Controlling the titular character, the player explores and search for items and power-ups, while fighting enemies in mazes across five stages based on locations in the film.

Batman on the PC Engine was created by Sunsoft, which had previously worked on adaptations based on the 1989 film for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.

[13][14] Micom BASIC Magazine ranked the game at the number twelve spot in popularity on their January 1991 issue.

Lee applauded the visual presentation for its detailed and colorful graphics, expressive sprite animations, and "wicked" cutscenes between stages.

[17] Joystick's Jean-Marc Demoly called Batman on the PC Engine a "sort of Pac-Man remix", but felt it was uninteresting due to its repetitive and monotonous gameplay compared to previous iterations by Sunsoft.

[8] Player One's Olivier Scamps gave positive remarks to the colorful and detailed graphics, sprite animations, and catchy music, though he noted that the game was fundamentally repetitive.

[16] Power Play's Heinrich Lenhardt said that the gameplay was simple but noted that it became more difficult in later levels, and criticized the game's lack of variety.

[6][7] AllGame's Shawn Sackenheim regarded it as an interesting concept, citing its top-down perspective similar to Pac-Man.