Batman: Revenge of the Joker (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthough of Sunsoft's 1992 license-based action game for the Sega Genesis, Batman, Revenge of the Joker.
Sunsoft's second Batman game for the Genesis is a port of the excellent 1991 NES title Batman: Return of the Joker ( • Batman: Return of the ... ).
Return of the Joker was most notably known for its technical achievements on the 8-bit platform. Featuring huge, fluidly animated character sprites, tons of parallax scrolling, and an amazing soundtrack by Naoki Kodaka featuring tons of digital samples, Sunsoft's advertising focused largely on how its presentation rivaled anything you'd find on the 16-bit platforms.
And they weren't exaggerating. In most ways, Return of the Joker could have passed as a Genesis game. Though the game was far easier and simpler than the first NES Batman game, it was a triumph, and it is still deserves to be checked out by any self-respecting NES fan.
Its focus on looking and sounding "next-gen' made the game a prime candidate to be ported to the Sega Genesis. It seems like it would be a sure-fire win, right?
So you might think.
But the fates conspired against this one. Rather than developing the game in-house like they'd done with previous Batman games, Sunsoft farmed production duties out to Ringler Studios, and the results were... somewhat less than stellar.
Revenge of the Joker includes all of the bosses and weapons, and the original stages and their layouts remain pretty faithful to the NES title. Batman has also been given a new move - a press of the C button allows him to deliver a powerful kick to whatever stands in his way.
The difficulty level has been ramped up significantly for this version, however, and it hurts the gameplay. Enemies now move faster and can soak up a ton of damage (the boss fights now feel like battles of attrition more than anything else), and most of Batman's weapons are useless as a result. Batman also got some new animations, but get this - Batman's idle stance leans his sprite forward, and this often places him directly in the path of some hazard you were trying to avoid. It's a ridiculous addition that, like so many of the other changes to the gameplay balance, makes the game far too frustrating. Endless cheap shots are not the way to make a game fun.
Making matters worse is that somehow the overall presentation represents a severe downgrade from the NES original. There is a lot more color on-screen at once, but the new color scheme is garish and cartoony, and it looks cheap when compared to the darker, somber look of the original. The graphics have all been redrawn as well, and they too fall victim to the ill-advised shift in style. And then there's the music. Tommy Tallarico is credited for the new Genesis arrangements, but this certainly wasn't a starring moment in his career. Kodaka's music is all here, but the instruments sound tinny and flat. The bass and percussion is weak and lacks any impact, and the leads are thin and weak. It's not a shining moment for FM synth.
Just as was the case back in 1992, there is no good reason to play Revenge of the Joker over the Return of the Joker. That is, unless you have exceedingly low self-esteem and are intent on punishing yourself.
Boo, Sunsoft. Boo.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

Somehow this 16-bit port of a classic NES game ends up doing little but embarrassing the Genesis. Wtf, Sunsoft?

[@danielsantana540]

I take it you dont like this game very much ??

[@NintendoComplete]

@@danielsantana540 Lol yeah, you could say that. The NES game is so much better.

[@danielsantana540]

@@NintendoComplete yeah the nes port was much more well received than genesis port but genesis port is pretty decent and it probally goes for pretty dirt cheap at these retro game stores.

[@NintendoComplete]

I'd just as soon not play it at all than play the Genesis version.

[@danielsantana540]

@@NintendoComplete i see.

[@Andrew-ze6kq]

1:30 Imagine showing this part to AVGN

[@bulb9970]

“You can just kick them?!?!? Great, so my bat gun does absolutely nothing but this tiny kick just vaporizes them. What sense does that make? I can shoot the other statues but not these ones?” *Joker laughing in the background*

[@arkanjoteixeira]

@@bulb9970 lmao, exactly like that

[@jaysonrogoz8822]

No wonder why AVGN Never pass the gargoyle.

[@eduardopereira1915]

Lol at Batman's portrait during the boss fights

[@mikaelsza]

8:22 LoL

[@eduardopereira1915]

@@mikaelsza I meant during the boss fights, but that one, lmao

[@Deader87]

Now here is one Batman game I have never even heard of until now.

