Triangle Batman: Arkham has long been a monument in the superhero game genre, a pioneer and an example for later games like Marvel’s Spider-Man to learn from. That’s why the news that the trilogy is about to be adapted Switchthe family’s favorite handheld system Nintendo, quickly received a warm welcome from gamers. However, the initial images of the game seem like it will not meet those sincere expectations.
Digital Foundry experts have published their in-depth analysis of the emulators Batman adapted by Turn Me Up and called them an “absolute disaster”. It’s not really surprising that Batman: Arkham Knight, a PS4/Xbox One blockbuster complete with a massive open world and a cool, fast-moving tank, would have a hard time being recreated on the Switch’s aging hardware chassis. However, even Batman doesn’t stop there: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham Citytwo games on PS3 and Xbox 360 also showed disappointing performance on Nintendo’s handheld machine.
Get the Arkham Knight first. The 2015 game has everything the developer has to offer Rocksteady Studios has built on the first two games but bigger and better. Digital Foundry’s video details various frame rate drops and pop-ups as Batman flies around the map. Things got even worse when the Dark Knight roamed Gotham in the Batmobile, the image stuttered and playing the game became very difficult. Batman even appears jerky at some points when the game is out of sync with the moving camera.
Digital Foundry called it an “uninspired game” and choppy. While the visual compromises aren’t surprising, the lack of texture detail, the obscuration of the surroundings, and the enemy activity on the streets seem to make the world look gross. becomes bleak when compared to the original. It doesn’t even reach HD in handheld mode, with a resolution of just 540p. By comparison, playing the Switch version of Arkham Knight would be like watching Nolan’s The Dark Knight on a low-quality pirated video.
Although older, Arkham Asylum (2009) and Arkham City (2011) also encountered their own problems. The Switch versions of the trilogy are clearly based on the old PC versions and thus lack some of the visual upgrades in terms of lighting and other details added in the PS4 and Xbox One Return to Arkham remasters. On the surface, the two games don’t seem to be significantly worse than the original, but in reality, the frame rate still falls short of the mark, regularly dropping to around 20 FPS. Oddly, City, despite being newer, seems to run smoother than Asylum, and is the smoothest ported game of the trio.
It’s not surprising that Batman: Arkham Trilogy had problems on Switch, but gamers certainly had higher expectations than what they were getting. The trilogy was originally scheduled to launch on October 13 but has been delayed to December 7, possibly to address the above issues or even worse. If you are a fan of Switch, you can ignore the above opinions, but if you are a loyal fan of Batman: Arkham Trilogy and want to experience them on Nintendo’s home system, consider before spending money.
