If you ever frequented a pawn shop in the late nineties, one game bafflingly always seemed to be a staple; Sunsoft’s MD Batman - specifically the import.

The game’s wall-made nature, the lack of an abundance of great software in the early years of the MD, and the year-long gap between the game’s Japanese and North American releases meant that a lot of people paid the hefty price to import this one instead of waiting. It’s a a perfectly fine game, but it’s not very hard, and it’s over in less than an hour. That’s not a knock against the game so much as it is a truth about how games were back then - arcade like experiences to be played over and over again in order to master them and challenge your high score.

This copy of the game also came with the original purchase receipt, which outlines the 1991 90 dollar Canadian price tag (170 in today’s money) and the two games he or she traded in.

batman receipt

What is notable about this game is the superb pixel work, solid gameplay, and absolutely amazing music, which used no samples whatsoever for the drums and relied on FM synth for percussion. It’s probably one of the best examples of FM synth on the MD, period.

Enjoy these PVM CRT shots.