Pretty good action-platformer in the vein of Metroid but not as tight. Sadly overlooked, like the series is based on.
This review contains spoilers
I remember loving this game as a kid, and so I re-visited it as an adult. Once I set my nostalgia aside I realized the game was a typical arcade-ish video game released back in the 90s. I did not care for it much, so after playing around with the game for a little bit I realized it was not so straight forward in progressing the story and put in a code to get to the end of the game. Fighting the final boss wasn't too bad until the last phase where you have to stand on top of it as it continues to rise up with acid following behind it. It was very frustrating and I ended up losing to it. The start of the last phase where the final boss starts rising up happens so fast that unless you know the certain platforms you are standing on fall off happen you just die.
I didn't know this character, but this was a weird, interesting game.
Stiff purple spandex Metroid.
I'm sure being into the TV series helped along my interest for the game back when it was fresh. The graphics are great and there are a few bangers in the soundtrack.
I'm sure being into the TV series helped along my interest for the game back when it was fresh. The graphics are great and there are a few bangers in the soundtrack.
This is a great game that plays sorta like Metroid, if it were faster paced. I'm a big fan of The Phantom comics and the Phantom 2040 show, so this was a great surprise. Usually games based off of tv shows or comic books from this time sucked, but this one is a gem. The SNES version is good too, but I prefer the music in the Genesis game, and I like the controller more. Still, either version of the game is a winner in my book.
This is from an era of action games I like to refer to as Tall Platformers, where all of the characters are huge as to suggest importance and dynamics in the visuals. Games like Generations Lost, the two Genesis X-Men games, and this. Of all of the retro revival stuff, I feel like the Tall Platformer has been left largely untouched in favor of things like Metroid and Castlevania. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
I don't know if this game is a good or bad thing. I do know that when I was a child I thought this game was endless and couldn't be beaten. Even for games of this era, when you look up a full playthrough of this game it takes quite a while longer than most of it's contemporaries. For example, one of those tall platformers I played recently was X-Men 2: Clone Wars. A full playthrough of that on youtube is 47 minutes. A full playthrough of Phantom 2040 is over three hours. For these old games, that's a fuckin while! No wonder I thought this game lasted forever, it comparatively does.
I still can't tell you if it's good, just that I liked it and maybe one day I'll beat it.
I don't know if this game is a good or bad thing. I do know that when I was a child I thought this game was endless and couldn't be beaten. Even for games of this era, when you look up a full playthrough of this game it takes quite a while longer than most of it's contemporaries. For example, one of those tall platformers I played recently was X-Men 2: Clone Wars. A full playthrough of that on youtube is 47 minutes. A full playthrough of Phantom 2040 is over three hours. For these old games, that's a fuckin while! No wonder I thought this game lasted forever, it comparatively does.
I still can't tell you if it's good, just that I liked it and maybe one day I'll beat it.
Never actually watched the Phantom cartoon this is based off of, but it clearly is inspired by Batman TAS. Nice full circle influence there, as Batman was inspired by the Phantom comic strip in the first place.
This game is pretty damn ambitious for the time. I feel like if it actually was a Batman game then it would have been remembered more fondly. You basically have a bunch of gadgets, which you collect by searching them out; starting out you can already cling to walls and climb up them, swing from ceilings, and you also have a gun, more akin to Metroid.
It's essentially a Metroidvania, except all the areas are split up on a selectable map screen and not interconnected, but it also has a branching narrative on top of it. Biggest flaw is figuring out what you need to do next, a guide might be a necessity; as a kid, aimless wandering didn't really get me anywhere at all.
Soundtrack is a bit odd with those SNES guitar midi sounds used a lot.
This game is pretty damn ambitious for the time. I feel like if it actually was a Batman game then it would have been remembered more fondly. You basically have a bunch of gadgets, which you collect by searching them out; starting out you can already cling to walls and climb up them, swing from ceilings, and you also have a gun, more akin to Metroid.
It's essentially a Metroidvania, except all the areas are split up on a selectable map screen and not interconnected, but it also has a branching narrative on top of it. Biggest flaw is figuring out what you need to do next, a guide might be a necessity; as a kid, aimless wandering didn't really get me anywhere at all.
Soundtrack is a bit odd with those SNES guitar midi sounds used a lot.