Batman (arcade)/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 4-way joystick to direct Batman left and right, crouch, and look up; on the second, fifth, and seventh stages, it is used to direct the crosshair cursor of the Batmobile (or the Batwing, in the case of the seventh stage) around the screen, even though the vehicles are always moving.
 * Attack Button: Use this button to make Batman punch the enemies, spin-kick (or swing-kick, if under a low structure) them at close range, or throw an instance of his current weapon at them; for the second, fifth and seventh stages, it is used to make the Batmobile (or Batwing, for the case of the seventh one) fire shots at the Grissom cars, the Joker's cars or the Joker's helicopters (on Stages 2 and 5, the red and blue cars are indestructible).
 * Jump Button: Use this button to make Batman jump; if it is used in conjunction with pushing the joystick up or down he will jump up to the platform above him (unless it is too high for him to reach, in which case he shall have to collect a Batrope and fire one of its shots up to reach it) or down to the one below him. Also, if it is used in conjunction with pushing the joystick left or right while he is facing an enemy he shall knee them in the face.

Batman
The protagonist of the game; in his first arcade outing (save for his cameo appearances hiding in oil drums in Konami's Manhattan 24 Bunsho in 1986), he must save Gotham City from the Joker (who was previously the gangster Jack Napier, but he got mutated after falling into a vat of toxic waste at the Axis Chemical Plant!). He can either punch, spin-kick or swing-kick at close range, drop down on, or throw weapons he collects at the enemies to attack them (and they take between one and eight hits to kill, apart from the Joker himself, who takes even more to be forced to retreat in every fight against him before the final battle!) - and he can also collect Bat-Symbols for extra energy (he starts with three hits, and as he collects more, a number will appear on the Bat-Symbol representing his current life in the bottom-left corner) but he will die immediately if he runs out of time before reaching the stage's next checkpoint, falls into a vat of toxic waste (or into a hole) or falls too great a distance (indicated by pushing the joystick left or right having no effect while falling). He shall also receive an extra life at every 75000 points by default but this can be changed to every 50000 points, every 100000 points or even disabled altogether; he starts with either two, three, four, or five lives, but it's also possible to insert another coin into the cabinet to start with between six and thirteen lives (depending on how the cabinet has been set). As mentioned on the previous page he will also not lose any remaining instances of his current weapon if he dies and gets resurrected - and this may be useful for both Batarangs and Gas Grenades.