batman, though known from the first trailer, adds a whole new set of questions, like how will his poison be used? or how will he use the Arkham Knight to beat the Batman? All we know for sure is that Scarecrow is enlisting the help of the Penguin, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, and the Riddler to take down the Batman. All in all, I can see this game being one of the best games for the next gen consoles and has a good chance of being "Game of the Year" with all of these added features and superb graphics and game play. All I can say is, I can't wait for this game to come out and be able to see its glory in person.