Credit: Gamma Squad

 

Batman Gets An Open-World Racing Game… Exclusively At Arcades

By Dan Seitz

12.03.13

 

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Arcades are still popular in Japan, but in America, they’re something of an endangered species. Which is sad in its own way, but really, really frustrating when you hear about a game like the upcoming Batman.

 

Essentially, it’s an open-world racing/car-combat game where you zoom around Gotham fighting the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Bane, and other recognizable Batvillains, while using the various Batmobiles throughout the franchise’s history. Whether you want to trash villains in the Tumbler or use the ’66 series Batmobile to ram people off the road and pump late-model sedans with garish paint jobs full of bullets, the choice is yours. Here’s a gameplay montage:

 

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By all accounts, the game is designed to make you feel like a complete badass. Even if you’re terrible at racing games:

 

“We knew the Batmobile had to drive really fast to give the player the level of excitement we wanted, but being able to take 90 degree corners at city intersections while driving hundreds of miles-per-hour was a real challenge… To solve this, Specular engineered a unique driving physics model that allows players of any skill level to drive the Batmobile at insane speeds and still make those 90 degree corners like a pro Hollywood stunt driver, and without giving up any player control over the car.”

 

So, wait. It’s an open-world racing game, with a dash of Twisted Metal, an engine that makes you feel like you’re ripping the Batmobile through Gotham? And it’s only going to be available at arcades? Just a note, Time Warner, a console port must happen. Don’t worry about the cost. The game kind of sells itself.

Anybody remember that Batman game where, to take 90 degree corners, you shot your little bat cable thing out the window onto lamp posts and its turned you around the corners? Class!

Yeah mate it was class, what was it called again??, the bat wing to corner used to wreck my head :lol

Anybody remember that Batman game where, to take 90 degree corners, you shot your little bat cable thing out the window onto lamp posts and its turned you around the corners? Class!

Yeah mate it was class, what was it called again??, the bat wing to corner used to wreck my head :lol

I'm sure it was the game of the first Tim Burton film. I had it on the Amstrad CPC464 and can remember using the bat-hook to turn corners.

Yeah I think it was the game of the first Burton movie, I'm sure I remember playing it on Commadore Amiga.

Yeah Amstrad for me and it was based on the first Burton movie, I think it had 5 levels and the tape loading :lol

Floppy disc on Amiga, I was flying into the future! :lol

The Amiga was great for it's time alright, man those were the days, my Amstrad was a bucket of shit (colour monitor though :D) but what a great era for gaming.

Loved it bud, the best of times. Getting together with all my mates using X-Copy to copy games so we all had copies of everything out, Nipple-Copy mode for games with protection :lol I loved it. I had stacks of those blue floppy discs everywhere. I used to like the old Atari 2600 black joystick with the one red button too, simple but worked amazing with Amiga games. Imagine that now? ONE button. Ha!

Yeah I had it on the Amiga. The first level was a platform thing set in the Axis Chemical plant, then there was the Batmobile level, then I think there was a level in the Batcave where you figure out the Joker's poison formula, then a level with the Batwing & finally another platformer set in the Cathedral.

 

Great game for its time!