There are these times in “retro” gaming, where you come across an old title, one that maybe wasn’t appreciated at the time of its release, and find that, free of the constraints of the contemporary, the game was really a diamond in the rough, a classic before its time.
This is not one of those times.
Released in fall of 2000, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was set to coincide with the direct-to-video movie of the same name. The movie truly was a classic, pushing the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable for a “kids” show, forcing characters already strained by the aging needed by the series through even more excruciating arcs, and overall cementing Batman Beyond in its place as a rightful successor to the animated series.
The game? It was dull then and it’s still dull now.
Basically a side-scroller in the style of Final Fight and other classic “beat ’em ups,” the game does little to even make use of the N64’s more 3D polygon graphics, even as they, too, were nearing the end of their run. The gameplay is very unremarkable and there aren’t many endearing traits to it.
Batman can change between four “different” suits, that change his offensive/defensive balance, but I could scarcely tell any difference. The enemies are repetitive as hell, and there’s just not much to separate it from the more enjoyable 16-bit brawlers that preceded it. The controls are not bad by N64 standards, but it’s button mashing — not a feat for a Nintendo controller.
Visually, it’s not bad, but by 2000, the 64’s graphics were feeling the PlayStation crunch. So, that one at least is more console than game. The screencaps actually look better than they did on my TV, but screen grabs tend to do that. Animated cutscenes would’ve added a much needed boost, but on their own, the captioned ones aren’t bad.
But not-terrible controls and decent-for-the-console graphics do not an engaging game make. There is a plot to this game, and it does take you through some pertinent locations from the Batman Universe, but I was honestly too bored to care about it. It is playable, and it’s a functional game, so it’s not as broken as some on this list, but its cardinal sin is just being so… bland. I really wanted to find out that this game aged better than expected, and… hell, I wanted to like it. But it’s just not here.
I’ve seen this game for some asinine online prices, and that’s terrible — this game wasn’t worth the entry price. A buddy of mine got his copy from a K-Mart for around $5 back in the day, and my copy (his punked out on us) cost me about $12 at a retro shop that hooks it up. Don’t pay more than that. The real tragedy? This is the last cartridge game to feature Batman. Even worse, this was the only Batman game to grace the N64, a console warmly remembered for some great games. Batman only got one outing here, and it was instantly forgettable.
But as I’ve said before, the worst Batman game? No, not yet.