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Arkham Asylum, the brooding institution for the criminally insane on the outskirts of Gotham's buzzing metropolis, is the scene of a spectacular and ominous breakout. Psychopath Harvey Dent, who styles himself as 'Two-Face', has escaped his maximum security compound and has assembled his own gang of vicious skinhead thugs.

His only objective (apart from pillaging from the town's great and good) is to kill Batman. Meanwhile, a disgruntled and eccentric employee of Wayne Enterprises' R&D department, Edward Nygma, quits the company to market his own 'Nygmatech' 3D TV system. It's a huge hit but Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, knows the device extracts brainwaves from its user with potentially disastrous consequences.

In the wrong hands, such a device could prove to be a deadly weapon. As if this wasn't enough, Wayne has been receiving strange epistles from a character known as 'The Riddler', who is near to discovering Batman's true identity and who also seeks to even the odds by allowing his new sidekick Dick Grayson, aka Robin, to join him on his perilous mission to clean up the streets of Gotham...

Based directly on the current blockbuster movie and inspired by the DC Comics character.

Batman Forever covers a huge scrolling area using the same set ideas, sometimes even the same designs, as the movie. The game is non-linear, with Batman exploring areas fully, returning to old areas to discover new doors or new enemies. Sometimes Bats will have to kick his way through a door, fall through the floor, glide across balconies or take to new levels. In all there are sixty sub-levels to the game.

1. Arkham Asylum
   The loonies are ripping through strait-jackets and threatening you with some electro-shock therapy.
2. Wayne Enterprises
   First floor - mayhem, Two-Face's thugs and some extras from Dick Tracy, it appears.
3. Gotham Metro
   You can't beat the tube. Well, you can't stand in front of a 200 ton underground train and live to tell the tale.

A major feature of the game is the extra powers gained from the bat belts. Both Batman and Robin are able to select unlimited gadgets from their custom belts. At the beginning of each round, the options lists are shown. Accessing these in the game is by way of special joypad moves. The more powerful bonus items are found later by matching blueprints. There are some twenty devices in all.

The game's training mode functions as a game within a game. This allows you to take on another two opponents (including an optional second player) and 'learning' how to beat the crap out of them. It may improve your skills, but basically it turns Batman Forever into a one-on-one beat-'em-up. The bonus is, you can play any of the game's characters, goodies or baddies, so there's tons of fighting moves to exploit.

True to one of its star characters, Batman Forever has been a riddle all along. Shrouded in more than the average amount of secrecy, then supposedly straight to reviewable status - it's had us all intrigued. The good news is Batman Forever has the greatest depth of any beat-'em-up on the Megadrive. There is no shortage of new ideas; 20 bonus weapons for a start.

The scale of the game has to be admired, with sixty different stages and a host of characters. It's even more astounding to find you can play any of these in the training mode. If the game lets itself down at all, it's in its appearance. Probe have maybe bitten off slightly more than they can chew with the digitise dlook on a 16-bit format.

The sprites come across well, but often the backdrops look a little too grey and dark, even grainy. However, the game looks better and better and the playability is never in doubt. It's not quite pacey enough to be called a platform beat-'em-up, but Batman Forever strides genres and offers the sort of ingenuity that successful 16-bit game have to possess nowadays.

I initially found this a bit unwelcoming - everything is a bit dark and gloomy and the figures themselves seem dwarfed by their surroundings, but isn't that what Batman's all about? Once I got over these niggles, however, I was hooked.

If nothing else, Batman Forever is a film of spectacular set-pieces and the game follows suit with some clever recreations. Check out the Riddler's giant cylindrical lair where you have to see through hundreds of swirling question marks to check where your punches have landed. I've never seen anything quite like it.

The quality of figures like Batman, Robin, Two-Face, the Riddler and the various heavies is also an attraction, though quite why the Boy Wonder is wearing his costume from the '60s television series is a bit of a puzzle.

All in all, Batman Forever is great stuff, and clearly the work of people who haven't let an expensive licence get in the way of writing a top game. In fact, this is a good deal more entertaining than the film it's based upon.

Graphics 81%
P. A lot of thought and variety.
N. Dark and grainy in places, especially early on.

Animation 87%
P. The enemies look great fighting, and the range of animation is weak.

Music 78%
P. Quite a weak area of the game that doesn't come close to the fantastic film soundtrack.

Effects 76%
P. The beat-'em-up effects are okay.
N. The vocal samples are of very poor quality.

Playability 90%
P. The game covers all bases, with other aims beyond just fighting.
N. A little slow in sections.

Lastability 89%
P. The main game is very tough, and the training mode assures the game has a healthy life.

Overall 90%
Very brave as film licences go to attempt something this ambitious. The end result: Batman Forever is a considerable success.