[@kyokitagawa7977]

Nes>>>>>>Genesis version

[@jbdbackfan]

Outside of The Adventures of Batman and Robin, this was the most difficult Batman sega game.

[@soundspark]

@@kyokitagawa7977Sunsoft: Push the 2A03 to its limits. Ringler Studios: Redo the music in GEMS.

[@BhChicagoTVStationhistoriesand]

I played the original NES version of the game when it first released but had never seen any of the Super NES or Genesis version until recently. I’m in dumbfounded shock at how much worse both versions are compared to the NES version! You’d think the two 16 bit versions would blow the NES version clear out of the water but no, it’s the other way around here. The NES version is what I’d expect the actual 16 bit versions to be! As far as I’m concerned the NES version pushes that system to its absolute limits, it’s a 16 bit game running on 8 bit hardware full stop. Sunsoft always pushed the NES like that. Just stunned. The NES version craps all over the other two from a massive height.

[@Bloodreign1]

To be fair to the SNES version, it was never released at all, the Genesis version on the other hand, was a case of something Sunsoft would start doing in the 16 bit generation, outsourcing their games to other developers, or releasing smaller devs games under their banner. Only thing Sunsoft was still doing right at the time were their Hebereke games.

[@FingerBreakerWu]

To be fair, the Genesis version was more fair in its difficulty and was more true to what Batman is. The NES version made him out like Rambo just shooting everything.

[@soundspark]

And this outsourced developer decided to use GEMS, and badly like most users of GEMS.

[@MelloDeeBeats]

I could've been a good video game music composer in the 90s. They did a good job on this, the intro melody has stuck with me since childhood

[@soundspark]

You should hear the NES version.

[@slodekslod9337]

Maybe it has cartoony graphics, but damn the Joker in the intro is a nightmare fuel

[@elwoodjacobs4353]

Looks like a less terrible version of Joker from Serious House on Serious Earth.

[@indigosaturn255]

James charles if he cosplayed the joker

[@ShelltoonTV1]

This is what happens when Sunsoft says "fuck it," and farms it out to another developer to port. Mind you, this developer they farmed out to only had a single sports game under their belt. So chances are it was dirt cheap. I think Sunsoft was putting its eggs into both Batman the Movie and Superman at the time on the Genesis.

[@Bloodreign1]

Sunsoft did fine for the first Batman game, and Superman (I do not know why people trash that one, it was Sunsoft developed, and good), but with games like this, and Blaster Master 2, along with the Aero the Acrobat games, and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, their rep took a massive hit.

[@landismithCOJ]

The AVGN Batman episode is my first thought when I watch this.

[@MissJackietheLakester]

Those gargoyles....

[@mastermovies22]

i still have this sega game somewhere, i spent so many hours playing and it was super, good memories :)

[@foxmulder4318]

lol. I remember playing this as a kid after playing the Return of the Joker on nes, and remember thinking, why is this worse? The sound is the worst part of it for me.

[@powerstones7722]

maybe because of fighting the joker himself since he is insanely hard to beat

[@keithsmith8331]

Played both the Sega and Nintendo version of this game. Nintendo hit it out if the park. This looks like a kid wearing an 80's Halloween costume with slower reflexes compared to the Nintendo version.

[@Sinn0100]

Yeah....I didn't understand what happened here at all. This was Sunsoft that released this abomination and anyone that has ever played a good Genesis Batman game will tell you this was D minus effort. Remember the first Batman game they made for the Genesis? Greatness.

[@keithsmith8331]

@@Sinn0100 Batman returns was a good game but not on the level as the super Nintendo version. It was a great game if you are a skilled gamer. I've seen other day they hate it.

