Batman: Return of the Joker (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Sunsoft's 1991 NES game, Batman: Return of the Joker.
I remember being utterly blown away by this when it first came out. The ads said the game featured 16-bit quality graphics, sure, but who actually listens to marketing hype like that? Well, this was one of the few times where a game lives up to such an audacious claim. The sprites are huge, the backgrounds are all detailed and nicely animated, and the intro cinematic still looks awesome. And that music! Kodaka yet again does superhuman things with this hardware. In terms of presentation, this version absolutely owns the later (awful) Genesis port. Not many NES games could ever dream of claiming that.
It plays pretty well, too! It's much easier than the original game, even at its hardest parts, though it has the tendency to feel a bit more cheap with some of the hits than the original. Still, it controls well and provides an all-too-brief period of awesome classic Sunsoft platforming magic.
________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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[@simonmejia6896]

One of the most graphically impressive NES games out there.

[@castlevaniatrump1777]

Cool good game but doesn't feel like a Batman game though.

[@dthegrimm]

Agreed. Looks more like a Genesis game

[@shortydapimp28]

Sunsoft all day baby

[@batuhanpolat5165]

No it's Ninja gaiden 1,2and3

[@NintendoComplete]

@@dthegrimm More than the Genesis port did :)

[@doodledangernoodle2517]

This game and Kirby’s Adventure are the closest thing to 16-bit on the NES

[@binguloid]

Gimmick! comes close too

[@frulinceteSan]

ninja gaiden, especially the three

[@DavidFlores-ix2cy]

TMNT III: The Manhattan Project TOO....

[@outerspaceman7534]

The music kicks so much ass.

[@chrislive1586]

Wow Most Visually Appealing NES game on reddit 8months ago your comment is 6 years ago, but you both mention Kirby + Batman is the clostest you'll get to 16bit out of an 8bit system. Megaman 6 was mentioned.

[@NintendoComplete]

Ever wanted to see the humble NES stand up to the power of the Sega Genesis? Here's one of the few games that ever dared to try, and it came shockingly close. Classic SunSoft, all the way.

[@skatarest77]

Imo this one is way better.

[@jorlox77]

The nes version is much better than the Genesis one.

[@octoman511]

this was LIGHT YEARS better than the genesis version!

[@inceptional]

Imagine if this had launched the exact same day the "Genesis Does" ad came out, especially if the Genesis version of this game also released on that same day too. I bet a few people would have been like, "I dunno, my NES seems to be pretty dang close to the stuff you're showing there, Sega". That optimism obviously wouldn't have lasted for more than a few days, obviously, but still. What a game on NES. :D

[@kenbrisby4825]

this was the point where designers started realizing how much more important control, game play, and animation were compared to everything else. still playable today.

[@jg2722]

The Controls and gameplay could’ve been better but overall good game, challenging but not too extreme. High jumps was needed to defeat joker in the end, it was pretty difficult tbh.

[@InsideOutAnus]

Control, animation and gameplay are 90% of what games consist of though.

[@pumpkinnuggets9916]

No NES game is complete without a tornado throwing enemy.

[@sarome_adrian1234]

it's unbelieveable that there are 16 bits version/ports of this game (the sega genesis, and the SNES canceled prototype) and yet, THIS is the real deal, for a 8-bit game the graphics and the music are still amazing to this day. Absolutely a classic!

[@heroiclegend3229]

Great game! Excellent graphics! Looks more like a 16-bit game more than an An 8 bit

[@ASteelWheel]

This is when Sunsoft decided to drop a gem as a farewell gift to all NES fans before transitioning to the 16-bit era. Whan an amazing experience. The music was still better in the first game though. Also one gripe I have about it is the weird gun-launcher thing he uses when he fights on foot and the shotgun/rifle he has during the shmup sections.

[@inceptional]

This is like peak level NES in terms of being graphically and technically impressive. What we're seeing here is basically what I think is happening a lot in the modern Genesis indie/homebrew scene, where developers really are doing some amazing stuff within the limitations of the system. I cannot wait until we start to see them doing the same on a regular basis for SNES too.

[@nanupin9692]

Excelente end. The ship flying, the wonderfull and mysterious music, the colours. Magic.

