The Making of Batman Forever the video game

[Bobthegoon89]

Anyone have this vhs of the making of the Sega Video Game? I've looked on youtube to no avail.

I have this thing. It's a short 5 min video I think I got with the Batman Forever vhs. It shows some behind the scenes greenscreen moments of them recording the stunt men for the game characters intercut with footage from the movie, game and interviews with the creators.

Might be an interesting gem to find and share. I don't think anybody anywhere has it and my vhs machine is long gone so even I can't watch the thing. Still have the tape though. Anyone else seen it?

[phantom stranger]

I've only seen the commercial. Would love to watch that though.

There are a lot of gems on our old video tapes. Old commercials, interviews, etc. I've been meaning to start transferring a lot of mine to digital so that I can share it with others.

[Azrael]

This sounds very interesting, I love documenting the making of old games, even the not very good ones. One thing about Batman Forever is that it's obviously a game that its developers worked hard to make. It's just that what the designers tried to do didn't quite work out. Same goes for the fairly similar in concept Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.

[Bobthegoon89]

I wish I knew how to transfer the tape onto the net cos I have it, I just don't have a clue how to upload stuff.

[Azrael]

Many years ago I used to record gameplay footage by connecting the console's RF cable on the VCR in place of the antenna's cable. Getting the game's signal through the VCR made possible to record the console on tape. Can't something similar be done by connecting a VCR (I assume you still have a fully functional machine) with a DVD writer? Not to mention, a quick google revealed that are VHS/DVD-r combo machines, and quite inexpensive too. If someone has a collection of personal VHS tapes (e.g. birthdays etc) that wants to back up on digital video formats, it's a pretty fair investment.

[Dhennick99]

See what you can do. I'd really like to see this. It was only available in a woolworth's box set. If worse comes to worse you could mail me a vhs copy and I could transfer it for you. I'm sure there are many of us in the fan base who would like to see this.

[Paul (ral)]

I also recorded games to my video. Also did stop go animations with my C64 :-)

Recording from VHS can be tricky as there may be Macrovision protection.

I have a converter for NTSC/PAL that also removes the protection. It funny that VHS is harder to copy than DVD nowadays!

[Bobthegoon89]

See what you can do. I'd really like to see this. It was only available in a woolworth's box set. If worse comes to worse you could mail me a vhs copy and I could transfer it for you. I'm sure there are many of us in the fan base who would like to see this.

There it is, that's the one! You can see how short it is from the tape inside lol But it's just a little gem I enjoyed watching as a kid.

And thanks for igniting my memory of where I perhaps got the thing. I remember I got Forever that Christmas so this must have been that Woolworths special you mentioned.

On the subject of mysterious/lost Batman VHS does anybody also remember a tape called Batmania From Comics to Screen? This came out around the release of the first Batman and is pretty amateurish in it's making. But it's a fun doc covering the comics, Adam West and the Burton movie. It has the comic Batman and Adam West/Burt Ward on the cover. In 2004 it was released on an equally shoddy dvd but it was slightly different to the version I had on VHS through the 90's. I think another was made for Batman Returns but I've never seen that one.

[Azrael]

I also recorded games to my video. Also did stop go animations with my C64 :-)

Recording from VHS can be tricky as there may be Macrovision protection.

I have a converter for NTSC/PAL that also removes the protection. It funny that VHS is harder to copy than DVD nowadays!

I bet the first animation was Bat-related!

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

I too have this tape. The documentary is extremely short but very fun. Some clips from the film combined with the game, interviews with the designers (next to the Kilmer Batmobile at some game convention type place) and fast exciting editing with rocking music.

I must say while Batman Forever was always a pain to play I absolutely loved it. I thought it's ideas were great and ahead of their time. I actually think The Adventures of Batman and Robin (based on the animated series) is the true worst Batman game I personally have ever played. It made Batman Forever a relaxing break on the shore of Claw Island lol To have actual stuntmen as the playable characters was such a brilliant notion and very exciting for me as a child and I can't for the life of me since understand why somebody wouldn't like to re-attempt that idea now. And yes I know they stole from Mortal Kombat but I never knew that then and wouldn't care. It was the joy of seeing a real Batman in a video game that blew my imagination. A wonderful idea to at least try. On the video you can see the stuntmen in costume in front of a green screen performing kicks and jumps on a springboard.

I also loved the level where you have to fight your way through the destroyed Wayne Manor and then into the Batcave. I'm sure that was a first in Batman gaming. I always hated the 2nd Bank of Gotham level because I kept getting whacked off the vault as the helicopter hauled it away. Took me a long time to beat that stage. At one point on the game documentary a designer stated "you not only need fighting skills for this game you need fighting smarts". Sure do pal because it's a bloody headache to beat lol

I remember the trailer for the game also. Pretty excellent. It was a specially shot Gotham City locale with the proper Batsuits and actors dressed as the game characters. I'd so love to know who wrote that (sadly now) cheesy song that ended with the lyrics "the real game begins!" lol It deserves an award for incorporating that Riddler phrase. Man was that all very exciting when I was 7. Games should have specially shot trailers like that today.