[@Sinn0100]

@@keithsmith8331 I'm going to have to disagree with you. I'm not talking about the difficulty...that doesn't even come into the equation. We'll start with the God awful sound effects first. They are so bad it almost gives you an instant headache. I can tell you that Sunsoft used the Gems Driver to make this game and it shows. The soundtrack isn't just tinny it is chains scraping the ground grindage. The game also suffers from some garish color choices. There was no need to use the Genesis color pallet the way they did...not in 1991. If you want to see a game with good use of the Genesis's color pallet that captures the 1990's comic book ascetic look at Strider for the Genesis (1990 release). Addendum- This was around the time many developers decided they were going to make the Snes their lead platform no matter who was leading the generation. Sega went from getting incredible work from 3rd parties to good enough. It's not as if the Genesis was hard to develop for...99.9% of the arcade cabs from that era all ran a 68K Motorola 16-bit processor and a Zilog Z-80 8-bit co-processor.

[@joeyjo-joshabadu9636]

​@@Sinn0100Sunsoft didn't actually develop this one, they outsourced it to a western developer and then published it.

[@Sinn0100]

@@joeyjo-joshabadu9636 AAAhh...

[@guillermojacum7014]

I used to play this version a lot when I was a kid. I really enjoyed it. And I really loved the music (I used to hum it whenever I played the game) However, I've always found funny the fact that Batman explodes as if he was made of pure energy lol. The death s.e. was particularly hilarious LMFAO

[@johan.svensson]

Joker in a spaceship throwing bubbles. 😎

[@raikohzx4323]

This looks like an Amiga port gone horribly wrong, and that's an insult to the Amiga and ports from it.

[@camulodunon]

I gotta say, I love that sneaky ninja animation that happens when Batman stays idle for too long.

[@rcblazer]

What happens when a game on the Genesis is somehow inferior to the 8-bit NES version? You get Revenge of the Joker.

[@elwoodjacobs4353]

The way they drew Batman's portrait in the boss fights is meant to look like he has a cleft or dimple on his lower lip, but because there are two big blocks of light pixels directly next to the cleft, my brain keeps thinking that he has two big buck teeth sticking out & I hate it. 😆

[@guillermojacum7014]

MEGAbatMAN This is based on the Batman 1/2 movie where Joker wants to kill Batman by resorting to soap bubbles and Batman fights back with his laser canon (he learnt that technique after meeting Megaman)

[@TheBigDynamo]

I've owned the Genesis version of this game and my opinion of the game dropped the further I got into it. 4-3 made me realized how lackluster and unbalanced the difficulty can be in this game. Throughout the entire game I used the C weapon because it mostly wipes out enemies in one or two hits. The disappointment I had when i saw the tactic needed to beat that boss with such little damage was unavoidable. Haven't played or seen much the NES version but I'm seeing a lot of people say it beats this one. Wonder how good the unreleased SNES version is

[@brandonnetwork]

So that’s how you kill those gargoyles. Slide then kick. AVGN fans rejoice, we figured it out

[@misterkuda704]

People developing this and sending it to Sunsoft for them to publish: don't care if its terrible just publish it

I love Batman games and I love the Genesis, but this game is balls. If you want a good Batman game for Genesis, go with The Adventures of Batman & Robin, or the first Batman movie game.

[@stephenmanuel9860]

Oooof. I mean, I can't be too mad, because the core content is still there, but wow, this is rough. The contracted devs tried so hard though, I'm sure. Likely under-staffed and under-funded.

[@Bloodreign1]

Sunsoft stupidly outsourced something they should've done themselves. The worst part is, the music is done by Tommy Tallarico, and it just makes him look bad as a music composer. He's pretty overrated you'd think listening to this games soundtrack. Then you look at the first Batman game on the Genesis, done by Sunsoft themselves, and Naoki Kodaka, and how well done it was, this follow up is a total embarrassment.

[@camulodunon]

@@Bloodreign1 to be fair this was one of Tallerico's first works.

[@SurelyYewJest]

@@Bloodreign1 The OST for this game sounds pretty great on NES. Not to the level of Kodaka's, but IMO it's still quite good.

