Batman: Toxic Chill

Czech title:
Batman: Toxická hrozba

In Czechia released by Cenega Czech s.r.o.

This game comes from a later era in The Learning Company's library. The ClueFinders franchise had already ended in 2001 with the release of Mystery Mansion Arcade, and the successor franchise, the StarFlyers, had only two games. This game and its "twin", Justice Unbalanced, follow the same gameplay structure formula as the StarFlyers. Toxic Chill is the one that comes first.

Like the StarFlyers, this is technically an "educational" adventure game, except none of the game's puzzles teach traditional subjects like math or reading. The game's puzzle curriculum is meant to inspire critical thinking. I remember that the StarFlyers games were structured in a way that players didn't need to know how to read in order to play them, but for Batman, you probably will need to know how to read in order to decode The Riddler's clues. The game also has optional reading selections intended to flesh out the game's story, but Robin reads those aloud to you.

The story for this one goes like this: Mr. Freeze is going on a rampage to freeze over Gotham so everyone will know how cold he feels. The Riddler joins in on the mayhem by simultaneously sabotaging chemical plants across the city to dump toxic chemicals underground. He's doing it for his own vain reasons, and he doesn't want Mr. Freeze to know about it. It's quite campy, but this is a Batman game intended for young players. Campy is fun. However, during the game you'll hear the characters refer to each other by their civilian names even in costume; Batman is "Bruce", Robin is "Tim [Drake]", Batgirl is "Cassandra [Cain]" (Oracle is referred to separately), The Riddler is "Edward Nygma", and Mr. Freeze is "Victor Fries". That should tell you when this game was made.

I feel that this game does show some ClueFinders roots. In the middle of the game there are puzzle-platformer levels which are not only the same formula as the ones featured in the StarFlyers games and Mystery Mansion Arcade, they have the exact same layout as the levels from Mystery Mansion Arcade. Also, I thought that the puzzle where Batman has to defrost the skyscrapers was similar (but not identical) to having to guide Goo Beetles up Goo Falls. If you enjoyed playing the ClueFinders, or you just want a chance to play as Batman, you might enjoy this game, too.