Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (video game) explained

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
Developer:Kemco
Publisher:Ubi Soft
Platforms:Game Boy Color, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Released:Nintendo 64 & PlayStation
Game Boy Color
Genre:Scrolling beat 'em up
Modes:Single-player

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, known as Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker in Europe, is a scrolling beat 'em up video game developed by Kemco and released by Ubi Soft for the Game Boy Color, PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in 2000 and 2001. The game is based on the film of the same name, which in turn was based on the TV series Batman Beyond. Players act as the new Batman Terry McGinnis, who takes over the position of the retired Bruce Wayne and fights against the Jokerz gang led by the recently revived Joker. Throughout the game, Batman fights the villain's cronies, who steal tech components from various laboratories and corporations in Gotham City. Joker uses them to take control of a missile-shooting satellite, which he plans to destroy the entire city with.

Although presented at the 2000 E3 convention, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker received sparse pre-release coverage. It garnered overwhelmingly negative critical reviews for its Nintendo 64 and Playstation versions, and a mixed reception for the Game Boy Color release. Despite some positive comments towards its multiple-batsuit mechanic and cutscenes, the game was heavily criticized for its outdated and repetitive beat 'em up style, low enemy AI, the uselessness of weapons and suits, amateurish graphics, and poor sound. The unbalanced challenge was also condemned; Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 versions were reported to be beaten within a few hours, while the Playstation was stated to become excessively difficult by the second stage, made worse by lack of a password system.

Gameplay

Batman Beyond is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game similar to Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and Double Dragon. The player, through four stages (The Air and Space Museum, Bruce Wayne Enterprises, Arkham, and the Jolly Jack Toy Factory) acts as the new Batman Terry McGinnis, whose foes are members of the Jokerz gang and range from werewolves to giant robots with spinning arms that fall off to harm Batman. The PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions allow the player to select and switch between four suits, three of them (Standard, Offensive, and Defensive) available from the start. All of them hold different abilities and weapons. The Standard suit gives Batman a variety of jumps, attacks, defenses, and three weapons: a Magnetic Nunchaku that can be charged to deal extra damage, a Staff that can kill enemies in fewer hits, and a fast-moving Discus that can slice through foes. The Offensive increases Batman's punching power but at the cost of being able to defend, Defensive increases his ability to protect himself at the cost of less attack power, and the Nimble suit increases Batman's maneuverability, allowing him to perform acrobatic jumps and glide in the air. In the Game Boy Color release, there is no suit-changing mechanic; Batman has a set of punches, kicks and uppercuts, and weapons such as the Dark Knight Staff and Nun Chucks.

Plot

It is the middle of the 21st century, 20 years since Batman was publicly last seen in Gotham City.[1] The metropolitan area's research and development lab, named Air & Space, is taken over by a gang of self-described "Jokerz", which Terry McGinnis, the new Batman replacing the retired Bruce Wayne, is alerted to via an emergency signal.[2] Batman gets to the lab and finds Benjamin Knox and one of the Jokerz; Benjamin instructs the gang member to handle the console while he fights Batman.[3] The member screws it up, and all of the gang members leave with only the memory board.[4] Terry reveals this is the third time a stealing of high-tech equipment has occurred, making Bruce suspect a group named the Jokerz are responsible.[5]

It is then revealed the Joker has been revived and is leading the group. After his cronies' efforts produce nothing more than stealing a single memory board, he hatches a plan to distract the guards of Wayne Enterprises while the thieves steal equipment from the building.[6] The robbery occurs as Bruce publicly announces returning to leadership of the corporation, and involves the Joker taking the former superhero hostage.[7] Commissioner Barbara Gordon informs Terry that while all the guests are safe, Bruce is in the Joker's clutches.[8] With the property under Joker's control, his minions disable the security system.[9] [10] Terry, as Batman, gets to the top of the building and meets the Joker in person for the first time before fighting with Woof the Hyena-Man.[11] Meanwhile, Chucko obtains a component needed for Joker's plan, Joker frees Bruce, and all the Jokerz escape.[12]

