There are four playable characters in the game, all accessible from the outset. Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing can all be used. All four go through the same levels, and the story is the same for each. They all play slightly differently, and have different combos and moves. Batman and Nightwing are slower but more powerful, while Robin and Batgirl are faster but less powerful. The difference is certainly noticeable. Most players will opt for Batman on their first time through, and at first he almost seems lethargic. Punches and kicks are measured and timed, with some quite noticeable breaks in shifting from some moves. Switch to Batgirl and the difference is immediately clear, almost as if a speed cheat were being used. Combos can be strung together well, and moving around is quite easy. Where Batman can quite often get caught in the middle of a group of thugs and have to muscle his way out, Batgirl is quite often nimble enough not to get caught in the middle.

Fighting in the game is fairly easy to pick up. Almost too easy as buttton-mashers will be able to survive at the easier difficulties. Attacks are made with a combination of punch, kick and grab buttons, while defence is through either the block or roll buttons. In addition a small number of Bat gadgets have been put into the game for use in combat. Starting with a Batarang, players can unlock five further gadgets throughout the game. They are all reasonably useful in combat, and changing between them is done fairly simply with the right analogue stick.

Following the trend of many recent action games Batman features a ratings system that charts how well the player is doing with each attack. Starting from a 'fair' rating up to a 'perfect' rating the results are displayed at the end of each level. These then contribute to a total number of points that can be used to buy extra combo attacks and bat gadgets. Not exactly groundbreaking, but it does push the player to improve and vary their performance during a level. Unfortunately there is no overall rating for the level. In other games with this rating system an overall rating is given, so that the player can gauge how they are doing or play through the level again to try to improve the rating. That would have been good to see here.

Not only can the points be used to upgrade attacks, they can also purchase tokens. These tokens can then be used to unlock one of the many bonuses available. 3D models of characters and models in the game, pictures of Batman toys, concept artwork and even the covers and a few pages of dozens of graphic novels can all be unlocked. There is a fantastic range here for the Batman fan, and a fine example of what unlockables should be about in a game like this. A lot of effort will need to be put in by the player to unlock them all though. All of the unlockables are grouped by difficulty level. Getting some tokens in an easy difficulty game will allow the player to unlock bonuses in the easy difficulty grouping for instance. There is even a set of bonuses that can only be unlocked by playing the two player mode. It's an interesting way to let players unlock bonuses, and certainly promotes multiple plays of the game. Even so it may be a little too much work for some.

The levels in Batman are of a fairly simplistic design. In general large corridors of space, whether they be inside or outside, channel the player to the next part of the level. No exploration is needed, and there are no secret areas that can be accessed. Even when the scenery could provide a different path to take, such as an open door, the way is blocked by an invisible wall. There is a fair amount of detail within the levels and particularly impressive is the use of shadows. Both internal and external light sources can cause shadows and these are cast off not only the characters in the game but also the scenery. This is a very nice effect in a stage like the prison, where a cell light casts a shadow through the bars, and then casts shadows on any characters as they move near. Other effects, such as the use of smoke, are done just as well.

Within the areas that are accessible by the player there are a large number of moveable and breakable objects. These include things like chairs, plants and boxes, and even explosive barrels. These can be picked up and used as weapons by both the player and the enemies. In addition immovable objects that litter the playing area react to the action. Kick an opponent into a magazine stand and the stand crumples while the magazines fly everywhere.

The levels are grouped together to form four basic parts to the game. Each part is concluded with the boss battle. In the levels leading up to that battle the enemies are all part of that particular gang, of which there are 3 or 4 variations of the same type of thug. Each thug will have their own sort of main attack. Some will be better attacking from a distance while others are better with melee attacks. On their own they can be dealt with quite easily, but generally they will attack in groups and become quite dangerous as part of a pack. The skill is then in trying to deal with multiple enemies at once and manouvre around so as not to get surrounded. After a while though the thugs blend into each other and become quite similar, with differing tactics not really needed for each type. The four bosses in the game are not the most famous bosses from Batman folklore either. Those were mostly used up in the Batman Vengeance game by the same developers. Here we get old villians like Scarecrow, Clayface, Bane and of course the newest villian Sin Tzu. All require different tactics to beat. Unfortunately once their pattern of movement is found and how to defeat them discovered the battles become less exciting.

One part of the level design that is reasonably annoying is the existence of invisible walls. The game is designed to give the player a certain number of enemies in each section and then let the player move on once these are defeated. Until the enemies are defeated the player cannot move past a certain point. This type of game design stems from 2D games, where this was not as visible. In 3D games however it does become noticeable. Most games get around this by having a door or similar object blocking the way until the requisite actions have been taken, so that the player doesn't notice. In Batman this has not been done. Instead invisible walls block the path of the player until the enemies are killed. Then the wall disappears. Even more annoying is the fact that the enemies can go through the wall, so if the player kicks them through it they must wait until the enemy returns to the right side of the wall to continue beating on them.

With only 12 levels in all and no unlockable levels Batman does end up being quite a short game, completed in only a few hours. The focus though seems to be on replayability and completing the game once only seems to be the start of things. With four playable characters, each different enough to be distinguishable, and four difficulty levels there is a lot of play here for those that enjoy this type of game. Also extending the lifetime of the game are the two player game and the challenge modes. The two player game is a cooperative mode, with two characters going through the story. There are even 'buddy' combo moves that can be bought for the two characters to perform. Even better is the ability to switch from a two player to a singleplayer game within the same story, so it is not always necessary to have someone to play with. It's a great addition, and certainly adds something to a game that does get quite tough at the higher levels of difficulty.

The Challenge mode is an addition to the basic Story mode. In it the player takes a character and tries to complete certain challenges, such as defeating 50 enemies with the one life. The best scores are recorded here, so that trying to beat the best score becomes the objective. Two players can also play in this mode, either in a couple of cooperative modes or in two versus modes.

One curious aspect of the design of the game is the timing of cutscenes. Cutscenes are usually present at the beginning of each level. When a level is completed the results screen appears, new combos can be purchased and the game can be saved. Once this is done the game leads straight into the next cutscene. Curiously if the player decides to stop playing after saving the cutscene is lost. When they return to playing the game will skip ahead to the level without ever showing the cutscene. The player would then need to go back to the gallery to view the cutscene separately. In theory if players took a break between each level they could go through the game and miss all the cutscenes. Rather unfortunate design we think.

One of the hardest parts of a game to get right is the camera system and in this respect Batmen does not do too bad a job. The camera is basically fixed view depending on where the character is standing. This does cause some blind spots, although the immediate area around the character is generally visible. Even so there are some areas at the edge of a level where the enemy will be fighting past the edge, so the player does not actually see them. Having a moveable camera system would have fixed this, although that would have meant a control configuration change. The problems seem to multiply in a two player game, and good communication between players is required to keep all the action clearly visible.

The whole look and sound of the game is in the style of the recent TV cartoon series Batman of the Future, even including some of the same cast members from that series. It is a very stylised look and one that is portrayed well here. Both the cut-scenes and the in game action sit beside each other well. The sound and the music play well against this background. This is unmistakeably a Batman game, and fans will love to be in this world.