[@krec0_671]

GOD I LOVED THIS GAME SO MUCH

[@tarcystozze5624]

Que nostalgia lembro de joga no meu antigo mega drive, com meus primo.ate de madrugada

[@yusakug]

If you think this is bad, you should look up the SNES version that never got released...

[@LUIGIMAN306]

Oh god...not that abomination...

[@Bloodreign1]

They are both bad, both outsourced.

[@camulodunon]

Never got released and for good reasons.

[@Patrick19833]

The unreleased SNES one actually is way better than this.

[@patricioc6883]

Looks better and sounds better on the NES

[@LegitAzBallz25]

First Level song Slaps

[@jackslammer]

I remember renting this game as a kid... and was completely disappointed by it.

[@Omniblade_Gaming]

NES is the superior one

[@90s-Trance_86]

No offend to Sega.. But.... THE NES version is the best one!! No doubt. .awsome songs and graphics but damn.. .what a difficult game it was..

[@notkimpine]

1:32 avgn never explains this part of the sega genesis version

[@danielsantana540]

Batman returns Snes is the best 16 bit version of batman in my opinion

[@retrosven8928]

No the best batman is return of the joker for nes 😊

[@ignaciocue]

@@retrosven8928 He said "the best 16 bit version of batman," not 8-bit. Besides, Return of the Joker may be good, but I doubt it's better than Batman Returns on SNES. And coming to this comments section just contradict Daniel's opinion is illogical.

[@ExtremeWreck]

Why does it look like there are like a ton of background elements that the NES original had that are missing in this version?

[@Zellig]

Yeah I remember classic batman fighting mechs in ice lava volcanoes and giant spiders.

[@justforviews3802]

Theres a smart trick to beat the last boss wish I knew that when I was a kid but when the big blue screws come you gotta jump then DUCK down quick then get back up and start shooting ;)

[@Sinn0100]

I don't know what this is but Sunsoft really messed this up good. The sound effects have to be some of the worst to ever be belted out of Sega's Yamaha YM2612 sound chip. I don't think they used the Zilog Z-80 at all when they did this game. Such a poor showing after the first game in 1990.

[@uccidere1939]

3:58 The moment I saw this, I had to pause, how did they mess this up so bad!?

[@DanielHernandez-pp1kz]

Nintendoes what Genesis dont....

[@Sukuun]

When you program a kick to be more effective against enemies and crates than a gun, you’re not making a good game.

[@DerivativeWorker]

It's like they made an easy mode and left it at that. Even the music sounds like it could have been harder.

[@Deimos_Fresh]

Surprising how you managed bosses without using power boost. It's somewhat improvement over original version, but depending on chosen weapon can suck really hard. Back then as a kid, it was mostly the only way I could've manage some bosses like the one from 4-3.

[@fgcpeak9591]

The Angry Nintendo Nerd should have tried kicking the live Gargoyles

[@LPetal86]

Yikes, everything looks badly compressed, like they didn't know how to fully flesh out things with more colors, and the music is uh... Well... it's something. This is what happens with a lazy port. Still, I'd rather play this than _Aero the Acro-Bat_ (I know some people like those games but I can't stand them).

[@NintendoComplete]

Seriously. It's like a kid that got the box of 64 Crayolas. Which one should I use? There are so many! ....I'll just use all of them! Fun in coloring books, but not so much in video games.

[@LPetal86]

@@NintendoComplete Also, Batman's face at 8:22 is horrifying. Malformed baby teeth... Eeeeesh.

[@NintendoComplete]

@@LPetal86 Omg how have I never noticed that before? He looks like one of the ghoulies

[@MissJackietheLakester]

ATA 1 wasn’t that good, but I really enjoyed the second one.

[@soundspark]

If Sunsoft had managed the port they wouldn't have used GEMS and not in such a terrible way.

[@smoothALOE]

Why does Batman look like he can’t outta retirement and put on 20 pounds for the bat suit?

[@ZaGorudan]

The soundtrack being worse on the Genesis is extra confusing considering the Genesis version of the first Batman game, while largely different from its NES counterpart, had its own kickass soundtrack. What the hell happened here?

