Batman is one of the most iconic characters ever created and has been watching over us and our cities for more than 80 years. He debuted on home computers with an isometric 3D adventure developed by Ocean Software in 1986. Since then, many games saw Batman as a protagonist, facing emblematic foes, investigating terrible crimes, and protecting Gotham in many different ways: interactive adventures, side-scrolling beat-em-ups, fighting games, VR experiences, and thrilling action titles.
During the seventh generation of consoles, the gaming incarnations of the Dark Knight reached their peak, both in the gameplay and story respects. Because of that, this ranking features a slightly predictable great list of games.
10 The Adventures Of Batman & Robin
The list opens with a blast from the past. Based on the early nineties show Batman: The Animated Series aired from 1992 to 1995 on Fox Kids, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, available at the time both on SNES and Sega Genesis, is a platformer with action and adventure elements that let us use the most iconic Bat-Gadgets and face iconic villains ranging from Joker to Clayface. The game boasts an intriguing level design, but its clunkiness in its gameplay and slightly unresponsive controls cut Bruce Wayne’s cape in this list.
9 Batman: Arkham Origins
The prequel of the Arkham Trilogy and the last chapter of the franchise released on the seventh generation of home consoles, despite being a good game overall and having a few aces up its sleeve, is the weakest entry of the series.
The title boasts a great story and an immersive atmosphere that keeps the player engaged, but at the same time, it is too conservative and felt too much like 'more of the same' in terms of gameplay experience. The attempts to innovate are too shy, and the multiplayer mode is a bit sketchy.
8 Injustice: Gods Among Us
Injustice is one of the most intriguing twists of the DC Universe: Superman, fooled by the Joker, kills Lois Lane and becomes a tyrant villain in a dystopian story. Batman, in response, summons the Justice League from an alternative reality to start an epic superhero clash. Narratively speaking, Injustice: Gods Among Us is fascinating and gives the player a compelling story enriched by good acting. The title, unfortunately, doesn’t shine in its graphics and falls a bit short due to not-so-perfect gameplay. Rusty fight mechanics and the mildly unbalanced roster slightly impair the PVP experience.
7 Batman: The Telltale Series
Telltale Games acquired licenses to make point-and-click adventures where you could shape the story through multiple choices. After delivering both great games and below-average ones based upon some of the most popular geek IPs, including The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, Telltale Games decided to leave its mark on the Batman franchise.
Inspired by Jim Lee and Greg Capullo’s take on the Dark Knight, Telltale crafted an intriguing game with fascinating settings and well-drawn characters. However, the poor optimization, frame rate issues, and some narrative problems slightly compromised the game experience.
6 Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
The experience crafted by TT Games evolves the traditional humor of Lego video games by adding some witty dialogues that quote the Batman movie and its sequel, Batman Returns. The gameplay is simple in its mechanics and manages to bring to the table lots of fun, but it's slightly repetitive and offers a weightless challenge. All things considered, boasting a very broad roster of characters and stuff to do, it offers countless hours of gameplay for the whole family.
5 Batman: Enemy Within
The second entry and direct sequel of Batman: The Telltale Series does justice to the great DC superhero. Batman: Enemy Within, together with the final season of The Walking Dead, represented Telltale Games’ swansong before the studio closure on 11 October 2018.
Enemy Within fixed most of the flaws of the previous chapter, boasting a solid storytelling, an interesting take on the Joker’s origin story, and boosting the pace of the game with some thrilling action. Despite this, Enemy Within can only sit on the highest spot of the first half of this list.
4 Injustice 2
NetherRealm Studios, making good use of their experience with Gods Among Us and Mortal Kombat X, managed to deliver a sequel that pretty much overshadows its predecessor in every respect. From a technical point of view, Injustice 2 made a giant leap forward, and both its graphics and motion capture are top-notch. The single-player experience is probably one of the best ever made in the fighting game genre, but the character imbalances and small issues in combat flow anchor Injustice 2 to fourth place.
3 Batman: Arkham Knight
The last spot on the podium is taken by the crowning conclusion of the splendid trilogy that sees the Dark Knight face hordes of goons, old iconic villains, and Arkham Knight itself, a new interesting foe designed together with Geoff Johns of DC Comics.
Despite its years, the combat system still manages to deliver great fast-paced action, also thanks to Dual Play: a new mechanic that allows the player, in certain fights, to switch between Batman and one of his famous allies. Another pleasant surprise is the Batmobile, which introduces thrilling fights on the road, and immersive high-speed exploration.
2 Batman: Arkham Asylum
The first chapter of the Arkham Trilogy is a milestone that heavily influenced gaming due to its fighting mechanics: the so-called silk smooth Freeflow Combat, which laid the foundation for many action games. Even though the system has been improved in its direct sequel, Asylum deserves the credit for being a seminal game that delivered an ever-faithful Batman experience to every DC Comics fan. Boasting a perfectly crafted dark atmosphere -- notably the horrifying encounter with Scarecrow -- and stellar performances from the voice actors (especially the Joker), Arkham Asylum is still one of the best tie-in games ever made.
1 Batman: Arkham City
The masterpiece realized by Rocksteady Studios is simply the best superhero video game ever made and towers over the highest building of Gotham City and of this list. Batman: Arkham Asylum, the forefather of the series, bordered on perfection at the time, and making a worthy sequel seemed to be the toughest of challenges. Conversely, the second installment of the Arkham series surpassed, even if a little, its predecessor in every respect. Paul Dini and his colleagues wove a great story, capable of meeting the quality of critically acclaimed comic stories.