Batman (1986)
The isometric engine that became Head Over Heels
Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond's Batman took 93% from CRASH in May 1986. Robin is kidnapped, the Batmobile is in pieces, and the engine underneath it went on to make the best isometric game on the Spectrum.
Batman was Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond’s first isometric game for Ocean, reviewed by CRASH in May 1986 at £7.95. Robin has been kidnapped, the Batmobile is in pieces, and the Caped Crusader has to cross a mansion in three-quarter view collecting the parts.
It is not the film tie-in. Ocean held the licence for years and made two entirely different games under it; the 1989 one followed Tim Burton’s film. This is the earlier one, and it is the one that matters technically.
Fast facts
- Authors: Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond, credited by name in the review.
- Publisher: Ocean, £7.95.
- Machines: Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX.
- CRASH: 93% overall — graphics 95%, playability 94%, addictive qualities 93%.
- Successor: Head Over Heels, on a developed version of the same engine.
What CRASH saw
The review is unusually specific about the mechanics for 1986, and the scores are close to uniform across every category:
| Use of computer | 93% |
| Graphics | 95% |
| Playability | 94% |
| Getting started | 91% |
| Addictive qualities | 93% |
| Value for money | 91% |
| Overall | 93% |
A game that scores 91% at its weakest is being told it has no weak side. CRASH was handing out marks in the nineties sparingly in 1986, and Batman got one without the reviewers reaching for the licence as an excuse.
Why it matters more than the licence
Knight Lore had shown in 1984 that the Spectrum could hold a three-quarter-view room and a solid object in it. What Ritman added was a game built for the view rather than displayed in it: rooms designed as puzzles about height and depth, objects you carry between them, and controls that let you place a jump precisely enough for that to be fair.
The engine went on to Head Over Heels the following year, where the two-character mechanic gave it something to be about. The period press made the connection at the time rather than in retrospect — CRASH, Amstrad Action and ACE all introduce Head Over Heels by way of Batman through 1987 and 1988.
That is the honest shape of this game’s importance. It is a very good licensed platformer that reviewed at 93%, and it is the working prototype for a better game.