Hot dang, the Game Boy has so many games with "Return" in the title. Batman has had a pretty moderate record in his video game lineups so far, and while this particular installment is constantly overshadowed by games such as Batman on the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Arkham trilogy, Return of the Joker is a gem of a game on the Game Boy. Being the first game I ever completed for the console, let's see how well the game stacks up.

Graphics: Way to start off a review, huh. Batman - Return of the Joker (hereby referred to as RoJ) offers little in the way of graphics, and one of the main issues with the game is that the graphics are so boring. While the Batman himself has always had amazingly fluid animation, the enemies are a boring morass of uninteresting crooks, ninjas, and what appear to be football cyborgs. Moreover, the game doesn't include a single Batman villain that is truly recognizable other than the Joker himself. Instead of classics like the Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Bane, or even the Mad Hatter, we get such new classics like ""Dark Claw", "Shogun Warrior" (I guess Mattel's lawyers had a field day), and how can we ever forget "Foul Ball"? In a less sarcastic manner, WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Amazingly, none of these characters seem to exist outside of this game, so their bland, 8-bit selves don't have any real images to compare to. The graphics are boring, but not awful.

Sound: This game. THIS GAME. RoJ has some incredible sound tracks, and also some that are so generically bland that its a pain to listen to. In yet another aspect, the game once again becomes average. Considering the crew behind RoJ had the talents of Manami Matsumae, I'm surprised as to how unspectacular the soundtrack as a whole is. When you have the musical genius behind the original Mega Man on your team, I expect something excellent, and while there are certainly excellent tracks, there are also pathetic ones. We have amazing music, such as the title theme (which doesn't loop for no reason, and is reused with an extension for the ending), Stage 2, Stage 3, the blood-pumping boss music, and the Joker boss fight (first half) music. However, we also have duds, primarily in the stage 1 music (which is bland) and the stage 4 music (which drones a good bit). Sigh. How horribly average.

Addictiveness: The main addictiveness of the game stems from Batman's own mobility. While the Caped Crusader is permanently stuck in a running style which results in slippery ground movement, his wall-jump and grappling hook more than make up for it. Pressing up on the directional pad causes Batman to fling a grappling hook toward the ceiling. The hook holds tight, and can even damage enemies while it is being thrown. Since the grappling hook also works in mid-air, experienced players can literally have Batman grapple over a ceiling repeatedly like Spider Man. 

Story RoJ's story doesn't matter. The Joker breaks out and you gotta catch 'em.

Difficulty: Even without the steep learning curve of Batman's controls, RoJ is still quite a difficult game. However, there is a difficulty option that makes the game slightly more forgiving, but the final boss battle with Joker is altered in easy mode so that the player can now use Batarangs. Sticking to easy won't change the ending credits though, so if you really want to see the handsome picture of Batman at the end with his grappling hook, just play easy mode.

Overall: Batman - Return of the Joker, for a Game Boy title, is great. The game is fun, and the challenge scales naturally. Despite the lack of amazing graphics and music, this game is a joy to play. Play it now; you won't regret it.