Holy Contra, Batman!
As the title implies, the Joker has returned (presumably from his demise in the 1989 Micheal Keaton film) and seeks revenge against the iconic hero, unleashing an army of his goons to stop the Batman in his tracks. While the game does feature a very nicely rendered character sprite for Batman, and stage clear screens feature some equally nicely rendered stills of our hero and his equally iconic vehicles along with Joker as a final end boss, the game's tie-ins with the Batman franchise pretty much end there. Enemies, bosses and level design look, feel and act as if they came from a Contra rip-off rather than a Batman game, and Batman's power-ups are clearly inspired by the classic Konami series. Even Batman's final confrontation against the Joker smacks of Contra, and quite heavily so.
Gameplay is equally generic - jump platforms, shoot enemies and collect power-ups until you reach the end of the level. Batman has two basic attacks available, a slide attack and of course his "Batarang" dispenser, which can be upgraded with various power-ups. Naturally, some power-ups are more useful than others, but many of them strike me as being more of a nuisance than useful. For example, one power-up allows Batman to shoot two strings of Batarangs, and charging up this power-up shoots a powerful blast that quickly damages enemies. However, because the Batarangs shoot in a wide sine-wave pattern, many enemies, especially ones directly in front of you, will be completely missed, and the charged-up blast is interrupted whenever Batman receives a hit, requiring the player to charge up the weapon again. Additionally, the player is frozen whenever a hit is received, and since many enemies are placed at the opposite ends of chasms spanned with moving platforms and often not revealed on-screen until its too late , this can become a frustrating experience. Even with those shortcomings, gameplay remains solid. Additionally, any level can be reached by use of a simple four-letter password system, including all boss levels.
Graphics are most definitely top-notch for any era NES game, as is to be expected from an NES game launched at the very tail end of the console's marketing life. Sound effects and midi scores, however, are average at best and match the generic nature of the game itself, lacking anything remotely resembling the orchestral score of the Keaton film.
Overall, and despite coming off as a generic Contra rip-off, Batman: Return of the Joker offers solid and enjoyable gameplay, even if it lacks anything original or engaging.