Batman Beyond - Return of the Joker Play Online

Summary

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is the lone entry that ever brought the futuristic Batman to the Nintendo 64. It plays like a classic side‑scrolling brawler, borrowing the feel of Streets of Rage or Double Dragon while letting you control Terry McGinnis in his high‑tech suit. The game’s biggest claim to fame is the ability to swap between four different bat‑suits, each with its own set of moves and gadgets.

The Standard suit offers a mix of jumps, attacks, and three weapons – a chargeable magnetic nunchaku, a heavy staff, and a fast‑spinning discus. The Offensive suit boosts punch power at the cost of defense, the Defensive suit does the opposite, and the Nimble suit adds acrobatic jumps and a glide. In practice, the suit changes feel more like a cosmetic toggle than a deep strategic layer, but they do give the short experience a hint of variety.

Critics panned the title for its stale beat‑em‑up formula, laughably low enemy AI, and a challenge that evaporates after an hour or two. The graphics are blocky, the soundscape is a looping rock riff, and there’s no two‑player mode to rescue the monotony. Even the cutscenes, while occasionally reminiscent of the TV show, were called primitive and full of inaccuracies.

I found the suit‑switching to be the only spark of interest, but overall the game feels like a rushed cash‑in that will only satisfy die‑hard fans or kids looking for a quick brawl.

Storyline

In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker you step into the shoes of Terry McGinnis, the new Batman who has taken over for the retired Bruce Wayne in a sleek, 21st‑century Gotham. The game opens with an emergency signal from the Air & Space research lab, where a gang called the Jokerz has broken in and begun pilfering high‑tech components.

The Jokerz’s loot is not random; the revived Joker uses the stolen parts to seize control of a missile‑shooting defense satellite, threatening to obliterate the entire city. While Wayne Enterprises is distracted by a public announcement from Bruce, the Joker kidnaps the former hero and disables the building’s security, forcing Terry to battle the hyena‑like Woof and the gang’s enforcers.

A side‑quest leads Batman to the abandoned Arkham Asylum, where he discovers that the Joker’s true plan involves Tim Drake—Bruce’s former Robin—who was once turned into “Joker Junior.” The Joker has implanted a microchip of his DNA into Tim’s brain, using him to hijack the satellite and to manipulate the Jokerz.

The climax unfolds in the Jolly Jack Candy Factory, where Terry fights Chucko, the Dee Dee sisters, and finally the Joker‑Tim hybrid. After destroying the satellite’s control link and freeing Tim from mind‑control, the game ends with news reports that both Batman and the Joker have vanished, leaving Gotham’s future uncertain.

Edited by Maya Carter