While the Batman: Arkham Trilogy may be something of a dumpster fire on Nintendo Switch, folks playing the superhero adventure games via the handheld-console hybrid found one redeeming element: a touching tribute to legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy.
As spotted by Eurogamer, Twitter user EMoore_ posted a screenshot from the ending credits of Arkham Asylum, the 2009 game that kicks off this trilogy package. Upon completing Rocksteady Studios’ landmark 3D Metroidvania in this Nintendo Switch bundle, players are greeted with a black-and-white drawing of Gotham City with some yellowish-orange text at the top left that reads, “In memory of Kevin Conroy.” Cue the waterworks.
In case you forgot, Conroy was a prolific actor during the late ‘80s and ‘90s before assuming the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series. The acclaimed show, which ran from 1992-1995, made Conroy’s voice practically synonymous with the superhero, and he wound up lending his pipes to Bruce Wayne across a variety of Batman media. This includes many of the games Bats has appeared in, from the 2001 action-adventure game Batman: Vengeance to 2022’s platform fighter MultiVersus (which has temporarily shuttered and plans to return in full in “early 2024″). Conroy tragically passed away in November 2022 after a brief battle with cancer. He was just 66 years old. While he may no longer be with us, you can still hear his voice in the upcoming live-service game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The Batman: Arkham games gave Conroy plenty of outstanding material to work with, and arguably feature his best performances as Batman outside of the Animated Series and the film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The Nintendo Switch should be a pretty nice home for three of the best superhero games to ever come out. Unfortunately, it sounds like the bundle isn’t exactly presenting these games at their best.
According to an analysis from Digital Foundry, all three games are an “absolute disaster.” Between the massive amounts of pop-in, frequent framerate drops, and copious visual stutters, as well as a seemingly general unplayability underscoring all three games, it seems you’d be better off either waiting for a patch to address these issues or playing them elsewhere. So, if you want to see the brief but heartwarming tribute to Kevin Conroy, prepare yourself. You’ve got a hellish time ahead of you, and I wish you nothing but the best of luck.
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