Batman, against the will of Bruce, searches for clues at the now-abandoned Arkham Asylum, where the Joker was formerly imprisoned.[13] Not expecting to notice anyone, he finds the Jokerz searching around for more essential components.[14] The Joker appears again "reminiscing" of his time in the asylum, and is accompanied by Ghoul of which Batman fights.[15] As Batman is about to fight the Joker after defeating Ghoul, the Joker announces he will "burn everything to ashes" and storms off.[16] When Batman returns to his headquarters, he finds Bruce unconscious.[17]

Informing Barbara about the situation, Batman tells her about Bruce's recent strange behavior.[18] Barbara informs him that, 40 years ago, the Joker captured Bruce's sidekick Tim Drake, also known as Robin, and altered his personality to turn him into "Joker Junior". Although his memory was recovered within a year, Bruce, out of life-long guilt of the situation, prohibited Tim from being Robin ever again. After leaving, Tim became a high-level communications engineer.[19]

Batman goes to Tim's laboratory for information, but instead finds the Joker. He reveals he is using the stolen parts, as well as communication codes coerced out of Tim, to take control of one of the US governments' orbiting defense satellites, of which he will shoot missiles at Gotham City.[20] Batman suspects the Jokerz' hideout is in Jolly Jack Candy Factory, as Joker had a jar of jelly beans from the location, and goes there.[21] Batman gets to the basement of the factory, fighting Chucko and the Dee Dee sisters along the way, and finds Joker already having control of the satellite and mind-controlling Tim.[22] The Joker reveals himself to actually be Tim with the Joker's microchip of his DNA in his brain.[23] Batman defeats the Joker, stops the satellite, and frees Tim from the Joker's mind-control, although the news reports the Batman and Joker disappearing.[24]

Development and release

Developed by Kemco, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is based on the direct-to-video film of the same name. The film was released on October 24, 2000 and was an adaptation of the television series Batman Beyond.[25] It is the only Batman Beyond video game ever made.[26] Kemco first presented Game Boy, Playstation and Nintendo 64 versions of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker at E3 2000.[27] Kemco joined with Ubisoft to publish Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.[25] The PlayStation version was released in North America on October 30, 2000 and Europe on December 15, while the Game Boy Color port was released on November 30.[28] [29] [30] The Nintendo 64 version released on December 13, 2000 in North America.[31] The PlayStation version was released by Jack of All Games in Australia in May 2001.[32] [33]

