Batman: Vengeance - PlayStation 2

The gameplay is perhaps most similar to a more focused version of Soul Reaver, with plenty of Batgadgets to play with, and even a little bit of Metal Gear-esque sneaking around required. There's also an excellent 3-D combat system and a bunch of driving and puzzle sub-games of varying quality.

A few obvious niggles do manage to get under your tights, such as the oversensitive controls, the intrusive loading times and the often frustratingly obscure level designs, but the joy of being Batman and flinging exploding gas balls at everyone manages to overcome. In the video games world Spider-Man still rules the superhero roost, but this is easily the best Batgame yet seen. --David Jenkins