Initial release date 20 December 1991 Genre Action game | Developer SunSoft, Inc. Mode Single-player video game | |
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Designer(s) Yoshiaki Iwata
Tadashi Kojima Composer(s) NES
Naoki Kodaka
Game Boy
Manami Matsumae Release date(s) NES
JP: December 20, 1991
NA: December 20, 1991
EU: November 19, 1992
Game Boy
JP: March 28, 1992
NA: 1992
Genesis
NA: 1992 Platforms Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Publishers SunSoft, Inc., Sun Corporation of America Similar SunSoft - Inc games, Superhero movie games, Other games | ||
Batman: Return of the Joker, known in Japan as Dynamite Batman (ダイナマイトバットマン, Dainamaito Battoman), is a 1991 platform video game, the follow-up to Sunsoft's first Batman game on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike that game, which was based on the 1989 Batman film directed by Tim Burton, Return of the Joker is entirely self-contained and based more on the modern comic book iteration of Batman. However, Batman mans the Batmobile from the 1989 film. A remake of Return of the Joker, titled Batman: Revenge of the Joker, was released on the Sega Genesis by Ringler Studios in 1992. A Super NES version of Revenge of the Joker was in development but never released.
A completely different version of the game was released on the Game Boy in 1992.
Gameplay
Each version of the game is essentially the same in storyline and format. The story begins with the Joker escaping from Arkham Asylum, and through various henchmen, trying to send Gotham City into chaos. Batman must survive several side-scrolling levels, as well as defeat five boss levels, to ensure that Gotham is safe.
Batman is armed with a utility belt that allows him to collect various types of icons throughout the stages in order to shoot different types of batarangs and projectiles. Batman only has one type of batarang in the Game Boy version. The console version of the game uses a password feature which allows players to return to any non-boss level which they have previously reached. The Game Boy version allows the player to select a level at the start of the game.
The music for the NES version was composed by Naoki Kodaka, with sound programming by Nobuyuki Hara and Shinichi Seya. The Game Boy version of the game had an entirely original soundtrack composed by Manami Matsumae. For the Genesis Revenge of the Joker, Kodaka's soundtrack was adapted by Tommy Tallarico.
