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nintendroid · 5 months

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I finally (sort of) beat Batman Forever for Sega Genesis thanks to this mod!

The first bad video game I can remember owning is Batman Forever. Thirteen years ago on this very blog I aired my frustrations with it and when anyone asks me what my least favorite games are, Batman Forever is always in the conversation.

I love the movie and I'm glad that thanks to the "Schumacher Cut" hype its finally getting it's roses. I have great memories of it as the first Batman movie I saw in theaters, and equally great memories of that following Christmas and getting some of the toys that I loved as much as the movie. While I love Batman '89 and Batman Returns, Batman Forever was MY Batman.

The combination of the cyberpunk setting, amazing soundtrack, Jim Carrey as The Riddler, the McDonalds French-made glasses that remained a staple in my household for years, and a competent on-screen Robin, my memories of Batman Forever as a film and franchise entry got everything right! The only blemish on an otherwise blockbuster experience was the game.

I've tried to play it over the years and never can stick it out. It has a good soundtrack, good graphics and from a distance looks like it could be a good game. What makes it dreadful to play is the unforgiving difficulty, no continues, laggy Mortal Kombat controls that don't belong nowhere near a platformer, timed levels where the terribleness of the controls are made super-apparent and I cant stress enough THE CONTROLS. The wacky button combinations for basic functions are mind-boggling and just plain poor. Batman Forever: The Video Game is the black sheep of the Batman Forever marketing blitz.

Fast forward to 2023. Thanks to the efforts of video game preservation, advance technology and people fed up with the modern state of gaming, retro gaming truly belongs to the players. Apart of that freedom of "ownership" is to right the sins of the past and create the experiences that we wanted as kids but didn't get for one reason or another.

Enter video game modder BillyTime! Games.

William Timington (his proper name) modded the Sega Genesis port of Batman Forever and gave us "Batman Eternity". A version of Batman Forever that scraps the stupid platforming elements and puzzles and gives us what we truly wanted: A BRAWLER.

Batman Eternity is a gameplay overhaul of Batman forever. Its main goal is to remove all platform and puzzle elements from the game and focuses strictly on combat.

Changes Made: -------------------- Both Versions: *Level 3 and 5 have been removed entirely *Several layout changed have been made across all levels *Batman and Robin start with 10 lives in Singleplayer, Co-op and competitive modes. *Batman and Robin have all moves available and can be used at any time. *The Riddler is unlocked in training mode by default. Original Difficulty: -------------------- No health values have been modified and remain the same as the original game. Scaling Difficulty: -------------------- All health values have been changed for all enemies in this version to be universal. After each level or at a Boss portion of each level, the health cap for enemies is gradually raised. Enemy health caps at Level 7.

These changes make for a much more basic and enjoyable experience. It's still not a perfect experience by any stretch but it's so much better than the original. The simplicity makes you appreciate the atmosphere of the game, and the graphics, the music. The controls still aren't ideal but you'll spend so much time just clobbering enemies, you won't notice.

When I finally beat the Giga Riddler at the end of the game, I felt...complete. Like another insignificant, small book in my childhood library finally got the ending it deserved. Dramatic? Yes, but you need that exaggeration to keep things interesting.

If you want to check out the romhack for yourself, check it out here and while you're at it, check out BillyTime! Games Twitter and shoot him a thanks for his efforts.

Thanks William Timington. You belonged in that dev room way back in 1995.

#batman forever #batman #1995 #billytime! games #sega #sega genesis #megadrive #romhacks #game mods #nintendroid #jim carrey #flashing images

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