[@AnxiousBlue]

Batman on the NES was one of my favorite games back during my childhood and I still love it! But I really wish that, back then, I knew it had a sequel! D: Thanks for the upload!

[@alanruiz4956]

Uno de los juegos mas increíbles del Nes.

[@juliocesaralvaradocortes4174]

Alan Ruiz totalmente de acuerdo, su punto débil, que es demasiado corto.. en una par d hras lo puedes terminar si eres muy experto

[@user-bh7gm7mp9x]

In my distant childhood, Joker's face on the password screen scared me like hell.

[@pauliether.c.guy.3349]

Remember when this game came out right around 16 bit Era went super Nintendo started coming in and all the rage with 16 bit systems was hot. This Game Sunsoft Put a special chip in this game whole extra memory and some scrolling some scrolling And I say that would caution it was supposed to look like a 16 bit game this game push the Nintendo to its limit and it was pretty impressive

[@soundspark]

At this point every game had extra memory. The FME-7 gives particularly fine grained control over CHR-ROM so for instance Batman's animation frames can be swapped out without affecting other sprites, and animated parts of the background can have their own dedicated block without having to duplicate too much of the static elements.

[@BhChicagoTVStationhistoriesand]

Now here’s a game that really pushed the NES up to it’s upper limits! The first NES Batman game was decent, I got near the end of it at the time but toward the end it really kicked my ass around! ROTJ was ...I’ll be honest a full generational leap ahead of that first game! It’s basically an early 16 bit game running on 8 bit hardware. It really was a hell of a feat at the time. Most of Sunsoft’s stuff was like that, a full generational leap ahead of most everything else on the NES. How that company worked their magic, what devilry they used I’ll never know! Very worthy follow up to the first Batman game! I didn’t quite get through this one either due to one of the last bosses.

[@mariusamber3237]

And, ironically, the NES version is much better than the Genesis port. Just look the latter up if you haven't seen it yet, it took a hit in pretty much every department IMO.

[@BhChicagoTVStationhistoriesand]

Marius Amber It’s not only better than the Genesis version, it also blows the Super NES version out of the water too! I haven’t personally played either version but I did see videos of both on here not too terribly long ago, I couldn’t believe how much better than those the NES version is! You’d think the 16 bit versions would be far superior but no, the NES one was the next gen leap! I just went 😯, there were no words. Totally speechless.

[@Agus_Lombax]

This is how my Gamer life started,with this amazing game,and that intro 00:35 it means a lot to me.

[@oscartristan7173]

Music on this game it's so epic! 👌

[@retrosven8928]

Not or the music the complete game is epic and a very good and difficult game or when the most batman players say the first game are better, the one and return to the joker are good games in nintendos history 😊😊😊😊😊😊 thank you sunsoft 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@toreywhite9917]

3:54 Dark Knight: Hm. Nice work.

[@jasontodd8071]

This sequel makes sense based on the beta version ending of the Batman NES game.

[@JaredPresleyExperience]

Awesome game. When I was a kid I really thought this was a sequel to the first game and movie. I thought the Joker survived the fall and was taking revenge. I pictured Nicolson and Keaton when playing this game lol.

[@SpiderDroider]

it was actually made like a sequel lol

[@ChillGamerBlue]

This looks a SNES, Master System or Genesis game but, no, it's on 8 bit Nintendo! Jeez, that's impressive, even today.

[@JadenMoon1475]

Sega Master System *IS* 8-Bit!! It's their answer to NES, like how the Genesis was Sega's answer to SNES

[@ChillGamerBlue]

@@JadenMoon1475 yeah I forgot Master System was 8 bit for a sec

[@GarthTheDestroyer]

This game definitely has a Contra vibe to it. No doubt, Batman taught Bill and Lance everything they know.

[@mandeepsingh5222]

Best batman badass nes game

[@austinroundsgallery83]

Makes me wonder what a hypothetical "Batman Returns" game by Sunsoft would be like..

[@mikeyoungblood1642]

Sunsoft was like “oh you really liked Batman (1989)’s soundtrack? How about we blow your fucking mind off with Return of the Joker” 🤯

[@elwoodjacobs4353]

As the manual doesn't give an explanation for how Joker "returned" from that fall of his, I like to think that the Joker Batman defeated in the first game was a decoy while the real Joker snuck away to his secret island.

