Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is a 2003 beat 'em up video game released for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance and GameCube consoles. It was developed and published by Ubisoft in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. It is based on the television series The New Batman Adventures and is a sequel to the game Batman: Vengeance.

Gameplay
The bulk of the game has the player battling groups of enemies in the style of games like Battletoads and Double Dragon.

The story mode, which forms the bulk of the game, can be played either alone or co-operatively, and rewards players for completing levels not only by continuing the story, but also with an upgrades system. This allows players to purchase new moves for their character and other game bonuses. There is also a challenge mode in which players (either cooperatively or competitively) take on groups of thugs without a storyline.

The game is played under a time limit, and features co-operative play. It also has 4 different difficulty levels: 'Easy', 'Medium', 'Hard', and 'Dark Knight'.

Plot
Batman faces a new enemy unlike any he has faced before. This mysterious foe plunges Gotham City into chaos on the night of the anniversary of Bruce Wayne's parents murder. Apart from Sin Tzu, other Batman villains featured in the game are the Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane. Batman is aided in his quest to save Gotham by Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing.

Playable

 * Batman - The strongest of the four heroes, but also the slowest.
 * Batgirl - The most agile combatant of the four heroes, but lacks in strength.
 * Robin - Along with Batgirl, Robin strikes quickly, but induces less damage than Batman or Nightwing.
 * Nightwing - The most balanced member of the four, he has both great strength and agility.

Non-playable

 * Commissioner James Gordon
 * Mr. Freeze (cameo)
 * Poison Ivy (cameo)
 * Harley Quinn (cameo)
 * The Joker (cameo)

Villains

 * Scarecrow
 * Clayface
 * Bane
 * Sin Tzu

Publicity
One of the main draws to the game was that it introduced a new character into the Batman universe, as Batman: The Animated Series did with Harley Quinn. This new character, Sin Tzu, was created by comic artist Jim Lee. However, Sin Tzu did not gain popularity as a character and was never to be seen again in any media, with the exception of the game's novelization. The game shipped in regular versions with just the game, and boxed special editions that came with action figures for the Xbox and PS2 versions, and a lithograph with the GameCube version.

Reception
Game Informer gave it a score of 5 out of 10. Game Chronicles, however, gave a more positive score of 7.7 out of 10, saying that "you won’t find a more challenging or visually stunning Batman experience than Rise of Sin Tzu."

Novel
To help raise even more publicity, a novel based on the game with the same name was released around the same time of the games release date. The novel, written by Devin Grayson and Flint Dille (who wrote the game's script) was told in the first person, with Clayface, the Scarecrow, a Stonegate inmate named Freddie Galan, Bane, a Hispanic thug named Ramon Domingo, Sin Tzu, Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, and Alfred each providing the narrative at different points.

Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu
A year-long webcomic was released bi-weekly on DC Comics website, serving as a sequel to events depicted in "Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu".