Before the Teenage Merchandising Totals there was Batman, the original Hero of Hype. This is the second of his 3 Ocean games (sandwiched between 3D and The Movie) with 2 separate scenarios and the action laid out in comic strip panels. Depending on which side you load, you're either trying to foil The Penguin's latest world domination plot, or else out to congratulate The Joker on disposing of that irritating git who's been tagginf along with you for years... (what? Oh, sorry)... or else out to apprehend The Joker to free your kidnapped buddy. (Ahem.)

Whichever baddy you're up against, the basic idea is to traipse around Gotham City, biffing the villain's henchmen while solving puzzles. These often have clues in the panels' captions, and their difficulty level is more 'afternoon gameshow' than 'Don Priestley' (use the torch in the dark room etc). Graphics are crisp, there's a snappy title tune, and as you'd expect from top programmer Jonathan Smith, you couldn't get this game more polished if your name was Mr Sheen. The best of the Batgame trio (3D was too silly, The Movie too serious), it has a nice line in humour and oozes playability. In short, the spankiest comic conversion since Dan Dare and a des res in barg city.