[@Lucky_9705]

This is the greatest looking game on the NES

[@gaoutlaw]

Sunsoft never failed to have awesome music

[@jamesseals968]

Sucks we won't ever get a batman game like this ever again

[@CloudColumncat]

I really want to try to see if today's NES maker can implement graphics comparable to this game. It's worth it.

[@childofgod9662]

Crazy how when I was a kid these games seemed never ending but heres people on KZbin now beating the entire game in 20 mins

[@eroscz8947]

This game took me complete around couple days😂 oh a never comlete this game its was so hard when i was kid (i hate the stage with snow)

[@mopbrothers]

Game looks 12 bit if such a thing exists.

[@burntyper]

mopbrothers kinda tg16/pce

[@mattmurphy2755]

Best comment👍👍

[@user-ji9kp1ns7i]

Блин, до сих пор есть все три Бэтмена, как ностальгия накатит, так и переигрываю!

[@nicedudeb12]

The second level soundtrack sounds like super spy hunter

[@ASteelWheel]

The boss theme actually lifts a riff from the Super Spy Hunter/Battle Formula boss theme as well and even if it does so, it sounds awesome!

[@elvisoliver]

The best game of NES 8 bits

[@mlbborges]

WBZT I've never forgot that password! I love this game!

[@Jolis_Parsec]

I like how this is essentially a Sunsoft game with a Batman skin loosely applied over it, though perhaps in some alternate universe, Bats is walking around blasting the bad guys of Gotham City with a Mega Man-esque arm cannon before donning a jet pack and a laser rifle and taking to the skies in search of more bad guys to blast. 😂

[@samuelcarrasquillo4590]

Where Does He Arm Cannon And Jet Pack Thruster? From A Dead Parademon?

[@miroslavzima8856]

Sadly my friend´s cartridge was corrupted by glitch gremlin after first stage xD

[@spoonshiro]

That time Batman became Mega Man and the Joker became Dr. Wily

[@jacktorrance9891]

16:10 those tank tracks are moving sooo smooth!! 🤤

[@perfectlybalanced8995]

The graphic designers and composers for this game are gods

[@mareknova95]

Everyone working on it did great job :) games are like puzzle pieces, without one it's not complete. So programmers, musicians... No, whole team inspired each oder to make this masterpiece :D

[@Prosperous_Incognito]

Qué buen soundtrack!

[@TheRetroguitar]

so let me get this straight, batman is a renowned master of several martial arts and he can only manage to shoot batarangs in this installment?

[@Daniel.J.Rinander]

His weapon is a wrist projector..

[@moulayahmed36]

All famicom games are graphically impressive

[@binguloid]

hot take

[@jamesmoss3424]

This batman game got killer graphics. 😀👍🎮

[@r.dalmazzone4334]

the game with the best graphics of the nes history

[@interaccionimport]

Ese guasón más guita de Bruce Wayne tenía. Si no le ganó en la pelea a Batman, en el mercado bursátil lo aplasto.

[@westsun3181]

My favorite Nes game

[@tmf816]

Damn,this time Joker's not fucking around.

[@RetroArcadeFan1]

This was such an awesome game

[@sebastiann.8088]

RetroArcadeFan Amazing game

[@officegossip]

Batman always gets the cool video games and rightfully so. The coolest comic book superhero to exist.

[@octoman511]

Probably the greatest blockbuster weekend video game rental i ever had as a kid

[@bsaintnyc]

this blows away the genesis version.

[@CaptainBardiel]

Do the Bat Dance!!!

[@Mommyandtux]

I believe from about 1991/1992 through to about '94 I was a young boy growing up with NES and tube (COLOR! :D) television 📺, and it was AWESOME! Batman, Darkman, Punch Out, Mario, Duck Hunter (with that badass 🔫 of course!) Thems was the days and the consoles and games which were badassery defined.

[@ianward8107]

I love the music for this game. 8 bit masterpiece

[@OMundodosRetroGames]

This looks like a Master System Game! The NES certainly can do AWESOME things when you know how to use the hardware, but like the AVGN said: Unfortunately, the NES had less games like Contra, and more games like The Rocketeer.

[@i400zemtoku]

definitivamente ..la mejor version mas que el snes y sega genesis

[@NaldinhoGX]

This game is almost as if someone would've taken the Super Nintendo and Genesis version and said: "No, let's make it right."

