Injustice vs Lego vs Arkham vs... #joker #batman #arkham
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00:00Whether he goes by Jack Napier, Arthur Fleck, or nothing because he's a tiny Lego man,
00:04Joker is the pinnacle of not just comic book villainy, but many other mediums too.
00:09Since making the jump to video games in the late 1980s, there have been many versions
00:13of this purple-clad sadist to choose from, but which one comes out on top?
00:17I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com, and this is ranking every video game Joker from worst
00:21to best.
00:22Number 11, Batman The Caped Crusader, Batman 1989 slash 1990, Return of the Joker, Revenge
00:28of the Joker, and Batman The Animated Series on Game Boy.
00:32Joker in-games had to start somewhere, and with Tim Burton's theatrical interpretation
00:36of the Dark Knight exploding at the box office, plans for a swath of tie-in video games were
00:41quickly made.
00:42The issue that plagued all these titles, as each version of the Clown Prince was trying
00:46to live up to Jack Nicholson's iconic portrayal, or for the animated series Mark Hamill's,
00:51was that gaming clearly had a ways to go when it came to anything truly cinematic, or in
00:55terms of capturing an actual performance.
00:58That's not to say these games weren't serviceable enough, and people were able to rely on their
01:02imagination more prominently during such a flat era, but the first appearances of a digital
01:07Joker, despite being profitable, are at the bottom of our list.
01:10Number 10, Batman Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Alan Enloe.
01:14Oh, what could have been?
01:15For Batman's first and only GameCube exclusive, anticipation was pretty high.
01:20Sadly, though, for Joker, his lifeless model came with a personality that just felt embarrassing.
01:25For whatever reason, the developers thought it would be feasible for this Joker to play
01:28an organ like an old pensioner in a church, which admittedly is a first, with interactions
01:33between him and Batman feeling more like a friendly reminisce between old friends than
01:37someone encountering their arch-nemesis.
01:40Making Jared Leto's take look Oscar-worthy, Dark Tomorrow gets almost everything wrong,
01:44and retrospectively was a giant waste of time.
01:47Number 9, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, voiced by Richard Epcar.
01:51Okay, on to better things, at least in terms of the games themselves.
01:56Despite the DC roster containing murderous psychopaths in the form of Joker, Deathstroke
01:59and Lex Luthor to name just a few, a historically bad decision at Warner Bros saw all blood
02:04and guts vetoed for the DC roster in their own Mortal Kombat game, regardless of a character's
02:09nature.
02:10With many fans buying into the obvious appeal of a fully let-loose Joker you can play as,
02:15instead came mass disappointment, as the Clown Prince would kill someone off-screen with
02:19little to no implications of any violence at all.
02:22One year prior to this in the comics, Joker had murdered Jason Todd in cold blood, crippled
02:27Barbara Gordon and even poisoned a group of children with candy floss, but playable game
02:32violence was apparently too much.
02:34Number 8, Batman Vengeance, voiced by Mark Hamill.
02:37Man younger me loved this game, and though Joker's plan boils down to just fighting
02:42Batman in hand-to-hand combat over and over, this being one of the first times you could
02:47play the animated series versions in 3D was still something special.
02:51Still in the grand scheme of video game Jokers, this one came with lacklustre writing across
02:55the board, and an in-game model that looked severely compromised on the production side.
03:00Though it was nice seeing Joker more fully realised in 3D for the first time alongside
03:04Harley Quinn, it's underwhelming how much there is to celebrate beyond surface-level
03:08appreciation.
03:09Still though, just saying, I had a lot of fun.
03:12Number 7, Mortal Kombat 11, voiced by Richard Epcar.
03:15In Joker's second delve into the Netherrealm, he doesn't only stand out from the crowd
03:19based on aesthetic, but in a rare turn of events given the character, this Joker is
03:23an overpowered martial arts beast.
03:25After entering the roster post-launch, he shook up the foundations of the game by instantly
03:29becoming a fan favourite, and many players opted to use Joker as their main for a plethora
03:34of extremely good reasons.
03:36His zoning ability is top-tier, the versatility and humour of his moveset is unmatched by
03:40the majority of fighters, and his finishers are finally in line with that signature sinister
03:45personality as Warner Bros learned their lesson from MK vs DC.
03:49Number 6, Injustice slash Injustice 2.
03:52Although he feels like an instrumental part of the mythos, and that's certainly the
03:56case story-wise, Injustice 1 and 2's Joker gets very little to do once the plot is in
04:00motion.
04:01Why?
04:02Because he is the plot.
04:03In one of the darkest storylines ever told, Joker tricks Superman into murdering a pregnant
04:08Lois Lane.
04:09Kickstarting the Injustice-verse as Kent then doubles down on authoritarian rule, killing
04:14Joker in an attempt to never let something similar happen again.
04:17Whilst a phenomenal primer for what's to come, it does leave the Clown Prince out of
04:21action.
04:22Come Injustice 2, we had a vastly improved character design, and a hallucinatory fight
04:26where Harley Quinn battles Joker's influence on his psyche inside her mind.
04:30All told, it's an effective, memorable portrayal of the character, but by definition of the
04:34risk taken to distinguish this universe, not one Joker is actively part of for very long.
04:39Number 5, The Adventures of Batman and Robin.
