Bat Boy

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Bat Boy is a Platformer released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In this game, players take the role of the titular Bat Boy, a baseball-themed superhero character who is the sole surviving member of his sports-themed hero group when a magician from another dimension brainwashes and kidnaps the others. Naturally, he follows the group, seeking to rescue his friends.

The presentation in Bat Boy makes use of some really attractive 2D pixel art visuals that evoke the 8-Bit era of videogames with colorful, expressive visuals with some great character designs and an overall excellent visual style. This is backed by a really excellent chiptune soundtrack, with good examples including Grassy Plains, Windy Forest, Cape of Izth, and Ivory Palace, to point to a few.

When it comes to the gameplay, I don’t think any reviewer can talk about this game in good faith without mentioning Shovel Knight, because there is absolutely no way that Bat Boy wasn’t inspired at least in part by Shovel Knight. The platforming and combat is excellent here, but this is further heightened by some really creative abilities you gain as you progress through the game and level mechanics that make full use of them, starting with a spinning jump attack move players can use to bounce off of enemies (similar to Shovel Knight’s downward strike or Duck Tales’ cane pogo), with additional moves you gain acting both as an attack and as a new way to move around, and in some really fun ways that chain together as well.

There’s a world map that gradually opens up here too in a manner similar to Shovel Knight’s, only allowing access to a few new levels at any given time, with occasional peaceful areas with shops and such as well.

Where Bat Boy perhaps falls a bit short compared to Shovel Knight is in its depth and malleability. You don’t have a massive variety of upgrades that you can swap in and out, nor the same huge amount of secrets. In fact, Bat Boy is overall a shorter game, clocking in at an estimated 4 hours compared to Shovel Knight’s 6-8 hours.

While Bat Boy may not be quite as ambitious as Shovel Knight, the fact that I’m even comparing the two games should tell you something about Bat Boy’s quality – this is an outstanding Platformer with great control, some really creative gameplay mechanics and level design, and a wonderful presentation. If you enjoy faux retro Platformers and especially if you enjoy Shovel Knight, consider this game a must-have.

tl;dr – Bat Boy is a Platformer where players take the role of a baseball-themed superhero trying to rescue the brainwashed members of his sports-themed hero group. This is an outstanding Platformer in the vein of Shovel Knight with creative game mechanics and level design and a delightful presentation. If you enjoy faux retro Platformers, consider this one a must-have.

Grade: A-

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