[@christianboyce2070]

0:04 joker (Avgn): (Laughs) Batty Batty Bat, Batty Batty Bat! (Laughs)

[@xwf1000v3]

Loved playing this game as a kid. It took me awhile to beat it but after that, it was simple. Did beat it without the game genie but still played it with it when I’d found codes for it. Hated the 3rd & 4th stages due to Obstacles.

[@ShelltoonTV1]

GORGEOUS looking game for sure. Now my question is why didn't Sunsoft port it to the Genesis directly, but instead outsourced it to another dev team?

[@NintendoComplete]

God only knows. It's a shame they actually released it for how poorly it turned it out

[@inspirationalgamer5443]

SNES version didn't turn out much better either. One of the few games that got multiple version and where the last gen version stands victorious! :)

[@hhhhhhhhhhhhh...]

Didn't the SNES version get cancelled?

[@ZZtheDark]

SNES version fortunately got cancelled. It was a terrible port as well. See a running trend here?

[@JoseInWonderland]

One of my personal favorite Batman games ever. The Box Art was so fucking cool to me as a kid. I absolutely adore this game. Unfortunately I don’t have an Original NES anymore nor do I know what happened to my old copy of this game and it’s pretty pricey these days. Wish I can find this game and a NES someday. I got all 5 PlayStation’s though so that’s something.

[@DwayneAPurple]

It's never really made clear if Batman captures the Joker in the end or just leaves him to die on the exploding island. That would be out of character for him.

[@phillnavaho2866]

This Game has One of the most Beautiful and Memorable musical compositions for 8 Bits by Nes. When I played the Sega Genesis Version, I noticed that the Graphics in this 16 Bit Version became more Cartoonish and a little Infantilized, unlike the Dark Scenery present in the Nes 8 Bit, Version which is without a doubt the best.

[@DavidSamuelBl10]

Video Power Edge style instructions by John Arcade, if you asked me truly personally.

[@AJ-77]

Amazing game!

[@Sekakaya6699]

Fun fact : boss battle theme in this game is crashman's theme in mega man 2

[@Agus_Lombax]

One of the best videogames ever.

[@buzzmattn6539]

One of the rare games I really beat on the NES...

[@AbleAnderson]

Contra in a batman skin. Basically it's batman using all kinds of different Contra guns lol

[@sanbrgames6397]

I've played that game a lot.

[@gabrielluque1870]

Too much better than the genesis version!!! Thes best NES graphics even today!

[@EdsterIII]

Now I know I wasn't too high on the TurboGraphx-16 Batman game, but while it wasn't what I was "used" to, it was unique, and thats not a bad thing. This however is a PERFECT EXAMPLE of a great Batman game. The graphics were stellar, the colors were vibrant, and it had a really good villain! The🃏🃏Joker!🃏🃏 Anytime the Clown Prince of Madness is involved in the game it does give it an edge. The 8-bit and 16-bit systems had some incredible Superhero games as well as some iconic cartoon licensed games. Those were two of the genres that I liked and found to be usually really good games. The Gameshow games were also usually a good go to game and not usually a bad game. Now LJN? YIKES! LOL! What really made those so frustrating was that they licensed games that were based off of some really good/iconic/awesome movies! However their gaming counterparts were not even remotely close to their original source materials. Ghostbusters ugh! Now Rambo 3, that one I MISSED OUT ON? You have a playthrough of it and it was a sensational and really good looking game!🎮 This is why I love this channel and a couple of others. You show games as they ARE. No fluff or no boosting up something that honestly sometimes does NOT deserve it. Thanks for that. You give me a honest straightforward explanation or look at some classic retro games. Since finding these older games isn't always easy or CHEAP? Finding a honest review or a decent straightforward look, as I said, of a certain game is a helpful and vital tool for me. I can KNOW that what I'm buying is something decent and not a dud. Thank you for that! I really appreciate your dedication and effort in making these videos for us to watch and use for our own "reviews" so to speak. Take care sir again and God Bless and have a Blessed and Merry Christmas, as well as a Very Happy New Year! 😊 Be safe and BE HAPPY!

[@deathstroke2697]

I still remember the passcode QPZT

[@elwoodjacobs4353]

Which level is that for?

