Batman. You've seen the films, you've read the comic books, you watched the TV show where your favorite childhood hero all of a sudden plays a hysterical and psychotic villain. And if you remember how big of a craze the franchise was when Jack Nicholson was The Joker, or even long before that when Adam West was the first Batman, you certainly know that most people understand the mythology involved. So why hasn't it hit home in the gaming scene yet, other than numerous mediocre attempts at fan service?

Well, nobody really gave it a good try. Until now. Batman: Arkham Asylum is the latest attempt at a Batman game since the films were given a revival a few years ago. And, unexpectedly, the game is easily the best product to come out so far this year. While the game borrows heavily on the Batman franchise in an attempt to make itself stick out, it does it in a way that's engaging to just about anybody, and with such a sleek presentation that it makes players want more. To say that it plays like a fifteen-hour movie is hardly giving it enough credit: It plays like a fifteen-hour movie that makes you want to pay admission and see it from the beginning all over again.

The premise is fairly simple: The Joker has taken over the Arkham Asylum, where just about every villain Batman has ever been put behind bars is being held captive, and it's a race against time to solve the mysteries behind the villains' motives and put an end to the madness. But what Arkham does that's so different is that it follows closely to the things that make Batman such a believeable hero in the way that it works in the comics: his unique gadgets, his intellect, stealth and fitness are all shown here. You never feel overpowered, you feel like you're Batman.

Combat is very straightforward but it's very well-executed. You have the use of three buttons--one for attack, one for countering, and one for stunning--but you can also get your gadgets and throw them into combos as well. Keeping a combo going rewards you with RPG-style Experience Points, which not only allow you to purchase extra skills, gadgets, and armor, but also replenishes your health after a battle has been won. It also rewards you for putting variety in your attacks, so countering an attacker, hitting him with a Batarang, punching him a few times and then performing a takedown will net you much more Experience Points than mashing the X button.

Likewise, exploration is a huge factor. Just getting to the top of buildings is half the fun, from there you can crash down on enemies, zip across to another platform, or just stay up there and plan your next move. You'll be doing a lot of the latter most of the time. Just as soon as you're comfortable hanging out at the top of the level, picking every enemy off one by one, the Joker's minions will start putting explosives up there to make you sneak around them. One flase move makes Metal Gear Solid look like Hello Kitty's Adventure, just about everybody will want a piece of you, but you will have tons of creative options to make that not happen.

The environment plays out very well to the mood of the franchise. "The Dark Knight" feels well at home here, as the insanity of the asylum gets creepier and creepier by the level, it never gets tiring to go in and deliver swift justice to the villain in charge. And it looks beautiful the entire way. The artwork shines not only in the gameplay, but also during cutscenes and even hand-drawn pictures of characters in the menu. Noticing everything from the differences between certain enemies, and how Batman's clothing tears and dents as the game progresses, there's a lot to explore just by ignoring the side quests and collectables.

Which there are a lot of to find. About 200 items, character bios, audio clips, riddles (courtesy of loose villain The Riddler), and hidden trophies can be found on the island. Some of them are along the way to your next objective, and some of them take quite a bit of brain power to figure out and find. Not only will you be solving the riddle with whatever vague clue you get, but you'll have to make use of the correct gadgets at the exact specifications. Luckily, they're not mandatory and unlock new play modes, well-written back story, and art work, which gives more than enough reason to go back in for a second or third go. And if that's not enough, the psychotic run-ins with The Scarecrow will make you want to play through them all over again. I'm not going to say much to spoil them, but I will say that these scenes bring back crisp memories of the classic Gamecube game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. People will be talking about this at year's end.

The world building and talent is incredibly immense. Most of the voice work is done by the familiar cast of the award-winning animated series from the mid-1990's (so yeah, Luke Skywalker is still the Joker. But Kevin Conroy can still play a very good Batman after all these years), and while it will be familiar enough to those who enjoyed the program back then, it's still crisp and engaging enough to be great entertainment to those who missed out. Others will appreciate the dark humor that is incorporated from time to time, which never gets old. It's tough to argue with the presentation.

The only real complaints I have for the game are the hiccups in controls that it suffers from time to time. Sometimes Batman may move too fast when he should get hit, other times it works in reverse, and other times hits simply won't connect when you've executed them a hundred times before. The inconsistency isn't a game breaker, but more of an annoyance. Likewise, the lack of multiplayer is a little disappointing, but I'm sure having four people running around as Batman could be a little annoying given the controls, and stacked Asylum inmates versus one Batman has the tendency to have severe balancing issues. So why fix what shouldn't be there?

But that's hardly to be taken into consideration. Hands down, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best game this year so far. As for which version to get, I played the demo on PC, but got the game for the 360. There were few differences between the two, some better framerate on the PC but the cinematic quality overall could negate the use of mouse and keyboard for some. Seeing as how the PS3 version got some very nice additions in comparison to the other two platforms, this could be the version to try out if you own all three. This still doesn't matter, since you can't go wrong with this game. The only thing you need to decide is if you want to shell out the extra $30 for the Special Edition, or be satisfied with the standalone game.