04:43As a game, just nails the look of its source material, and this 16-bit tie-in to the legendary
04:48animated Batman TV show came with an incarnation that's just pixel perfect.
04:53Moving with just the right amount of menace and showboating flair, almost three decades
04:57since it was released, there's nothing quite like 2D animated Joker in 2D video game form.
05:02Even more complementary to the character's design are an array of awesome imaginative
05:06levels, backed by visual and sound effects that were groundbreaking for the time.
05:10All this added an extra layer of personality to every interaction between Batman and Joker,
05:15creating a firm favourite for millions of fans that's sadly quite hard to access today
05:19without original hardware.
05:21Honestly, put this on Nintendo Switch Online, PS Plus Premium, Game Pass or whatever else,
05:26and you'll have a social media dominating win.
05:28Number 4, The Lego Batman Series, voiced by Christopher Corey Smith in Lego Batman 2 and
05:343.
05:35With the inception of the original Lego Batman in one fell swoop, Joker went from violence
05:39to silence, meaning the character's signature whims would have to come through slapstick
05:43comedy or just animation alone.
05:45This dependence on body language is what made the pre-voice acted Lego games so incredible,
05:49and Lego Batman's Joker is one of the best minifigs of that entire run.
05:53Although this went down well enough across the first game, we were really not ready for
05:57how good Christopher Corey Smith's vocal talents were going to be, taking all the tenets
06:01of the character and just sprinting with them.
06:04I wouldn't be surprised if this Joker is a whole younger generation's very own Mark
06:08Hamill.
06:09So maniacal, energetic, charismatic and deliciously evil is Smith's delivery, it's up there
06:14with the very best.
06:15Sure, the target demographic was young children, so this Joker is more subdued than others
06:19on this list, but when so much raw Joker energy exudes from every plastic paw, it creates
06:25a version of the character that's just delightful to watch.
06:28Number 3, Batman The Telltale Series, voiced by Anthony Ingrabo.
06:32This interpretation deserves props for the idea alone.
06:35Since the inception of Joker, there have been many versions, but never have we seen one
06:38corrupted by innocence by Batman.
06:41Other than the stellar Arkham titles, this is the most horrific representation of the
06:45character, as we watch Joker go from self-assured hero all the way through to confused psychopath.
06:50After initially meeting Bruce Wayne in a mental asylum where they're both patients, we're
06:54introduced to a docile man by the name of John.
06:57Or so it seems.
06:58As the story unfolds, John gradually spirals further and further into madness, devolving
07:03into what he was destined to become, and what he becomes is one of the most phenomenally
07:06original interpretations of Joker seen in the last few decades.
07:10The overarching story of Telltale's Batman is fantastic, acting is top-notch, and the
07:15ferocity of Joker in full materialises at the perfect time.
07:19Number 2, Batman Arkham Origins, voiced by Troy Baker.
07:22At the time, this radical shift of the Arkham timeline did not go down well.
07:27Fans and critics pointed to plot holes regarding Bruce's combat abilities no longer making
07:31sense pre- and post-asylum.
07:33Many of us simply didn't like Roger Craig Smith's take on Bruce Wayne, and without
07:37Rocksteady at the helm, it was easy to think the whole thing was a cash-in, which it arguably
07:41was when we're talking about Warner Bros greenlighting the project.
07:45However, Origins has slowly accrued its fans, being re-appreciated over time thanks to a
07:49great script and, best of all, a stunning turn from Troy Baker as Joker.
07:54Usually associated with gruff or bland characters, Baker's fireworks display of a performance
07:58has all the snarl and venom of a younger, creepier Joker, discovering Batman and Gotham
08:03overall.
08:04Origins wasn't just about Batman's history, but Joker's too, and far too many Arkham
08:09fans missed out on a set of levels and sequences that let you literally play through Joker's
08:13very mindset, as he realises his connection to Batman and the eternal rivalry that will
08:18come next.
08:19Even Rocksteady didn't do the psyche of Joker this much justice, and with such a sincere
08:24attempt at breathing life into the character, it deserves to be celebrated.
08:28At number one, Batman Arkham Asylum City and Night, voiced by Mark Hamill.
08:33Potentially Mark Hamill's best voiced performance, or his most inspired performance outside Luke
08:37Skywalker, this exceptional take is straight-up iconic, the performance millions of fans try
08:43and fail to replicate, and an embodiment of the character that dominates pop culture and
08:47video game history simultaneously.
08:49After a string of mediocre Batman games across the 2000s, a failed Dark Knight tie-in being
08:54given to No Name as Rocksteady changed everything.
08:57It was the perfect combination of every possible element.
09:00The rhythmic combat system, Kevin Conroy returning as Batman, gorgeous graphics, larger-than-life
09:05character models, a previously untapped setting, and the perfect antagonist.
09:09Having Joker almost immediately gain the upper hand was a masterstroke, leaving Hamill to
09:13have a lot of fun as Joker is then constantly in your ear and all around Arkham Asylum.
09:18From speaker systems to random TVs, whenever he appears he just steals the show.
09:23One of the best, if not the singular most exemplary Joker-centric saga ever written
09:27in a hundred years of Batman history, this is an easy number one.
09:31At least, that's what I think.
09:33Let me know your favourites down in the comments below, and please subscribe to the WhatCulture
09:37Gaming Podcast.
09:38For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, and I'll catch you soon.