10 Best Batman Video Games of All Time

After nearly two decades, it has become clear beyond a shadow of a doubt Batman dominates the video game industry in terms of adaptations of superhero-inspired characters. Whether it’s a bug or not, seeing how DC games that don’t feature Batman in a playable role have crashed and burned or been canceled before they ever had a chance to succeed, though it’s also a testament to how influential and popular Batman games has been for many decades.

The Batman: Arkham The franchise alone is arresting because each entry is so unique, and thus each will have fans standing in its corner singing its praises. That applies to many not-Arkham Batman gametoo, and fans of the character and his 86-year-old mythological tapestry have a bountiful feast of games to enjoy, which can’t be said of other regular, high-profile DC characters.

10

Batman begins

batman begins key art — *Batman begins* key art.

Batman begins‘ video game adaptation is special as it marks the final licensed Warner Bros. Batman game. It captures the tone of the film wonderfully, has a fascinating fear mechanic and brilliantly emphasizes stealth, legacy Splint cells core gameplay ethos. Unfortunately a video game based on The Dark Knight was cancelled, marking the end of an era for these officially licensed film tie-ins.

9

Batman: The Telltale Series

Batman reveal key art — *Batman: The Telltale Series*.

Batman: The Telltale Series and its successor, Batman: The Enemy Withinpreceded a deeply tumultuous era for Telltale, one that has influenced the studio to this day. Regardless, Batman: The Telltale Series is supported by classic Telltale’s choice-based storytelling and gameplay influencing characters who would eventually become Batman’s rogues gallery.

8

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

lego batman 2 dc super heroes key art — *LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes* key art.

Except for the much celebrated Batman: Arkham games, few DC games have reached the same heights as those in Travellers’ tales LEGO Batman franchise. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is arguably the best of the trilogy, though there’s an argument to be made for that LEGO DC Super Villains beat all three and the future looks remarkably bright LEGO Batman play now.

7

Batman: Rise Of Sin Tzu

batman rise of sin tzu key art — *Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu* key art.

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu introduces a phenomenal new titular villain in a co-op-centric beat-’em-up game inspired by the design and portrayal of characters in The New Batman Adventures. Trash cans and other environmental objects are decidedly more overpowered than any gadget hurled by Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing (provided enemies don’t reach them first), and spending XP between levels on skill trees for multiple attacks and combo strings is exceptionally satisfying (even if all your XP is spent on various difficulty-locked trophies for bonus tokens).

Not unlike Resident Evil 5‘s co-op gameplay, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is infinitely more fun when played in co-op. Unfortunately, and somewhat bizarrely, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu only has two-player co-op, despite having four playable Bat-Family characters to choose from.

6

Batman: Arkham Origins

batman arkham origins key art — *Batman: Arkham Origins* key art.

For a long time, Batman: Arkham Origins—much less its 2.5D Metroidvania companion, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate—was the black sheep Batman: Arkham franchise because it was developed by WB Games Montréal, not Rocksteady. Its tissues and muscle fibers have Batman: Arkham City‘s skeletal frame to thank for holding his body together, but Batman: Arkham Origins more than proved his competence and worth in the series by presenting the Arkhamverse with its first truly major story.

Got another one Batman: Arkham the game’s feature Joker as its main villain wasn’t necessarily inspired, and yet Batman: Arkham Origins tells an excellent prequel origin story for the Joker and many other characters and villains in the rich history of the Arkhamverse. This was an unenviable and Herculean feat, with which it was executed surprisingly well Batman and Joker actors Roger Craig Smith and Troy Bakerrespectively, becoming natural successors to the roles played beautifully by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill.

5

LEGO Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight

lego batman legacy of the dark knight key art — *LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight* key art.

Because LEGO and Arkham titles are some of the most beloved Batman games of all time, it was a match made in heaven for LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight‘s gameplay to not only rest on LEGO game’s completion and collectibles oriented niche, but also leans heavily on Batman: Arkham the games’ signature and timeless formulas, including FreeFlow battles and Predator stealth encounters, as well as open-world traversal revolving around grapnel boosting and cape gliding.

