They flew to London to understand what they were making — before they made a single frame of it.
Most licensed games of 1990 were a transaction: take the name, fill a box, ship before Christmas. Sunsoft refused that logic. The company's founder, Masami Maeda, had built a culture where precision was non-negotiable — where, in his words, you treat every screw as though it were worth ten thousand yen. When Sunsoft acquired the Batman licence for 150 million yen, they sent their development staff to Tim Burton's set in London before a single sprite was drawn. They wanted to understand what the film was — its atmosphere, its weight, its peculiar darkness — not merely to reference it. The Game Boy is a small machine. Five stages, a few bosses, four channels of sound. But the people who made this cartridge had stood in that film's world before they tried to put it into yours.
— inspired by Masami Maeda
About this game
Batman: The Video Game is a 1990 Game Boy action platformer developed and published by Sunsoft, arriving in the wave of tie-ins to Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. Where most licensed games of the era were hurried products that borrowed a name and little else, Sunsoft's approach was different: they secured the Batman rights for 150 million yen and sent development staff to visit Tim Burton's London set before a pixel was drawn. The result was a Game Boy game with its own level design, enemies, and boss encounters — not a port of the NES version — that sold more than 500,000 copies by December 1990. It remains one of the strongest arguments that a licensed game can carry genuine craft.
Key Features
Entirely original level design distinct from the NES and Genesis versions — Sunsoft built a separate game for each platform. Batman uses a Batarang as a primary projectile and a grappling hook for vertical traversal. Five stages following the 1989 film's narrative: Gotham City streets, Axis Chemical Factory, Flugelheim Museum, Batwing aerial combat, and Gotham Cathedral leading to the final confrontation with the Joker. Four-channel Game Boy audio with a soundtrack considered one of the stronger compositions for the hardware.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Tim Burton's Batman (1989) was among the highest-grossing films of its decade, and game publishers competed fiercely for the rights across every available platform. Sunsoft paid 150 million yen for the Batman licence and sent development staff to visit the London film set before production began — an investment in fidelity that was unusual for the era. Their NES version was widely regarded as one of the finest action games on that platform, and the Game Boy version, released in the console's first full year of availability in 1990, maintained that standard on handheld hardware. Sunsoft's willingness to build original games for each platform rather than porting one version across all of them is part of what distinguished their licensed output from the industry norm.
Tricks & Tales
Sunsoft developed entirely separate Batman games for the NES, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis — three distinct games, not ports of one another. The Game Boy version was produced by largely the same staff who made the NES game, bringing that project's experience to the handheld format. The game's soundtrack, composed for the Game Boy's four-channel audio, is frequently cited alongside Sunsoft's NES work as an example of the developer's attention to sound design even under hardware constraints. The game sold over 500,000 copies in North America by December 1990 — within its first six months of release.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
The Game Boy is region-free: a Japanese Batman cartridge plays on any Game Boy hardware worldwide, and vice versa. Content is equivalent across regional versions — only the label and packaging language differ. The game also runs on a Game Boy Advance; if the image looks stretched there, hold Select and press Start to restore the original proportions. Complete boxed copies with box and manual are more desirable for collectors than loose cartridges alone.
Maintenance Tips
Batman cartridges contain no save battery — there is nothing inside that degrades beyond the contacts themselves. If the game is not being read, wipe the gold pins gently and lengthwise with a cotton swab dampened in 90%-or-higher isopropyl alcohol, then let them dry before playing. Never blow into the slot: the moisture in breath corrodes the contacts you are trying to help, and that damage compounds over decades. For storage, keep the cartridge away from direct sunlight and heat — the grey plastic of a 1990 Game Boy cartridge will yellow from UV exposure over time, and once that change sets in it cannot be undone.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Batman: The Video Game copies regularly.
Does Batman for Game Boy have a save battery I need to worry about?
No — Batman has no internal save feature and no battery inside the cartridge. The game is designed to be completed in one session, much like the arcade experiences that influenced it. There is nothing inside that ages or fails; the cartridge simply holds the game ROM, and it will read the same way decades from now. What you are buying is complete as it is.
Does it matter whether I buy the Japanese or North American version?
Not for gameplay. The Game Boy has no region lock, so the Japanese cartridge — titled Batman (バットマン) — plays on any Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, or Game Boy Advance anywhere in the world. The game itself is identical between regions; only the label and packaging language differ. If you play on a Game Boy Advance and the image appears stretched, hold Select and press Start to return it to its original proportions.
My Batman cartridge isn't starting — what should I do?
The contacts are almost always the cause. Wipe the gold pins gently along their length with a cotton swab dampened in 90%-or-higher isopropyl alcohol, then let them dry fully before trying again. Please don't blow into the cartridge — breath moisture corrodes the very contacts you are trying to clean, and that damage accumulates quietly over time. Batman cartridges are now over thirty years old, and a careful clean is usually all they need.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Batman: The Video Game
A short checklist for buying a used Game Boy cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Good news — Game Boy is region-free
Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges are not region-locked, so a Japanese copy plays on any Game Boy worldwide.
Just confirm the hardware family — original GB, Color, or Advance — matches the cartridge.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Batman: The Video Game sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
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