In 1986, Ocean Software released a 3D isometric action-adventure Batman game for the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad PCW, and of course the Amstrad CPC! I used to play this game constantly as a kid, so I decided to load it onto my PSP and see if it stands the test of time.

The objective of the game is to take Batman through a maze of rooms, avoiding the bad guys, picking up gear and……that’s about as far as I got….I never finished the game. Yes, it was that good.

The first thing you will notice is the seriously bizarre looking monsters; they are as disturbing as I remember them being. Are they real Batman villains? Is there some obscure Batman comic that they actually appear in? Or are they the mad creations of some people who did a lot of drugs? If you know, please fill me….

I’ve always thought of Batman as a big, badass superhero, but aside from the fact that he looks like he’s 2 feet tall and made out of lego, he’s extremely easy to kill in this game. There’s no fancy fighting, the monsters don’t shoot you or chase you; they just walk around in circles and if you walk into one, you blow up. Definitely not the resourceful Batman I have grown to love.

But if that’s not bad enough, don’t get close to the walls either because some of them will kill you! THE WALLS! I’d like to have been at the meeting where they came up with this idea so I could laugh!

The game itself is as confusing as I remember it being. The funny thing is, I got stuck in the exact same spot I got stuck in almost 20 years ago. I thought I’d get much further with 20 years of gaming under my belt, but nope……apparently you’re supposed to save Robin, but in my version, Batman just runs into walls and explodes. Seriously, if you have finished this game, please contact me, I’ve been stuck on one part for 20 years.

How well did it stand the test of time?

Overall, the 3D isometric graphics are a great twist for a game made in 1986 and are still pretty cool today. Unfortunately, the game is confusing, the monsters….well…they are just weird, and Batman is a chicken mcnugget.

Rating:

A freeware remake, called Watman, was produced for PC in 2000 as a DOS game. A remake has also been written for the Game Boy Advance.

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One of my fondest memories I have as a kid was skipping out on homework to play my Amstrad CPC 464. The tape drive, the long loading times; those were the days.

Well, you can imagine how happy I was to find out that homebew developer Zx had successfully released an Amstrad CPC 464 emulator for the PSP.

PSPCAP32 is a full featured emulator that faithfully immitates the CPC464, CPC664, and CPC6128 models. And because it’s for the PSP, you can carry it around with you everywhere. Amstrad in your pocket!

For all you Amstrad fans, I’m going to be reviewing all the games I used to play right here on this blog!! So stay tuned for that…..

For those interested in having their own portable Amstrad, you can download PSPCAP32 v1.4.2 right here.

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There is no doubt that Blizzard is famous for their great video games, but they’re also known for putting out some of the most spectacular video game cinematics out there. The detail they put into the models, textures and animation had set the bar pretty high at a time when 3D was a fairly young industry.

Back in 2002, they put a box set together of their greatest cinematics from Diablo 2, Starcraft, and Warcraft 3. I own a copy of the box set and you don’t have to be a video games fan to appreciate it. I only hope they release another one soon; they’ve got a lot of new stuff out there.

I’ll try and find a clip to post, but in the mean time, here are some screenshots:

Available at Amazon.com

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