Finishing Up with Batman Returns & Checking Out Lethal Weapon (Greg and James Beat 'Em Up!, Ep. 84)
000:00 Beginning (Theme Song by James!)
07:00 Batman Returns (NES; 1993; Konami)
1:42:40 Lethal Weapon (NES; 1993; Eurocom Developments Ltd.)
We spend a lot more time with Batman Returns (NES) in this episode, getting past the Organ Grinder and coming close to the end of the game before we decide its time to move on.
Two things I didn't mention last time are worth noting! First, the game has an excellent progression system: unlimited continues with passwords for each level, with a continue setting you back to the beginning of the level. You've got to put in the work to beat the stages to advance through the game (and they're challenging stages!), but you don't need to constantly start over from the beginning. It's a nice balance that makes for a great single-player console beat 'em up experience! Second, and less significantly, the game's minor forays into side-scrolling vehicular combat levels are a fun diversion that doesn't detract from the experience.
This is a superb late-era NES game, and a great contribution to the genre! *VERDICT*: BOSS Tier!
Then, we check out a game that we fully expect to suck: Lethal Weapon for NES! This turns out to be better than its Game Boy counterpart, so congratulations to the game for being a slightly more appealing pile of reeking garbage!
The core gameplay is similar to the Game Boy game: sloppy, barely-a-beat-'em-up fisticuffs alongside bits of sloppy shooting, an inexplicable decision to let a single player tag-team between Murtaugh and Riggs instead of letting a second player get involved, and a complete lack of thought given to level/encounter/challenge design. It is, at least, funny to watch the Lethal Weapon boys bring down helicopters with very little effort. We don't spend much time with this. *VERDICT*: GOON Tier!
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Greg and James Beat 'Em Up is our ongoing exploration of the beat 'em up genre! Broadcast on any Tuesday evening where schedules and Greg's health allow at https://twitch.tv/58DreamStreet
In Phase One, we played 40 "notable or notable-adjacent" beat 'em ups released through the year 1993!
Now, in Phase Two, we're playing the NINETY-EIGHT other beat 'em ups released through the year 1993!
Theme Song composed by James, using Famitracker!