Preview coverage from publications was very low. Only IGN covered the E3 presentation, and were the first to reveal certain aspects of the game, as well as several screenshots and videos of it. This included its 3D action fighting genre, the source material it was based on, the plot, and the fact that Batman fights in "hallways and narrow rooms" against clown enemies armed with big weapons. The website claimed that despite its popular license, it had skepticism towards it lack of innovation with its genre and that Batman's suit and weapons did not inflict any more damage than the regular punches and kicks. It was also critical towards the poor translation from Japanese to English in the press materials.[34] Nintendo Powers only bit of coverage of the Nintendo 64 version before its release was a one-page article in the October 2000 issue.[35]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . 2000 . 5 . The Last Knight . October 4, 2021.
  2. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Gotham Air & Space . . . December 2000 . Batman: I'm getting an emergency signal from Gotham Air & Space. / Guard: Who the––? Stay back! / Woof: GRRrrr... We're Jokerz, Pal. Say 'G'night'! / Batman: Bruce, you read me? Something's going down at Gotham Air & Space. I'm going to check it out. / Bruce: Be careful, Terry. That's strange, that lab is only research and development. There's not much a common thief could do with any of that..
  3. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Gotham Air & Space . . . December 2000 . Jokerz: Holy Cow! It's Batman! What do we do? / 'Benjamin: Calm down. I'll take care of Batman. Keep working! You got a death wish, Batman? Come on, just try and stop us!.
  4. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Gotham Air & Space . . . December 2000 . Jokerz: Uh-oh, Bonk. We busted the console. / Benjamin: Wh-What?! You're useless! You blew it! / Jokerz: Well, we got the memory board.... / Benjamin: I guess that'll have to do. Let's get out of here..
  5. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Gotham Air & Space . . . December 2000 . Bruce: Rough night? / Batman: You know the Jokerz are going in for Splicing now? A crazy Hyena-boy nearly took a bite out of me. / Bruce: Well, it seems like the Jokerz have a new boss. / Terry: Third time this month they stole high-tech components. What are they up to? / Bruce: It's the Jokerz so they can only be up to no good..
  6. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Gotham Air & Space . . . December 2000 . Chucko: Batman showed up so we had to ditch. / Joker: Uh-huh. And? / Chucko: We busted the console so we had to leave it. But we got the console's memory board. I know it's not much but–– / Joker: It's not much? It's nothing! You losers. Now old Joker will have to try. I'll stage a comeback at the Wayne Enterprises building and distract security while you steal what we need. It'll be a blast!.
  7. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . Wayne Enterprises Building . December 2000 . Bruce: Ladies and Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to see you all again. As you know, I've resumed the leadership of Wayne Enterprises and I hope to-- / Joker: Hello, Gotham City! Joker's back in town! / Bruce: Joker?! It can't be! Oh, no, your old eyes do not deceive you, Brucie. After all, who'd know me better than you?.
  8. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Wayne Enterprises Building . . . December 2000 . Terry: Bruce! Can you hear me? He's not answering. I've got to get him out of there. / Barbara: Terry, can you hear me? It's Barbara. / Terry: Barbara, Bruce is in trouble. / Barbara: I know. I moved all the guests to safety. But the Joker has Bruce. Hurry! / Terry: I'm on my way!.
  9. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Wayne Enterprises Building . . . December 2000 . Joker: The building is ours! I'm king of the world! Ha ha ha! Jokerz: Everything is proceeding as planned, Joker..
  10. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Wayne Enterprises Building . . . December 2000 . Joker: How's the other team doing? They better do the job right this time. / Jokerz #2: They've disabled the security system. Anything Wayne Enterprises has is ours for the taking. Chucko will get what you need, count on it..
  11. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Wayne Enterprises Building . . . December 2000 . Joker: So you're the new Batboy, eh? I heard you stopped my boys last time. It won't be so easy now. / Woof: Grrrr! / Joker: Woof, he's all yours! Keep him busy until Chucko gets the part we need..
  12. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Wayne Enterprises Building . Chucko: Boss, I got the component. / Joker: All righty then! Let's go, boys! As for you, Batfake, I guess you win the grand prize: old Brucie Wayne himself! Ta-ta!.
  13. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Bruce: Where are you, Terry? / Batman: In Arkham Asylum, Bruce. When you were Batman, you put all the worst criminals here, right? / Bruce: Terry, that was a million years ago, there's nothing left there now. Get back to the cave. / Batman: The Joker spent years here. I may find some clues–– / Bruce: Terry, get back here NOW! / Batman: Okay, okay, but this place is a wreck, there's no threat here..
  14. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Jokerz #1 : So when does the boss start the fireworks? / Jokerz #2: Maybe there's still a component missing..
  15. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Joker: You again, Batfake? Don't bother me, kid, I'm reminiscing. I have such fond memories of this place. In fact, I BECAME a memory here. / Batman: What do you mean by that? What are you up to, Joker? / Joker: Ask the old man, Batboy. But you're intruding, brat. Young people have no manners these days. Ghoul, teach him some manners. / Ghoul: School's in session, Batman! Today's lesson is about PAIN..