[@CodyRayy119Games]

i miss this game so much

[@rjcupid]

Great play through as always! In my opinion, this is one of the best NES soundtracks, if not the best of the entire NES library. I put it up there with my personal favorites: Batman, Gremlins 2, Metroid, Castlevania, Rygar, Shadowgate, Contra, Journey to Silius, Shatterhand, Shadow of the Ninja, Dragon Fighter, Megaman 2, and Ninja Gaiden. To everyone watching this: What are your favorite NES soundtracks?

[@NintendoComplete]

I think I'd have to go with the first Batman, Mega Man 3, and Simon's Quest.

[@rjcupid]

@@NintendoComplete Great picks, you can't go wrong with those all time classics.

[@tameemahmed7006]

This, double dragon 2 and 3

[@rjcupid]

@@tameemahmed7006 Nice picks man! Double Dragon II is a game I played non-stop as a kid. There are so many good songs in that game.

[@evtihii]

O didn’t think in my childhood it was so short)

[@NSturm451]

I like that they reused some of the sound effects from Blaster Master

[@ronisteroficial]

Como eu Amo esse Jogo..!!! 😂🕹️♥️🤘🏼

[@mikedski9698]

The Joker Is Back! And This Time, Batman Must Face Him Alone, In A Clash That Can Only Be Played On The Nintendo Entertainment System! BATMAN RETURN OF THE JOKER! From Sunsoft!

[@JJ-qo7th]

Ah, yes, everyone remembers that time Batman took down a bunch of tornado wizards with his wrist-mounted exploding crossbow.

[@user-ui7iy4vk1e]

Seems whatever the NES could get was squeezed out of it.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

This looks better than the Genesis Batman game.

[@Kimsum77]

There is a big Contra vibe to this game. The Joker was murdered by Batman in the last game...unless this game doesn't follow the movie from 1989. The game looks cool and the graphics are outstanding for this time period. The music for me in this game is not memorable. I am hear this music for the first time with this game. The one thing that doesn't sit well with me is batman using a gun.

[@liamgoshdanglewis873]

Narumi Jinguji it does indeed happen after the 1989 movie adaptation for the NES if I were to guess maybe joker got into a Lazarus pit magically or........ He got cloned. In which case we need to kill whoever it was who made the machine before he makes more jokers.

[@liamgoshdanglewis873]

Narumi Jinguji plus batman did use guns before robin joined, because why the heck would you shoot somebody in front of a fricking kid.

[@jasoncauley4635]

Score to the game was killer

[@sangmachao]

Good game!

[@CROSSTATT]

Is this game by chance related to the 1989 game?

[@adrianroldan6093]

Same developers so i guess it's the sequel despite the joker being killed in the first game

[@carlosalbertocanoduran4171]

No entiendo por la nes no pidio mas juegos de este tipo de graficos! Si sunfof pudo?

[@MarioRodriguez-or9fn]

Me parece que en 1991 ya estaba al final de su vida y los desarrolladores se enfocaron en el SNES :(

[@TeryJones]

Y'know, Arkham Asylum could have learned a thing or two from this game's Joker Boss Fights.

[@aracelyaguilar-lw1nl]

Viva México cab .....

[@Ketis1985]

The music in this game is so similar to Gremlins 2.... yeah they both are Sunsoft games...

[@user-ui7iy4vk1e]

Is this a NES game???? Really???? It screams top-notch.

[@ravingrays248]

I always felt this was a different game then something happened during development so to save time & resources they converted into a batman game by changing the sprites & drawing new sprite art that's my theory for why this was an unusual batman game.

[@pjbrown4736]

Nicely rendered tank

[@hugoeduardolimasaguilar4585]

its almost a nes megaman. even the willy´s ship and the ending

[@mechanwhal6590]

Not to be confused with Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

[@MrWashu12]

There are a lot of batman games i know but for me the best one without the puzzles difficulty but had great music was batman returns snes wish someone would make after the death and return of superman game would make some more superman games.

[@tiefighter3445]

This game is short. I like the graphics on the first Batman game better. Was not feeling the jet pack parts. The music is good though.

[@sultaa86]

Wow i never knew this was actually a NES game at first. I only had the gameboy version when i was a kid

[@sebastiann.8088]

sultaa86 the gameboy version sucked ass