Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000). Play online

Summary

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker on the Game Boy Color surprised me with a solid side‑scrolling beat‑‘em‑up vibe reminiscent of Streets of Rage and Double Dragon. Presented at E3 2000 and launched on November 15, the title drops me into Terry McGinnis’s cyber‑city, where his moves are limited to punches, kicks, an uppercut, and unlockable weapons like the Dark Knight Staff and Nun Chucks. I appreciated the multiple‑path level design and comic‑style cutscenes that give enough plot context for fans of the animated film, plus smooth sprite animation that still shines on the tiny screen. The trade‑off is a short, easy run with repetitive enemy patterns, simple graphics, and no two‑player mode—issues reviewers pointed out. Still, for a handheld beat‑‘em‑up, it packs a surprising amount of charm.

Storyline

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker begins when Terry McGinnis answers an emergency call from the Air & Space lab, now seized by a gang calling themselves the Jokerz. Benjamin Knox fights Batman while a Jokerz member botches the theft of a memory board, the third similar robbery that makes Bruce suspect the Jokerz.

The revived Joker leads a distraction at Wayne Enterprises, taking Bruce hostage as his minions shut down security, forcing Batman to battle the Joker and a hyena‑like foe, Woof. The Joker escapes with his crew.

Investigating Arkham Asylum, Batman defeats Ghoul before the Joker vows to burn everything to ashes; Barbara later reveals the Joker once turned Tim Drake into “Joker Junior,” and Tim now works as a communications engineer. At Tim’s lab, the Joker uses stolen parts and Tim’s codes to hijack a defense satellite.

The chase leads to the Jolly Jack Candy Factory, where Batman defeats Chucko and the Dee Dee sisters and confronts the Joker, who is actually Tim implanted with a Joker DNA microchip. Terry stops the satellite, frees Tim, and the news reports only that Batman and the Joker vanished.