Batman: Arkham Asylum

The island was chosen on purpose. In a city someone could help Batman, or he could retreat to the Batcave, while the asylum leaves him nowhere to go. The Batmobile is in the game, but you never get to drive it, since there would not have been time to build that.

The script is by Paul Dini, one of the writers of Batman: The Animated Series, and as in the show, Batman and the Joker are voiced by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Reviewers singled out Hamill for praise.

Combat was one of the toughest parts. It started as a rhythm game, then became a 2D mock-up of colored circles crashing into each other, and the final system grew out of that.

The game held the Guinness World Record for the most critically acclaimed superhero game. Many reviewers disliked the boss fights, the final one most of all. The Scarecrow fear-toxin hallucinations, where the game plays tricks on the player, drew near-unanimous praise. Players leave 96% positive out of 63,121 reviews, critics give it 91 on Metacritic. By our Recommended Score it is #45 of 4,736 games.

Liked it? Next, try Batman: Arkham City, where the asylum gives way to a prison district of Gotham, and Batman: Arkham Knight, where you finally get behind the wheel of the Batmobile.