However, it is unfortunate that one player always has to be Batman, while the other player can freely switch between Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing and Talia al Ghul. Likewise, Robin essentially becomes obsolete as a character once Nightwing is unlocked, and Talia, who only becomes playable at the end of the story, leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering how little she needs to complete all the side content on Gotham City’s neighboring islands. Still, it’s a crowning achievement for LEGO Batman game.

4

Batman: Vengeance

batman revenge key art — *Batman: Vengeance* key art.

Batman: Vengeance is immersed in The New Batman Adventures‘iconic art directionand its atmosphere is phenomenally bleak, and its original soundtrack is sublime. Its narrative takes countless twists and turns, starting with a woman named Mary (who is actually Harley Quinn in disguise), her son Toby (who is not real), and the alleged death of the Joker and has a large villain list.

Batman: VengeanceThe biggest moments of friction come from firing gadgets from a first-person perspective, especially during Mister Freeze’s boss fight, but it’s rewarding to have to take out enemies completely by handcuffing them when they’re taken down.

3

Batman: Arkham City

batman arkham city key art — *Batman: Arkham City* key art.

Without fully committing to an open-world Gotham City, the eponymous building erected to enclose Old Gotham in Batman: Arkham City provides an amazingly open world, and what it lacks in condensed size, it makes up for in having Riddler trophies or side content that saturate almost every dark, snowy alleyway. Batman: Arkham City‘s true highlight, however, is its boss battles, with Mr. Freeze, Ra’s al Ghul and Clayface’s are some of the best in the series.

Batman: Arkham City is indecisive about who it wants its main villain to be. Additionally, its narrative requires players to suspend their disbelief that Professor Hugo Strange has actually been given legal authority to dedicate a large chunk of Gotham to serial killers, rapists, and supervillains, allowing them to wreak havoc and organize into villain-led gangs (before Protocol 10 begins, anyway).

2

Batman: Arkham Shadow

batman arkham shadow key art — *Batman: Arkham Shadow* key art.

Anyone who considers themselves a die-hard fan of Batman: Arkham games miss out on one of the best installments if they have overlooked Batman: Arkham Shadowthe Meta Quest 3/3S exclusive VR game developed by Camouflaj. Not only is it a genuine Batman: Arkham game that belongs with the rest of its primary prequels and sequels, but its gameplay also inherits every gameplay nuance that fans love about the flat screen Batman: Arkham game.

It doesn’t take long Batman: Arkham enthusiasts’ muscle memories to come flooding back to their synapses as they begin to counter the attacks of unseen enemies, administer quick-punch beatdowns, or perform reverse takedowns from gargoyle sticks, before grabbing another gargoyle and planning how they’re going to dismantle the rest of the enemies in a room. Batman: Arkham Shadow also takes great care in tying its own original story to what’s already established in the Arkhamverse, has the best, most heartbreaking story of any Batman: Arkham game, and do for Blackgate Penitentiary what Batman: Arkham Asylum does for Arkham Asylum regarding its world building.

1

Batman: Arkham Asylum

batman arkham asylum key art — *Batman: Arkham Asylum* key art.

Atmosphere and world building are everything Batman: Arkham Asylum was responsible for i Batman: Arkham the franchise’s first entry, and what it achieved has obviously been unimaginably pivotal. It certainly helps that it was hoisted onto Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures‘ shoulders and had the animated show’s acting talent to augment its performances; perhaps Batman: Arkham AsylumHowever, the smartest decision took place exclusively on the enigmatic and harrowing Arkham Island.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is more or less a portrait of this new continuity’s interpretations of classic Batman villains. The Batman: Arkham the franchise’s villains are the definitive iterations of the characters, especially because of how significant and memorable the Riddler is throughout, and Batman: Arkham Asylum sensationally introduces a handful of them as players navigate archaic and haunted architecture.

Some fans may prefer the later Batman: Arkham games due to their open-world gameplay and side missions. Having said that, Batman: Arkham Asylum is so unique, claustrophobic and refined, and there is a low probability that any new Batman games arriving in the future, regardless of whether it is part of Batman: Arkham franchise or not, will ever amount to what Batman: Arkham Asylum have achieved.