PrinceWatercress plays Batman (NES) - Part 5 of 5

Stage 5 is without a doubt the hardest stage in the game. You'll have to work to get to The Joker and take him down once and for all.

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Stage 5

Here we are: the cathedral. Be ready to deal with gears, a ton of enemies, tough jumps and even a little bit of slowdown.

At a few points, you'll have to drop down at the edge of a platform, then leap off the side of the platform to get somewhere. If the last stage wasn't a true enough test of holding the Control Pad towards the wall behind you as you fall so you wall jump forward off of it to get to some area unscathed, this stage will be. 

The first boss is Firebug. Stay all the way to the left and throw Batarangs. He will jump around and throw fireballs, but you can easily jump over all the fireballs and you won't have to deal with his punches and kicks. As soon as you see him throw the fireball, you want to hold A to make the highest jump you can. This will take a while to get the timing down, but it can be accomplished.

After this, you'll get one more cutscene with The Joker, then you'll fight The Joker. Get close and punch him, and step back a bit to avoid the lighting strikes he summons when he raises his hand. If he shoots, jump over the bullet. Do not crouch, because you will get hit and you will lose three units of health, which is more damage than anything else in the game deals. He will shoot up to three bullets on either side of the screen before running to the other side; if he runs to the other side before the third bullet, there is a chance that he will shoot at you again as soon as he turns around. If you keep punching him while he summons the lightning (which he sometimes does twice), he won't be able to hurt you when he charges at you (which is true of any enemy; if you keep hitting them, they can't damage you while they're flashing).

If you lose all your lives during the boss battles, you'll have to do all of Stage 5 over again...all the platforming...all the fighting...everything...to get back to The Joker. That hurts.

There is an alternate strategy (sort of). For best results, jump towards The Joker and punch when he moves his hand back before summoning the lightning, then keep punching him while in a crouching state. If he runs to the other side, follow him immediately. It is better to take damage from touching The Joker himself than from being shot by him.

You'll eventually beat The Joker, then you'll get the ending. You've beaten Batman on NES!