[@ExtremeWreck]

It was farmed out to the very inexperienced & at the time incompetent Ringler Studios.

[@rikardandersson5582]

Does themanual explain how The Joker survived the fall?

[@ZZtheDark]

NES ver. superior, SNES and Genesis ver. of this game inferior. You think the Genesis would provide a better ver. compared to what we got here.

[@biged3561]

The genesis version was outsourced to a western developer not sure why sunsoft didn't worked on this in-house there was a snes version that was worked on but got cancelled

[@Vinicius-hs2rf]

NES Version is Superior.

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

Agree. The game really perfect.

[@camulodunon]

No shit Sherlock.

[@Andrew-ze6kq]

NES version may be superior, but this is one of the worst Genesis games ever. It's really that bad.

[@devingiles6597]

Hey, NintendoComplete. Can you please do a playthrough of the original Vectorman for Sega Genesis?

[@eugenehill7165]

19:40 joker laugh 23:00

[@randomguyontheinternet8345]

i only remembering this game pissing me off

[@edparadis6685]

oh wow did they even bomb the Genesis version of this game. Play the NES version. It may be harder but its got that edge look to it Batman is more of his British/American counterpart at this time and he uses the Batwing at the end and actually has a gun like stun weapon

[@SuperXzm]

Return of the Joker: Definitive edition (outsourced to China)

[@shawniebeans8382]

This game definitely waa another game Sunsoft rewrapped in Batamn themed skins. Haha.

[@camulodunon]

Call me crazy but I actually like the graphical presentation of this version. It's way less fitting than the gritty dark comic artstyle of the NES version but I like how it's generally a lot less empty and monotonous looking and the cartoony look works in it's own way. On top of there being way more layers.

[@bsaintnyc]

whats up with boss fights starting with batman being hit with lighting?

[@SurelyYewJest]

I think it's just a cool way they devised to show he's being restored to full power before starting. No story canon I can think of would fit; certainly not from 1989-1991.

[@DavidSherman1980]

Hey let's make a bad knock off of Contra, add some of the most annoying aspects of MegaMan, and then slap some Batman graphics on it... I feel like this was not originally made as a Batman game, but they just changed a few sprites and then tried to sell it as one. At least most other Batman games try to have elements of Gotham City and bat-related gadgets and art style.

[@slodekslod9337]

Have you ever seen Contra? Or at least the NES version which was way better?

[@DavidSherman1980]

@@slodekslod9337 Yeah, the NES version of Contra is great! One of the first games I owned on the NES.

[@slodekslod9337]

@@DavidSherman1980 I was talking about the NES version of Return of the Joker, which was way better than this bad port on the Mega Drive. And i still can't believe people call this game "Contra knockoff". Like, beacuse you're shooting or what?

[@DavidSherman1980]

@@slodekslod9337 Oh yes, NES Return of the Joker is much different and better than this Sega one. The Contra comparisons are mostly the crazy platforming with energy weapons and power-ups, and the boss fights. That's also why it has aspects of MegaMan too. But all poorly implemented. None of it feels like it was intended to be a Batman game during development. More likely they needed a Batman game, then slapped Batman sprites into a game already developed but not yet released. That was actually more common than people realize back then. The most famous game like that was Super Mario Bros 2. Thankfully in that case, the game they added Mario characters to was actually fun.

[@sixshooter500]

Hey, it worked in the NES form.

[@tahmajtimmons8537]

Batman return of the joker!!

[@scottodrowsky9835]

Kids today have no idea how good they have it with the Arkham series. Yep! Age moment! 😁😁😁😁

[@AddyLovestar]

the environments look okay, but why do some enemies and objects just blink out of existence when you hit them? and why are the sprites so damn ugly?

[@Wesley_C]

This game’s looked like a comic book based.

[@edparadis6685]

Based off of the London/ British version or European version of The Batman. Thank god they never put in Butch in this

[@xxyounggunnaxx]

Who else came to see how to destroy the gargoyle statues from the avgn review of this

[@Vectormantudeoz]

What happen to the colors???

