Whilst I don’t profess to being an avid comic book fan, this week I found out that two of my favorite childhood memories, Ghostbusters and Batman both have new games coming out on the Xbox 360 console.
I’ll talk about Ghostbusters in the future, because that in itself is a entry on its own! The mythology, the impact it had on youth in the 80’s, the merchandise (ok I admit it, even I had the Ghostbuster Proton pack haha), the cartoon, the mainstream success it enjoyed – Ghostbusters really was a movement unto itself. After all, who doesn’t recognize the infamous Stay Puffy Marshmallow Man right? And to think, that was 25 years ago!
The folks over at IGN.com have posted a short teaser for a new Batman title, Arkham Asylum. Visually it looks jaw-dropping, and in the trailer below, the gameplay looks seriously top notch as well. On the surface and aesthetically, it looks to be more closely tied with the DC Comic books rather than the recent film franchise. (If you can’t see the clip below click here)
Least we forget Superman…a hack journalist during the day (Clarke Kent), who frequently went into a phonebox to get changed into his outfit, which was entirely comprised of his underpants being on the outside – awesome.
Maybe it’s just me, but for some rather amusing reason, Superman always conjures up images of this buff superhero gracefully gliding down from the sky, kitten in hand, returning it to the elderly lady on the street – Mr Bigglesworth, the mischievous moggy, freshly saved from a burning building.
At least Batman had some edge and depth about him. The duel life of being a billionaire, mingling with the upper echelon’s of society, then fighting crime in the streets of Gotham at night. The Batcave with all its amazing gadgets including the Batmobile! (Do Superman or Spiderman own a kick-ass car? My point exactly.), the classic yellow Batbelt with devices that allowed him to zip-line across buildings, or release smoke bombs on unsuspecting villains and finally the iconic Bat symbol in the sky – the cry of a city in peril to its most reliable vigilante.
As a kid, it all captured your imagination (for me anyway) in a manner that the other two never did. I mean, lord even the Batman movies are superior to their Spiderman and Superman counterparts.
Let’s hope the game lives up to expectations 
Alex
zombie_plan says:
The problem here is that you’re comparing three completely different characters on their superhero status. To be honest Batman is just a vigilante with far too much money. What makeshim unique is the psychological aspect of the man, whereas Spiderman for example juggles the teenage life with being a hotheaded superhero battling with his ego. You can’t sum one up as being better than the other because of the vast differences that make each universe.
Apart from that, good article
May 24, 2009, 5:26 PM