Batman: The Caped Crusader
{{Short description|1988 video game}}
{{Distinguish|text=the 2024 animated series Batman: Caped Crusader}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Batman: The Caped Crusader
|image = Batman Caped Crusader.jpg
|developer = Special FX Software
|publisher = {{vgrelease|EU|Ocean Software|NA|Data East}}
|producer = D. C. Ward
Paul Finnegan
|designer = Jonathan M. Smith
|programmer = Keith Robinson
Frank Robinson
Robert Tinman
Jim Bagley
|artist = Andy Rixon
Charles Davies
Karen Davies
|composer = Keith Tinman
Fred Gray
|released = {{vgrelease|EU|1988|NA|1989}}
|genre = Action-adventure
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = Amiga,{{cite web|first=Dan|last=Gutman|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96463117/the-miami-herald/|title=Indiana Jones and the last computer|newspaper=Miami Herald|page=863|date=July 9, 1989|accessdate=February 26, 2022|via=Newspapers.com}} Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple II, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
}}
Batman: The Caped Crusader is an action-adventure game developed by Special FX Software (Jonathan Smith, Zach Townsend, Charles Davies, and Keith Tinman) and published by Ocean Software in 1988. It was licensed by Data East and Erbe Software for release in North America and Spain. It was the second of three unrelated Batman games released by Ocean, after Batman in 1986 and preceding Batman: The Movie in 1989. The Apple II version was developed by California-based Quicksilver Software; it requires a 128k IIe or IIc to run. As with many other Ocean releases, the C64 port came in separate cassette and disk releases; the North American NTSC version was based on the latter. The disk version contained slightly remixed music and differences in enemy spawns.
Gameplay
File:Caped Crusader for Amiga.png
Batman: The Caped Crusader is an arcade adventure which uses a unique style, innovated by Jonathan Smith and Charles Davies, to display the action as though it takes place in a comic book.{{cite web|title=Special FX|url=http://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/company/special-fx/|website=Retro Gamer|date=15 May 2014 |publisher=Imagine Publishing|access-date=22 July 2016}} This technique involved having each game location set in its own panel, often with a comic book style caption in the upper-left corner, with inactive panels faded out behind the current active location. This concept was expanded upon by Sega's Comix Zone seven years later.{{cite web|last1=Cox|first1=Leon|title=Batman - From Spectrum Beginnings To Arkham Origins|url=http://home.bt.com/games/games-features/batman-from-spectrum-beginnings-to-arkham-origins-11363843669417|website=BT.com|publisher=BT|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-date=30 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930095801/http://home.bt.com/games/games-features/batman-from-spectrum-beginnings-to-arkham-origins-11363843669417|url-status=dead}}
A further notable feature was that the game was split into two independently playable parts in which Batman is faced with two of his most well-known adversaries: "A Bird In The Hand" featuring the Penguin and "A Fete Worse Than Death" which involved the Joker. The gameplay involves Batman using punches and kicks and his batarang (a thrown weapon) in order to fight the villains' henchmen as well as solving puzzles.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| award1Pub = Crash
| award1 = SmashGame review, Crash magazine, Newsfield Publications, issue 60, January 1989
}}
Your Sinclair magazine awarded it 9 out of 10,{{cite journal |last=Berkmann |first=Marcus |date=January 1989 |title=Batman: The Caped Crusader review |journal=Your Sinclair |issue=37 |url=http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/batmancc.htm |access-date=2007-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027051816/http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/batmancc.htm |archive-date=2007-10-27 |url-status=dead}} praising the colourful and expressive graphics and the inclusion of two separate adventures. Computer Gaming World also gave a positive review, praising the graphics, particularly the Atari ST's graphics over the C64's, but noted that the game emphasises mazes and puzzles over beating up bad guys, and as such did not quite meet expectations.{{citation | date = June 1989 | last = Wilson | first = David M. | magazine = Computer Gaming World | title = Caped Crusader Combats Crime | pages = 20–21 | issue=60}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Batman video games}}
Category:Data East video games
Category:Joker (character) in other media
Category:Penguin (character) in other media
Category:Quicksilver Software games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Category:Video games scored by Fred Gray