The game is a left-to-right scrolling fighter beat 'em up, a genre that was featured heavily on the console at the time. The gameplay and graphics are very similar to the Super Famicom port of Final Fight.[1] The game takes the player through seven scenes featured in the film.[1] Each scene has a boss fight that Batman must win in order to proceed to the next scene. Scene 1 takes place in Gotham's Plaza, where Batman fights numerous Red Triangle Circus gangsters and saves Selina Kyle from the Stungun Clown who took her hostage. In Scene 2, Batman fights the Circus gang throughout Gotham City's Streets, facing the Tattooed Strongman as the boss. Climbing on the rooftops of Scene 3, Batman encounters Catwoman, who escapes to an abandoned building where Penguin's setting a trap for Batman, but he manages to take on Catwoman and Penguin on Scene 4. In Scene 5, Batman drives the Batmobile and uses a machine gun to destroy Penguin's Campaign Van. Moving to Scene 6, Batman goes to the Circus Train and defeats Penguin's right-hand man, the Organ Grinder. Penguin escapes to the abandoned Arctic World on Scene 7, where Batman destroys his Duck Vehicle and ultimately gains the upper hand on Penguin once and for all. Meanwhile, Catwoman escapes and watches as Batman gets called for another adventure. Various members of the Red Triangle Circus Gang attack Batman throughout the game. Batman has a number of weapons and moves at his disposal, including the batarang. A number of levels are two-dimensional platform levels as opposed to the majority of the pseudo-3D levels where freer movement is permitted.[citation needed]
Scary Larry of GamePro gave the game a perfect score, singling out praise for the visuals, animations, score and adjustable difficulty level.[3]
Super Gamer gave an overall score of 90%. They praised the soundtrack, graphics and gameplay, and called it one of the "finest scrolling beat 'em ups".[4]
In 2018, Complex placed the game 97th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". They also praised the game being a good translation from the movie and described the game as a "beat-em-up gem".[5] Nintendo Power ranked Batman Returns the eighth best SNES game of 1993.[6] In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their top 25 "Best Beat 'Em Ups of All Time" list.[7]
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