When Batman: Arkham Asylum came out in 2009, I was over the moon to see my love of Batman and video games finally combined. I pre-ordered the game instantly with money I'd saved up, ecstatic that it launched the day before my birthday, which meant I could spend the entire time playing it and nobody could tell me to stop.
Straight away, I wasn't just blown away by the visuals and voice acting (though Mark Hamill reprising his role as The Joker was a most beautiful birthday gift). Straight out the gate, the game introduced a villain that was never particularly popular: Killer Croc. With a new look, and a voice that to this day makes me giddy with joy, it was amazing to see him within the first five-or-so minutes of the game.
But this was just the tip of the iceberg for a fan like myself. The references and characters portrayed in Batman Arkham go so much deeper than Killer Croc.
Riddle me this
How an escape to Batman Arkham Asylum helped me identify and seek help for depression
When I was thirteen I was that stereotypical "nerd" in school. Fandom became a full-fledged hobby, with posters littering my bedroom walls and a huge shrine with artwork, collectables and vintage merch taking center stage. Every convention I went to, I cosplayed a character from a very particular series, and I remember drifting off to sleep every night with the animated TV show playing on my tiny television.
That series was Batman. Not just the titular hero, but the huge roster of corny villains. I found myself getting particularly invested in The Joker and Harley Quinn, and I even remember asking my parents for a Harley Quinn #1 comic that was signed by her creator Paul Dini for my birthday. The Batman series was my lifeblood, something I found great comfort in as an awkward teenager. Arkham Asylum took that comfort and crystallized it in one perfect place.
One of, if not my absolute favorite things in the game, are the Batman: Arkham Asylum Riddler challenges. After your first main beat-up-the-goons mission, you get a phone call from The Riddler telling you to solve some puzzles for him to prove you're smart. The Riddler is voiced by the wonderful Wally Wingert, and I swear a clip of him portraying The Riddler could wake me from a coma. I genuinely love this version of the character, and it’s a standout performance against the likes of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin.
These Riddler challenges were not only a fun add-on to the game, reminiscent of the old style of ‘Collect all the X to get 100% completion’ challenges from older games, but they also served a purpose of delving deeper into Batman lore and showcasing that, yes, this is a game for hardcore Batman fans above all else. There are several types of Riddler challenges in the game, ranging from collecting Riddler Trophies, smashing wind-up teeth, collecting patient interview tapes, and a bunch of others. But I mainly want to focus on the actual riddles themselves.
Some of the riddles you solve are pretty easy. The first one for example is meant to be completed by anyone and everyone so you understand how this addition to the game works. “Don't cut yourself on this Sharply observed portrait,” The Riddler chimes in my ear. Well, we’re right next to a portrait of Quincy Sharp, the warden of Arkham Asylum. Scan that, and boom: riddle complete.
However, some of my favorite riddles in this game reference incredibly obscure Batman villains that casual Batman movie lovers might not get. These are the kind of riddles that actually make you scratch your head because who the hell is Riddler babbling about?
Say hello to my little friend
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the closest we'll ever get to truly feeling like The Dark Knight himself
I knew Batman: Arkham Asylum was going to be one of my favorite games of all time when a specific riddle popped up on my screen: "You don't know Jack about Gotham. Tune in to find out." At that moment, thirteen year old me realized that developer Rocksteady actually cared about Batman fans and wanted to really immerse us in the world of Gotham City.
Jack Ryder, also known as The Creeper, was one of my favorite obscure Batman characters. To save me going on a long fangirl-ish rant, Jack Ryder was a journalist who had some weird science done on him and he became a villain or hero depending on the story. A simple reference to him within the first hour of the game literally made me flap my hands around and grin like the Joker had just poisoned me with his laughing gas.
But it wasn't just niche characters like The Creeper mentioned in riddles. There's also references to the likes of Ventriloquist and Scarface, Mad Hatter, Calendar Man, Killer Moth, Humpty Dumpty, and even goddamn Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.
And yes, you heard me right, Humpty Dumpty is a Batman villain whose legal name is Humphry Dumpler, and no, we're not going to discuss it any further.
Arkham Asylum packs in so many references that to this day, having completed the game at least 10 times on several different platforms, I get giddy with excitement when I see them. Sure, Batman might not be my special interest anymore, but all that knowledge and love never truly goes away.
I was sitting on my sofa this week re-playing the game and it finally hit me that this was a game made by fans, for fans. Every Easter egg and reference was meticulously crafted for that special someone, somewhere in the world, who might be happy to see a nod to their favorite obscure character in it. Mine was The Creeper, but I know there's probably a person out there who was excited to see even a reference to Prometheus, or Great White Shark.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the closest we'll ever get to truly feeling like The Dark Knight himself, and I don't think even its sister games come as close to fleshing out the massive lore of Gotham City's world the way Asylum does. Some of these villains may be long gone in recent renditions of Batman, but luckily, they will never ever be forgotten because of this game.
Arkham Asylum is undoubtedly one of the best Batman games ever made, but how do the others measure up?
