Welcome to the latest episode of Past Games, a Patreon-exclusive monthly series that uncovers the histories of 2026's biggest and most consequential gaming anniversaries. New episodes premiere on the first Monday of each month.
This Month on Past Games: The History of Batman Games
Act 1: The Sloppy Early Years of Batman Games
Act 2: The Origins of Batman: Arkham Games
Act 3: The Rise, Fall, and Maybe Return of Batman Games
Guests:
Chris Panella: defense reporter and author of the upcoming Batman: Arkham City for Boss Fight Books
Act 1: The Sloppy Early Years of Batman Games
List of video games featuring Batman (Wiki)
Boss Fight Books (https://bossfightbooks.com)
Chris Panella (Bluesky)
Why is the Arkham series the exception rather than the norm? (IGN)
Batman (1986) (Wiki)
Batman 4K Walkthrough, 1986, ZX Spectrum, RZX Archive (theAlfest/YouTube)
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy review - breezy but unfocused action (Eurogamer)
DCAU (Wiki)
Jim Lee (Wiki)
Batman: Return of the Joker (NES) Playthrough (NintendoComplete on YouTube)
BATMAN (1989) The Video Games - Retrospective / Review (Oliver Harper on YouTube)
Batman (1989): Mass Marketing a Superhero (Medium)
Batman: The Dark Knight (video game) (Wiki)
Batman's Cancelled The Dark Knight Game - Unseen64 (Did You Know Gaming/YouTube)
Canceled Dark Knight Batman Game by Monolith (2009–2010) (Batman Arkham Videos/YouTube)
Creating The Ultimate Post-9/11 Allegory: The Dark Knight on Risk and Terror (Like Stories of Old on YouTube)
Lego Batman review (Eurogamer)
LEGO Batman Review (IGN)
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (Wiki)
Act 2: The Origins of Batman: Arkham Games
Urban Chaos: Riot Response Review (GameSpot)
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (Wiki)
Batman: The Animated Series (JustWatch)
Batman: The Animated Series (IMDB)
Arleen Sorkin, actor who inspired and originated Harley Quinn, dead at 67 (Business Insider)
Why Did So Many Unreal Engine 3 Games Look So 'Wet'? (DF Clips on YouTube)
The History Of The Word "Metroidvania" And How It Spread (Critical Kate (of A Critical Hit!))
Act 3: The Rise, Fall, and Maybe Return of Batman Games
Batman: Arkham Asylum review (Eurogamer)
Batman: Arkham City review (GamesRadar)
Batman: Arkham City – review (The Guardian)
Escape from New York (JustWatch)
Batman: Arkham Origins Review (IGN)
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (IGN)
Batman: Arkham Knight review: the good fight (Polygon)
Batman: Arkham Knight review – a richly empowering comic book fantasy (The Guardian)
Batman: Arkham Knight Review (GameSpot)
How to Play the Batman Arkham Games in Chronological Order (IGN)
Batman: Arkham VR (IGN)
Batman: Arkham Shadow (IGN)
Gotham Knights Review (IGN)
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Review (GameInformer)
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Review (GameInformer)
Bubsy and Batman? Bodacious! (The Resties on Patreon)