The Caped Crusader. The World’s Greatest Detective. The Dark Knight. It’s safe to say that there are very few people in this world who don’t know of the legendary superhero that is Batman. Introduced in his first comic in 1939, Batman went on to appear in countless books, tv shows, movies, and even video games. With the releases of the Batman Arkham series by Rocksteady in the PS3/360 console generation, Bruce Wayne’s alter ego was given an incredible set of games to play around in.
Although the Arkham games did the job quite well, there haven’t been many more genuinely great Batman games. With the wealth of stories at their disposal, game creators have so many incredible circumstances in the Batman’s lengthy legacy to pull from. Nearly every genre of game could be possible depending on the story chosen. These 10 storylines show that there is a wealth of gripping and detailed stories to dive headfirst into.
10 Batman Ninja
Sometimes polarizing but still a fan favorite, Batman Ninja was a one-off Batman story that saw Batman, his friends, and multiple members of his rogues’ gallery being transported to ancient Japan and doing battle as hardened ninjas.
The film has a strong 3D anime style and is focused heavily on action and flashiness. This style naturally lends itself to becoming an entertaining third-person action game. The game could take the iconic imagery of the Batman series and give it a sleek look of a manga illustration.
9 Justice League
No matter the storyline, the Justice League is always an interesting group of heroes that blend together so uniquely – especially when compared to the Avengers on the Marvel side of things. While there are so many specific stories that could be adapted to a video game, the genre of the video game itself would be the more interesting idea.
As much as it could be a multiplayer beat-em-up game, an interesting take would instead be a story-based game where players view all of the high-powered godly figures like Superman and Wonder Woman in a game but take control of only Batman: the world’s richest and least super-powered hero.
8 Knightfall
So many Batman games take advantage of the entire set of villains throughout the history of the Caped Crusader. However, what if a video game focused on Batman going up against just one villain: Bane, the hulking terror that literally broke Batman’s back?
Although the huge Knightfall arc is not exclusively about Bane, he is certainly the main threat throughout and a threat that ultimately throws Batman out of the superhero race for a while. A game focused on this frightening challenge could be heavily story-based with a constant focus on besting Bane. When Batman is incapacitated, players could take control of Jean-Paul Valley: Batman’s replacement after his iconic defeat.
7 The Dark Knight Trilogy
The excellent Christopher Nolan trilogy of films brought new life to Batman in film form. Until that point, Batman was portrayed in films in relatively campy and goofy ways for a long period of time. It wasn’t until the first success with Batman Begins that Batman was just as feared by his enemies as he was in the comic books.
Though there are three movies total, Batman Begins was the only movie in the series to get a video game adaptation. It essentially functioned as a decent Splinter Cell clone which isn’t bad but could have been more story-driven. Adapting all three of these films into new adventure/open-world games would be an absolute treat.
6 The Long Halloween
One of the most widely adapted stories in Batman’s history, The Long Halloween mainly focuses on the rise and fall of Harvey Dent better known as Two-Face. It’s a fascinating story of friendship, politics, loss, redemption, and more.
Batman: The Telltale Series loosely adapted it, but crafting the story beat for beat in a traditional game would be fantastic for longtime fans of the gripping story. Players could take the role of Batman and dive into the detailed relationship between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. Just imagine the crushing heartbreak at seeing Harvey fall to the dark side of Gotham City. Why wouldn’t anyone jump at experiencing that?
5 Year One
Sometimes, people just need a classic origin story to feel a sense of wholeness when playing a video game adaptation. In this way, Year One would be a perfect story to play along with. Year One focuses on Bruce Wayne’s first full year as Batman, and his inciting incidents with the criminal activity in Gotham City. It also explores the start of his relationship with Commissioner Gordon.
The game could function as an action RPG where players could build Batman’s abilities from scratch. That would mean that every subsequent playthrough could bring about an entirely new Batman to play as.
4 Final Crisis
The Final Crisis super-event was an awe-inspiring spectacle. It’s nearly impossible to boil the story down to one through-line because there are so many gigantic and detailed stories happening at once. As a result, Final Crisis was both criticized and praised for its massive and complex nature.
But with the massive scope that video games can take in 2021, Final Crisis could potentially be an action-packed story to tell. The game could either put players in the boots of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, or one of the other many characters that are fighting against DarkSeid. It could even put players exclusively in the perspective of Batman as he sees the most apocalyptic events happening around him trying to do what he can do as just an earthly man.
3 Zero Year
Batman Zero Year is a unique take on the Batman origin story, with a main focus on the Red Hood and the Riddler, as well as a great flood in Gotham City. In this way, a great Caped Crusader game may only need three things in it: Batman, a bow, and an arrow (maybe two).
With this in mind, Batman could potentially pull off a re-skin of Horizon Zero Dawn and focus on Batman’s super cool bow and arrow that has unfortunately rarely turned to the arsenal of the Dark Knight after Zero Year. The game could potentially be a huge open-world adventure with Batman’s motorcycle serving as a fast way to travel.
2 The Dark Knight Returns
One of the most personal and gritty stories in the Batman mythology, The Dark Knight Returns sees an older Bruce Wayne becoming Batman once again after many years of staying on the sidelines.
A gritty (potentially M-rated) action game would be an amazing fit – especially by being able to end with the amazing climax of going one-on-one against Superman who works with the government and becomes upset with Batman’s doings. Amazing graphics and solid gameplay could make for a mind-blowing experience.
1 Adam West Era Batman
This could be a total stretch, but what if a totally goofy Batman party game were created in the style of the classic Adam West television show? As much as everyone loves the dark and grim versions of Batman, there is still a lot of love for the goofiness and the BOOMs and POWs of the 1960s television show.
While an adventure game wouldn’t be a great fit, this show could fit into a point and click adventure game well. Just think of what a studio like Double Fine would be able to create. What better way to tribute the legacy of Adam West’s iconic performance as Batman than with a silly and purposefully broken party game to enjoy with friends?
