ReMix:Batman: Return of the Joker "The Bat" 4:54

We just celebrated Batman Day a couple of weeks ago, which leads me to kick myself for not catching this one sooner. :-) Indeed, it's been a year since Astral Tales' last mixpost, so it's great to welcome him back with one of my personal favorite things for OCR: NEW GAME REPRESENTATION! (/tap, tap, tap) Anyone out there listening??? Batman Returns for the Sega CD also had a great soundtrack, by Spencer Nilsen. More Dark Knight ReMixes please!

We've had a handful of Batman arrangements here, but none yet from the sequel game in the NES lineup, 1991's Batman: Return of the Joker (not to be confused with 2000's Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker movie, which also had an awesome score by Kristopher Carter). It's time to right this wrong, with Ernesto laying out his creative process:

"I was wondering how this amazing song from Naoki Kodaka would sound if it was written for a Rocky movie. Production-wise, I went after AOR/80s rock sound. I played a lot with the structure, made a dramatic intro with the piano and set some uplifting synths for the chorus. When I had it almost done, I put it on my phone and went for a run to see if it made me feel like a World Champion. It did, so I called it finished. :)

I hope you enjoy it! Cheers!"

I love the pensive opening before we get into those AOR-inspired vibes as the track takes off at :52. This one's more of a beefed up cover approach that holds fast to the source tune's melodies, so this retains all of the catchy Naoki Kodaka writing we know and love while very seamlessly pairing it with warm pads and upbeat 80s radio rock energy (the AOR authenticity of the guitar line at 1:17 and the doubling at 1:30 are so on point). All it's missing is a vocalist singing about crime-fighting or a broken heart. Or the future. ;-)

Beyond Batman, Sunsoft's NES soundtracks are extremely catchy thanks to Kodaka (see: Blaster Master, Journey to Silius, Ufouria), so props for a strong source tune choice from a great company. Astral Tales has already graced us with upbeat music fit for a Rocky montage, so we now have a complimentary ReMix that also fits the athletic and motivational themes that clearly resonate with him. Good show by Ernesto! :-)