I was browsing through Netflix one lazy afternoon, looking for something to watch. While searching, I came across Batman Beyond. Feeling nostalgic, I decided to watch an episode and kill 20 minutes. Eight episodes later, I was thinking about why this series never had a good game. Don’t get me wrong, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was decent but a series this solid deserved something better. And with Batman games in high demand, I think it deserves a great game for these reasons:

#5 HE’S FEATURED IN A LOT OF GAMES

For a character whose show ended in 2001, the iconic ‘Beyond’ batsuit keeps popping up in a lot of video games. It’s an alternate costume in Justice League Heroes (as the “Infiltration Suit”) and a downloadable costume in Batman: Arkham City, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Batman: Arkham Origins. Fans like myself appreciate companies adding that but it also gnaws at our need for a full-fledged game. The fact that they keep putting it in proves that we want to have it. I’m currently playing the multiplayer section of Arkham Origins just so I can level up and get the costume. Getting the chance to move about Gotham City as Terry McGinnis and not Bruce Wayne in an alternate suit would be quite the experience. Speaking of Gotham…

#4 NEO-GOTHAM CITY

Even if Batman: Arkham Origins didn’t revolutionize the Arkham series with anything new (the Initiation DLC was cool though), they did stand out by making a fully functioning Gotham City for players to explore. Even without the full use of the Batwing or Batmobile, moving through the entire city is one of my favorite parts of the game. Now that Warner Bros. Games has proven that they can create an entire city in a video game, there’s no reason why they couldn’t make Gotham into the futuristic megalopolis that we’ve seen on the show. Although it should still be true to the character and be dark overall, a game like this should use to the scenes and gameplay of Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Spider-Man: Edge of Time to really capture the feel of the not too distant future.

#3 THE BEYOND SUIT

Probably the biggest difference between Bruce Wayne’s and Terry McGinnis’ Batman is the suit. Viewed as a form-fitting powered armor, the Beyond suit has many functions that would fit in a video game. Basic gadgets like batarangs and smoke pellets could stay while gadgets like the explosive gel and glue/ice grenades could be changed to something else like mini mines and simple bolas. The electric gauntlets from Arkham Origins could be a basic feature in the suit since it was used at least twice in the series against a villain. The rocket boots that gave Batman flight would be another great feature. This would make traveling around Gotham feel new, instead of gliding and grappling everywhere you could simply fly around. The camouflage feature on the suit would also breathe new life into the stealth portion of Batman games. Just think of using it to infiltrate certain areas or even hack a terminal without being seen. Unfortunately those last two features would need an energy drain meter of some kind, otherwise players would abuse it like crazy (you know I’m right).

 #2 BEYOND VILLAINS

The only problem I’ve ever had with Batman Beyond was the lack of originality in the rogues gallery. A lot of times, Terry ended up fighting Bruce’s villains or variations of them. This would be a good opportunity for DC Comics to not only create new characters, but introduce new fans to the older villains. Villains like Inque and Shriek would make good over the top fights while chasing the Royal Flush Gang through the skies of Gotham could test flying skills. For the ‘mind warp’ levels, Spellbinder’s got that covered. For die-hard Joker fans, you can fight the Jokerz, a gang who styled themselves after the Clown Prince of Crime, throughout various points. Toss in a few brand new villains and you’ve got a kick-ass game.

#1 END OF A LEGACY

Ever since Mark Hamill’s retirement as the Joker after Arkham City, I’ve been waiting for Kevin Conroy to announce his inevitable retirement as the voice of Batman. Before he hangs it up for good, I’d love to see him team up with Will Friedle (and hopefully Cree Summer) one more time and do this game. He already announced he was working with Rocksteady on an Arkham game, but not Arkham Origins. I pray it’s for Batman Beyond. To me, that would be the best way to finish off his career on a strong note.

Do you think Batman Beyond deserves a next-gen video game?? Drop a comment!