Now that Batman: Arkham Asylum has been released, it has thrown into disarray those perennial lists of the best superhero games. But it doesn't stop there. It also messes up lists of the best stealth games. It messes up lists of the best games in a long-running franchise. It shatters any list of the best games based on DC characters. At least it would if any such list existed. It even messes up any list of games set in awesome worlds. Although it's (mostly) confined to a single island, the developers have done an amazing job breathing life into that place, fleshing it out, making it feel like its own world. You won't soon forget Arkham Asylum.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Rather than just tell you that Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great game that has fired its batclaw directly into various "top games of the year" lists, let me write a list to convince you that you should play it.

After the jump is a spoiler-free list of ten reasons you must play Batman: Arkham Asylum.

10) Most stealth games are brittle. You're either very weak, or the game will dump you into some fail state when you're seen. You have to guess about shadows or carefully track which way a bad guy is looking. Arkham Asylum manages to avoid the pitfalls of most stealth games. When I fail, I rarely mind having getting to try again. I hope Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid are paying attention.

9) There is no jump button and there is no death by falling. There is, however, plenty of high-stakes acrobatics. I'm reminded of a small but effective trick in Call of Duty 4. When you pulled up the iron sights on a gun, the game assumed you wanted to shoot the closest target, so it would autoaim at that target. The assumption was that you were playing a highly trained soldier who wouldn't have to spray-and-pray during a firefight. It removed a lot of frustration without sacrificing any of the thrill. That's how Batman: Arkham Asylum works when it comes to jumping, gliding, climbing, and generally messing around in high places without the benefits of OSHA-mandated railings.

8) The music is clearly riffing on Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's soundtrack to The Dark Knight. I never once considered turning it off, which makes it better than 90% of the music in other videogames.

7) Those wonderful toys. Part of the genius of this game is how it slowly introduces gadgets and upgrades to Batman's abilities, but without starting him out naked or weak.

6) The combination of writing and voice acting. Writer Paul Dini, and actors Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin (who so makes me want to punch Harley Quinn) bring to this game talents honed by working on the animated show. This is what happens when you hire good writers and actors.

5) The abundance of Batman lore. It's amazing how much of the mythos are packed not just into the story - that's easy enough considering the setting and all the supplemental material available - but into the gameplay.

4) What happens on the way to the morgue.

3) What happens in the morgue.

2) The Joker is the star of Arkham Asylum's genrous rogue's gallery, but the Riddler comes close to upstaging him with the way his challenges are constantly present. And it's not just collectables. Several of the Riddler's challenges are bona fide riddles that will have you looking at the game in a way you wouldn't normally look at a game. The Riddler helps bring Arkham Asylum alive.

1) The hand-to-hand combat. Previously, Assassin's Creed was the game of choice when it came to slick animated melee. Chronicles of Riddick had the beefiest brawniest fisticuffs. They have now been unseated with the resounding thud of a gloved fist slamming into a henchman's head in slow motion. Batman gracefully deflects a pipe swiging at his head, spinning it around and ramming it into someone's gut. He catches a kick and does some awesome jujitsu throw. He ducks and spins. His cape flutters just the way a cape should flutter. And you did all that. Yeah, you. You made it happen. You will relish the opportunity to wade into a pack of thugs. Afterwords, Batman cracks his neck and walks away. No game recreates the thrill of being a bad-ass brawler as well as Batman: Arkham Asylum.