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Evil stalks the streets of Gotham City, in the twisted form of the Joker, alias crazed criminal Jack Napier. The city needs a hero to save the day and who should make an appearance but Batman - life-long good guy and champion of the citizens of Gotham.

Closely following the plot of the movie, this PC Engine card puts the player in the role of the black-garbed one, with the object being to defeat the Joker over 50 four-way scrolling maze-like levels. In each level there are a number of objects either to collect or drop in order to progress to the next level. Batman starts off his crusade in the streets of Gotham City where he collects canisters and bottles in order to break the Joker's deadly Smilex combination. At the Axis Chemical Factory, bombs are dropped on crosses (Crackdown-style) in order to blow the place into oblivion and beyond.

Other levels include the Flugelheim Museum, where Batman undoes the damage caused on priceless works of art by the Joker, and Gotham Cathedral - the scene of the final confrontation.

Batman has to keep an eye out for the Joker's evil cronies. Where appropriate, he can also sling a batarang to disable his foes and then finish them off with his bat-fist. Watch out for power-ups which increase batarang speed and range.

I thought the PC Engine version of Batman was little more than a sort of tarted-up Pac-Man when I first clapped eyes on it, what with walking around a maze collecting items and the like, but after a while the action gets strangely addictive and you have to come back for one more go!

The graphics aren't exactly the best the PC Engine can come up with and the whole map seems to be arranged in conspicuous blocks. The sound though is totally superb - all of Sunsoft's Batman conversions have featured amazing music and the PC Engine game is no exception.

Special mention must also go to the amazing end-of-level animations sequences - they're just totally gob-smacking, especially the film-quality Batwing sequence! Lastability is Batman's problem, though. It won't exactly glue you to the PC Engine and it is pretty simple to complete with no real incentive to drag you back for more.