BATMAN, THE CAPED CRUSADER 

 BATMAN, THE CAPED CRUSADER is a strategy/arcade game from Ocean
Software and Data East that offers two scenarios (each bootable from
its own disk): "A Bird in the Hand," featuring the Penguin, and "A
Fete Worse Than Death," featuring The Joker. This colorful program
has excellent graphics and animation, "comic book" windows, a killer
of a time limit, and joystick control. The Atari ST version is the
basis of this review; IBM-PC version notes follow. 

 Overall, BATMAN is a fine game. It looks great, plays well, and has
more in common with Batman comics than either the bleak movie or the
hokey TV show. On the flip side, both scenarios are difficult, due
mostly to a nasty time limit. They can be completed, of course, but
you're going to fall short quite a few times. Although the plot
lines differ in each scenario, the play mechanics of the games are
identical. 

 In "A Bird in the Hand," the Penguin (ostensibly an umbrella
merchant), plans to use an army of robot penguins to take over the
world. As Batman, you'll have to get to the Penguin's factory by
scaling walls, crawling along rooftops, and battling well-dressed
thugs. Once you've found the factory, you'll have to find and
destroy the master computer. 

 In "A Fete Worse Than Death," The Joker has kidnapped Robin and is
holding him hostage at the Gotham City Fair. As Batman, you'll have
to make your way to the Fair through the sewers, battling rats and
funky odors. You'll then have to rescue Robin. In order to complete
the scenario, you must backtrack through the sewers and defuse the
many bombs. 

 The Atari ST graphic display consists of two separate screens: 
action and status. The action screen depicts the current location
(depending on the scenario) in which you're guiding Batman. Passing
through a doorway causes a new location to appear in a window, much
like the panel in a comic book. Objects -- light sources, various
tools, and several Bat-devices -- may be found, and taking and using
them requires monitoring the status screen. 

 The most important element on the status screen is the graphic of
the Caped Crusader's face. Upon starting a scenario, Batman's face
will be unmarred; as the game progresses, however, it slowly
disintegrates into a skull: This is the timer for Batman's level of
energy. When the skull is full, the game is over. Eating food items
replenishes Batman's energy and keeps the game going. 

 Also on the status screen are icons and a percentage figure. The
percentage figure is incremented when you've solved a puzzle, 
indicating how much of the game you've completed. Icons allow you to
use and drop the items you've found, toggle the music, and return to
(or restart) the game. The Restart icon doubles as a pause feature. 

 BATMAN is controlled with a joystick. To use an item, move the Bat
cursor on the status screen to that item, select it with the button
(the icon will flash), then move the cursor to the Use icon (a Bat
fist), and again push the button. Doing this at the correct time
means you've solved a puzzle, which will then be reflected by the
percentage counter. 

 On the action screen, the joystick functions in two ways: With the
stick alone, you can move left or right; duck left or right (to
avoid attacks, bullets, low-flying planes, and thrown objects); 
climb up or down; and turn left or right. Moving the stick with the
button pressed puts Batman into fight mode: four kicks and two
punches, all of which work -- regardless of the direction Batman is
facing. Pressing the button and moving the stick back brings up the
status screen. 

 The BATMAN package comes with two bootable, mini-floppy disks. Each
disk holds a single scenario, and both are copy-protected. Also
included is an instruction manual useful for both ST and C64/128
versions of the game. For the ST version, you'll need 512K and a
color monitor. 

 BATMAN looks very good on the ST. Batman himself is a sturdy figure
who moves with great purpose. The general atmosphere of the
scenarios is dark, occasionally claustrophobic, and both scenarios
are more or less devoid of humor. The Batcave is faithfully
rendered, the Penguin's henchmen wear striped suits, and the sewers
of Gotham City teem with rats. 

 "A Fete Worse Than Death" is especially difficult. The sewers are
convoluted and seem to have an awful lot of dead ends; time -- and
thus Batman's energy -- is lost during your wandering and
backtracking. Batman's energy dissipates at a steady pace, and until
you know your way around, you're liable to become frustrated by
having to constantly restart. Repeated pummeling of attackers
produces food items; while this is helpful for keeping Batman from
turning into a skull, it doesn't seem exceptionally useful to spend
so much time preparing snacks when there's a game to complete. "A
Bird in the Hand" is less troublesome, but not by much. 

 Although the difficulty of the scenarios should not deter you from
buying BATMAN, purchasing it under the influence of Batmania could
prove costly, if only in terms of frustration and time. With its
clear and colorful graphics, smooth animations, and scenarios that
are reasonably intriguing (even though you know where you're
headed), BATMAN, THE CAPED CRUSADER deserves a playtest, at the very
least. 

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES 

 Holy redemption, Batman! When it comes to BATMAN, THE CAPED
CRUSADER on the IBM, Data East makes you play it their way. For many
users, that's going to mean buying the game, bringing it home, 
mailing coupons in the box, and waiting. You can only purchase the
game on two 5-1/4" diskettes. So, if you need the 3-1/2" version, 
you must buy the 5-1/4" version, and send in a coupon with $7.00. 
(However, along with your 3-1/2" diskettes, you'll receive a coupon
good for $10 off your next Data East purchase.) The program supports
only EGA or Tandy Graphics Adapter modes; if you need the CGA
version, you'll have to send in a coupon for that, too. 

 You'll need DOS 3.2 or later, and 512K of RAM (640K on the Tandy
1000) to run the game. No mention is made of support for any sound
boards. BATMAN can be played either from the keyboard or with a
joystick. 

 Holy copy protection, Robin! The game can be installed just once on
your hard drive. A hidden file is copied to your hard disk, and the
game files end up in a "Batman" subdirectory on your "C" drive. 
Fine, except that I have a drive with four partitions and like to
keep all my games together on my "F" drive. Nope, you don't get a
choice. A batch file copies the hidden and game files to the drive. 
A batch file will uninstall the game, so that it can be reinstalled
elsewhere. 

 Once you've satisfied the program's requirements and gotten a hold
of the proper set of diskettes, the game proves to be quite nice. 
EGA graphics are sharp. While the pictures on the back of the box
illustrate Commodore and Atari versions, the IBM version is just as
detailed. Animation is exceptionally smooth. You'll probably want to
turn off the music, which rapidly becomes annoying; that's also the
only way you'll be able to hear the sound effects. The mechanics of
the game are simple enough to learn, and with two games included, 
Batfans ought to be kept busy for a fair amount of time. 

 BATMAN, THE CAPED CRUSADER is published and distributed by Data
East. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253