Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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0:00 Intro
3:34 Stage 1
7:36 Boss
9:04 Boss Clear
9:32 Prologue

INFO & DOWNLOAD pyronslair.itch.io/batman-returns-md
TRAILER youtube.com/watch?v=pq0S5wBPkF0
VIDEO youtube.com/watch?v=MoaCc73YWFQ
MUSIC youtube.com/watch?v=dszAAkP6D5U

This is a playthrough of the recently released demo for a Mega Drive version of Konami's Batman Returns, side by side with the SNES original.

The demo was released last month, no doubt everyone has already seen it, played it, recorded videos about it, but being a huge fan of the film I couldn't help but do my own upload, as redundant as it may be. If there's still things that bring a nostalgic smile to this soul, Burton's Batman is among them.

A bit late to the party because the last few years I almost never watch youtube, the retro scene, or anything game-related really, the unpleasantries of life change things forever, so this was a pleasant surprise when I saw a link posted by a member in the Batman-Online forum.

Having played the SNES game to death, the gameplay is translated flawlessly. All of Batman's familiar moves are here. Throwing enemies to walls and the double head smash are as satisfying as ever, plus the cape sweep (which costs some energy) and the flying attack are still helpful. The only things missing are the Batarang, the grapple attack and test tubes, but they were possibly not a priority (plus, other than the test tube for bosses and the batarang for bikes, I don't remember using them often).

There's a few differences which gives this more of an arcade feel - gameplay is faster and enemies tend to be more aggressive. Their number is greater too and the player is quickly swarmed by members of the Red Triangle Circus gang. It's slightly more challenging than the "Mania" difficulty on the SNES but the larger playing area due to MD's wider screen resolution helps a lot, plus Batman's grab on enemies lasting longer balances things.

Add to this a 2 player mode which was sorely (but understandably) missing from the SNES. Gameplay footage shown here obviously uses the same input for both players.

Of course which version is better is subjective - the version shown here isn't a complete port but a demo.

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The only downside is that according to its makers they don't have the intention of finishing it. This isn't a demo for a full port of the SNES game, more like a proof of concept demonstrating that it could be done. This is understandable, I am not a programmer but I can only fathom the amount of work required for a product so polished. If I am perfectly honest, I would love if this was a demo for more things to come, but one can't have it all. Here's hoping something more is done with it, at least a few more levels and music. So much potential.

The demo also includes the Prologue and Intro - the Intro is accompanied by a Mega Drive arrangement of the SNES music (itself an adaptation of Elfman's Main Titles), while the Prologue has an original track which my guess was it's a placeholder until Birth of A Penguin had its MD rendition. Still a very good and moody track which somehow fits the gloomy ambience of Batman Returns. How Sunsoft's original tracks created for their Batman 1989 games didn't incorporate Elfman's themes, yet fit the film's style and tone. Something like that. (Edit: I feel silly for not knowing the music is Bonus Table 6 from Dragon's Fury/ Devil Crush - that game has some great 16-bit music and visuals, but never really was into pinball games).

The in-game music is obviously a MD version of the first stage from Konami's SNES game Batman: The Animated Series (renamed as The Adventures of Batman & Robin prior to release to coincide with the show's title change). A good match as Batman Animated for SNES shares some staff credits with Batman Returns, plus the Animated Series debuted a few months after Batman Returns and took inspiration/ shared some aesthetics with Tim Burton's Batman films. This track, also implementing Shirley Walker's Batman theme alongside Elfman's, is maybe more fitting as a "celebration of Batman" compared to the "The Lair", heard in the SNES version.

Anyway, having played the SNES game a million times, this demo felt very familiar, and very fresh all the same, it hits every Nostalgic button and I hope there are more levels when, and if, they intend to do so.
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I am pretty sure these unwarranted dislikes might have to do with this wall of text (4600/5000 characters) serving as a video description. Or not.

If you hit that dislike button, please state why in the comments, it's more constructive.