Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

• Release Date: November 20, 2000
• Genre: Action
• Style: Side-Scrolling Combat

Game Description

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker finds Gotham City controlled by the Joker and his gang, while Bruce Wayne has retired from crime fighting. Terry McGinnis, Batman's protégé, starts investigating this city overcome by chaos, and after Bruce Wayne is almost killed by the Joker, McGinnis heads to the streets and starts to battle, which is where you come in.

Assuming the role of the young McGinnis, you must battle enemies using the weapons and objects in the Batsuit. Items include Batwings, which allow you to jump over obstacles and buildings, Magnetic Nunchakus that attack opponents quickly, a Dark Knight discus, jets that add turbo charges to your boots, a Dark Knight shield, and a Dark Knight staff. All of these weapons are activated by one button, while jumping, which includes the use of the Batwings, is activated by a second button.

On the streets of Gotham City, players will confront numerous members of the Joker's clan, each with special talents, ranging from thugs to characters Woof, Bonk, and Crane. Additionally, while users can pick up gadgets to add to their Batsuits along the way, they will also encounter Power-Ups, which will restore the character's stamina by different amounts, and boxes, which contain bonuses and are guarded by enemies. For users unable to tame the streets and defeat the enemies in one play session, game progress can be resumed using a password.

Review: Overall

Viewers of the Batman films or any of the subsequent cartoons know that darkness is a key ingredient, making the movies scarier and more intense. Unfortunately, while the creators of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker try to replicate this mood on the Game Boy Color version, the only effect the darkness has is to make the game hard to see, even with an attached back light.

This first aspect of the game that jumps out at you, aside from the darkness, is the copious amount of reading required. While the lines of text that present in-between fight sequences can be easily and quickly navigated by use of the "A" button, they really take away from the flow of the action.

Graphically, the settings in Batman Beyond are very detailed, with precise and colorful background scenery, but the characters are not. The user controlled Batman is very small and thin, with features that are hardly distinguishable, and, unfortunately, the thugs are equally lacking in detail and poorly developed. The worst effect is the frustration caused by having characters so small that they detract from the fight sequences.

Playability is another weakness. With no options whatsoever, once the game is finished, it's over. Too bad the designers didn't add a few more modes of play or options to garner a bit more interest and extend the game for those who find conquering the Joker and his men too easy a task. Despite the drawbacks, the actual game action does provide a modicum of fun, as the fight scenes are quick and involve some strategy. The ability to jump out of the way of oncoming thugs is nice, and searching for weapons and using the various tools and aspects of the bat suit is entertaining.

At its core, though, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is little more than a stripped down action game offering nothing more substantial than a chance to beat up on thug after thug. While this can be enjoyable to a point, after a while it simply becomes dull and repetitive.

Review: Enjoyment

Flaws aside, the game has some level of enjoyment. Beating down bad guys and seeking out the Joker is never dull, but there's plenty of room for improvement in other areas.

Review: Graphics

The character is a bit too small and lacks definition. The enemies closely resemble blobs of different colors rather than dangerous villains.

Review: Sound

The opening music sequence can become annoying, but the sound effects accompanying the fight sequences aren't bad.

Review: Replay Value

The save function is handy and allows you to resume the game at various points, but overall the game simply isn't very difficult. Once you reach the end, there's little incentive to return.

Review: Documentation

The manual describes the bad guys and various tools {%Batman} can use, but is fairly vague in other areas.