[@NintendoComplete]

Not pretty, is it?

[@Vectormantudeoz]

@@NintendoComplete Looks a old computer like Ms DOS game 😂 The intro looks more consistent

[@camulodunon]

I like how it looks. Kill me.

[@alexdrago209]

такое ощущение, как будто делали совершенно другую игру, а потом просто поменяли скины на бэтмена и джокера и выпустили под лейблом.

[@blackxcrowdy]

avgn cant get past those gargyles

[@grongy6122]

Why does it feel like a shareware DOS game from 1993?

[@biged3561]

That’s true the nes version was superior not sure why sunsoft outsource the genesis port and not developed it in-house

[@AB0BA_69]

I was hoping this game might be a secret LE GEM after seeing AVGN review it, but nope... it really is a stinker :(

[@reeyees50]

Aweful port

[@prevcaq]

I can deal with Graphics and Music but the sounds from some weapons and traps are weird and loud that hurt my ear, bad choices from Devs.

[@justforviews3802]

Maybe your tv was that bad from raging over losing from joker 😝😝😝

[@NoMadManKZ]

8 bit better 😀

[@biged3561]

I definitely agree and I played both versions

[@miksaphryke]

I had just recently played this game live, and it's simply impossible to dodge the fireballs the final boss Joker has shot. I only managed to cheese through it by saving and using the invincibility powerups...

[@DanielK1213th]

The game mechanic looks awfully familiar

[@patrick8488]

No way you reached 6-3 without dieying. The problems with these longplays is that they don't help at all the average player. It's probably very easy to beat 6-3 with that weapon but the average player in a first playthrough won't have it. So, useless longplay. Unless you like to use save states.

[@joshcohn7508]

The soundtrack was so epic 🤮

[@danielsantana540]

Cool

[@ryangregoire6599]

AVGN shit on this game. I think hey was embellishing the difficulty of the game.

[@EDifyer881]

the graphics looks ugh

[@hadidy13]

The nerd brought me here

[@11atlas]

Me parece a mí..., o es mucho mejor la versión de NES? :O

[@pablobrizuela3402]

Worst port ever made

[@ferchorodry2957]

Esperaba una mejora en comparación con la NES Él sonido es peor que si fuera echo para la nes

[@ИгорьЛюбин-щ3й]

Самая лучшая версия, это версия для nes

[@WCtheComedian]

And still a country mile better than the unreleased SNES version

[@NintendoComplete]

While falling woefully short of the NES version.

[@WCtheComedian]

NintendoComplete has the world gone MAD?!?!?

[@NintendoComplete]

Yeah, I think so. Happy 2020, everybody, even if we don't survive it!

[@sebastiansrg505]

Buenos gráficos lástima los niveles son tan cortos

[@indrachaudhari7874]

The gameboy version is the one I grew up playing and I think it is much better than this.. AVGN certainly elaborately made things funny for his video but its really ok.

[@Bloodreign1]

The Game Boy one is an entirely different game, people don't seem to like it all that much, for me, it's fine, though it's difficulty can get a little cheap at times.

[@alanruiz5194]

Esta versión no supera a la de Nes.

[@falconebzk2390]

O do nes consegue melhor que esse!!

[@Avrelivs_Gold]

here you can see old games had these "definitive editions" too complete garbage from the cheapest outsource inexperienced developer

[@slicktv574]

Yikes

[@mnfd840]

The worst batman game,even for nes

[@elwoodjacobs4353]

Worse than Dark Tomorrow? Worse than Batman & Robin for PSX *&* Game.Com? Worse than Batman Forever?

[@camulodunon]

Not really dude..

[@bsaintnyc]

no wonder i never heard of this. this looks awful

[@gabrielluque1870]

horrible port!!!! NES version is ABSOLUTE SUPERIOR!!!

[@pepegrilloomega7619]

Es mejor el de nes👍