Movement: grappling hook and somersault
Hold and press Space. The rope shoots up, and if it bites a ceiling you can press Space again to climb. In the Axis Chemical Factory you'll need it to ride conveyors up to Jack Napier's platform. The bell tower in Gotham Cathedral is essentially one long vertical climb that the hook is designed for.
Two related quirks. Batman can't change direction in mid-air, so set your facing before you leave the ground. And the somersault matters more than the regular jump on wide gaps. Press Space to jump, then tap Space again in the air while holding a direction. It's also the cleanest way to land on Napier from above without overshooting.
Batarangs, item respawns, and extra lives
You start each life with five Batarangs and they hit harder than punches or kicks, which sounds tight until you notice the rule that fixes it: every pickup in the game respawns when you scroll off-screen and back. Hearts, weapon pickups, even 1-Ups. Walk past, walk back, take it again.
Three specific spots make this exploitable. At the far right of the first floor of the Flugelheim Museum is a 1-Up. Grab it, climb the rising platforms, and jump back down once the screen starts scrolling up. The 1-Up is sitting there again. The on-foot stretch of Level 4-2 has a less obvious version: stand on the platform just left of the second fire-mime and press +Space to drop off. You'll land with three extra lives, and you can climb back up and do it again. The second bridge between the two Cathedral towers has a similar drop-off — same input gives you another life underneath.
The same logic carries into the Joker fight. If you've burned through your Batarangs and only have melee left, deliberately die. You respawn with five fresh ones, which cuts the final fight from a slow melee grind into a quick Batarang volley.
How do you block bullets in Batman?
This one barely makes sense as a feature, but the input is reliable. Press Enter to pause. While paused, hold K and press Enter again to unpause. Batman comes out of the pause in a defensive stance that deflects incoming shots without taking damage.
Use it in sections stuffed with Hitmen — the Flugelheim Museum and the Cathedral floors especially, where pistols pile up faster than you can close the distance. Pause-block, sidestep, punch. The same posture is Batman's natural stance if you keep holding K after a normal attack, but the pause trick is the only way to enter it without first attacking.
How to beat each boss
Seven bosses and a museum mini-boss, each with a single trick that flips the fight. None of them have a huge health pool. Once you know the read, most go down in under a minute.
Kick Boxer (Level 1)
His punches outrange yours, so don't trade. Somersault over him, hit him from behind. Hearts sit on both sides of the screen if it goes wrong.
Jack Napier (Level 2)
Don't bother fighting him. The boss is the vat. Climb the conveyors to the Laser Cannon ledge, then somersault onto his platform. Your weight shoves him in.
Museum swordsman (Level 3)
The mini-boss between the museum's main floor and Bob the Goon. Jump on his head when he closes in, or pelt him with Batarangs from range — both work, and you'll want to remember which you prefer because he opens the Level 6 boss-rush.
Bob the Goon (Level 3)
He throws an exploding case, then leaps up and slams down. Turn and jump away from the case, walk under his leap, hit him from behind on the landing. Save Batarangs for when he's grounded. They whiff during the jump.
Nuclear Power Blaster (Level 4-1)
Missiles end it fast if you have them. Without missiles, line up in front of him whenever he isn't firing, hold machine guns, then dodge before the next wave.
Sword Fighter (Level 4-2)
He charges across the screen with both swords spinning. Hug the screen edge and wait. When he stops, jump on his head. If you mistime it, there's a Heart waiting on the left side of the arena.
Turbo-Attack Copter (Level 5)
Each rocket string takes two blocks of life off the Batwing, so don't drift. Move vertically without stopping. Missiles if you have them, machine guns otherwise.
The Joker (Level 6)
Batarangs only. Fireballs and ground sparks are easier to dodge than to chase, so keep your distance and throw from range. If you've burned through your stock, use the die-trick from earlier — five fresh Batarangs beat punching the man to death from above.
The first half of Level 6 is a boss-rush. Before you reach the Joker, the cathedral re-runs the swordsman, Kick Boxer, Sword Fighter, and Bob the Goon back to back. Walk in with full health and a full Batarang count. Whatever you spend here you can't spend on the final fight.
The Batmobile and Batwing aren't the same game
Two stages take Batman out of the side-scroller and drop him behind a vehicle. The action button mappings flip: missiles on one button, machine guns on the other. Your Batarang count converts one-for-one into missiles, so leftovers from earlier on-foot levels carry into the chase. Anything you don't throw before Level 4 turns into missiles for the Batmobile and Batwing.
Batmobile (Level 4-1)
Pseudo-3D street chase with vertical lanes. Hold the top of the screen and Hearts come to you. The middle lane is where most Weapon pickups appear. The Joker Vans drop bombs out the back, so pass on the side instead of tailing them. Save missiles for the Nuclear Power Blaster at the end.
Batwing (Level 5)
Pure horizontal flight without a depth lane. Joker Copters fire forward rockets. The inflatable DDID Balloons just float there as targets. Fly low for the Weapon pickup. Everything you can hit, you should. The Turbo-Attack Copter at the end is the level's only real threat.
If you're playing this online in the browser, the vehicle stages are the easiest part of the game on a keyboard. Only the d-pad and two action buttons matter, and there's no grappling-rope timing or platforming.