  16. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Joker: Ooops, I guess Ghoul is the one who needs more education. / Batman: Now it's your turn, Joker! / Joker: 'Fraid not, Batfake. I just wanted to visit my final resting place before I burn everything to ashes. / Batman: What do you mean, "ashes"? / Joker: You'll find out soon, Brat, but not soon enough, I'm afraid! Ha ha ha!.
  17. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Batman: Bruce, I'm back. Bruce, you here? BRUCE! What happened? Who did this?.
  18. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Batman: Thanks for coming, Barbara. I didn't know who else to call. / Barbara: Did you say you went to Arkham? / Batman: Yes. Joker was there. He called it his "final resting place" and to ask Bruce why. Obviously I can't now. Barbara : He said that? / Batman: Yes. Bruce has been acting very strange since Joker reappeared. What happened between them?.
  19. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Arkham Asylum . Barbara: Some hurts never go away. You deserve to know the truth. It was forty years ago... Robin was out alone one night when he fell into a trap. When we realized he was missing, Bruce and I scoured the city. We pressed every underworld connection, but there was no word on Robin. Then one night we were sent an invitation by the Joker to the ruined Arkham Asylum. Joker had Robin. Bruce and I were able to save him, but it was too late. Robin was never the same. Joker had altered Robin's personality, creating a hideous "Joker Junior". It took a year but we were able to recover his memory, restore his sanity. Bruce blamed himself for what happened. He forbade Tim to be Robin again. Tim didn't like it. He felt he had earned the right to make that decision for himself. Tim left soon after that. Tim now leads an ordinary life. He's a top-level communications engineer..
  20. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Tim Drake's Laboratory . Joker: Good work, Batfake! You tracked me down! The disgruntled Tim Drake is indeed in my employ. / Batman: What's your crazy scheme, Joker? / Joker: Wouldn't you like to know? I guess it can't hurt to tell a caged bat what else is flying tonight. This is one of Uncle Sam's orbiting defense satellites. A handy little laser gadget for shooting down missiles -- or giving someone a world-class hotfoot! / Batman: You gained control of it with a computer you built with the parts you stole! / Joker: Ding! Ding! Correct answer, brat! Tell him what he's won, Johnny! A sneak peek at the giant smiley face I'm going to laser-carve into Gotham City! / Batman: You're crazy, Joker. I'll never let you get away with that. / Joker: You're too late, Batman. Drake has already provided me with the communication codes. Just stay right there and you can be the first cinder on the block! ha ha!.
  21. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Jolly Jack Candy Factory . Batman: The jelly bean jar that Joker had was from the Jolly Jack Candy Factory. That's got to be where's he's set up his headquarters..
  22. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Jolly Jack Candy Factory . Joker: Ha ha ha! Now I control the satellite. There's no need for Mr. Tim Drake anymore! / Tim: Wh-What are you doing? Ughnnnnnn... / Joker: Now the fun begins! Ha ha ha ha!.
  23. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Jolly Jack Candy Factory . Batman: Drake! where's the Joker? / Tim: Joker? What are you talking about? / Batman: Snap out of it, Drake! / Tim: Drake? Joker? ...Oh no... / Batman: Drake, YOU'RE the Joker? / Joker: Not quite, Batman! I'm here in his brain and he doesn't even know it! Utilizing top-of-the-line genetics technology, I encoded my DNA on a microchip and set it into Tim Drake's brain forty years ago. It took decades to rewrite his cellular makeup, but now Mr. Drake is Mr. J! And my comeback party is going to set the town on fire, Batfake! Do you think you're BatMAN enough to stop me?.
  24. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . . . December 2000 . Jolly Jack Candy Factory . Tim: The nightly news reported that I was hurt helping to put an end to the Joker's plan. And that both Joker and Batman have disappeared. But you and I know the truth, Barbara. / Barbara: It'll remain our little secret, Tim. No one but the team will know..
  25. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20001216000000/http://ign64.ign.com/news/24554.html. December 16, 2000. Batman Goes Soft. IGN. September 29, 2021.
  26. Web site: Huskey. Darry. October 8, 2014. A Complete History of Batman Video Games. IGN. September 30, 2021.
  27. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20000817190453/http://psx.ign.com/previews/14923.html. August 17, 2000. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. May 30, 2000. IGN. September 29, 2021.
  28. Web site: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. IGN. December 5, 2021.
  29. Web site: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker [GBC]|website=IGN|accessdate=December 5, 2021].
  30. Web site: Complete old games list (NES, SNES, GB, GBC, VB, N64). Nintendo.com. September 30, 2021.
  31. Web site: I. G. N. Staff . 2000-12-02 . N64 Games of December . 2023-04-07 . IGN . en.
  32. November 2000 . Official Australian PlayStation Magazine 39 November 2000 . September 27, 2021 . . 18 . 39 .
  33. December 2000 . Official AUS PlayStation Magazine - Issue 040 (2000-12)(ACP Publishing)(AU) . September 27, 2021 . . 62 . 40 .
  34. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20000621010717/http://ign64.ign.com/previews/14845.html. June 21, 2000. Batman Beyond. IGN. September 29, 2021.
  35. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker . Nintendo Power. 137. 50. October 2000. September 30, 2021.

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