Once again, Gotham City is under threat. This happened during the calm winter time, right before the Christmas holidays, when people spend most of their time fussing in shops and choosing gifts for loved ones. Suddenly there was an explosion in Gotham Plaza! The monstrous terrorist attack left the mayor of the city with no other options, how to once again turn to the superhero for help. So, Batman is back again to eliminate the evil aggressor!

Batman Returns moves away from the platforming tradition of the past, now it is a classic beat'em up. In order to complete the game, you need to destroy all the enemies on the level, mostly with your bare hands, the Batarangs familiar from the first part now have a very limited number. The standard Beat 'em Up style levels change to riding the Batmobile and the Batbot as you progress. The Batmobile is equipped with a machine gun and Batdisks, riding the Batbot is more like a bonus passage: there are no enemies in the level, but there are bonuses that you need to collect as many as possible.