One of the most exciting aspects when it comes to any fictional piece of media is the idea of crossovers. There have been plenty of these that have appeared in all sorts of fictional media, where two separate franchises are brought together for one big, game-changing event, whether it be to take on each other, or to team up to face off against a common threat. Nowadays, we see crossovers all the time in all sorts of places, so they aren’t necessarily all that exciting anymore, but back in the day, these were a lot rarer to see, which made them all the more exciting whenever two series would cross paths with each other at some point. This can be seen with one of the earliest pure crossover games that had ever been made at that point, Battletoads/Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team.

I have covered my fair share of both Battletoads and Double Dragon games on this website, and from what I have experienced, I would say that I am a fan of both series (despite their numerous faults) for plenty of reasons, so seeing a crossover between the two of them is pretty cool, especially since you wouldn’t expect something like this from 1993. And after playing it, I am genuinely surprised by how well it turned out, because this was actually a really solid game all around. In fact, I would go as far to say that this is the best Battletoads/Double Dragon game in both their respective series so far. Yeah, I thought it was that great.

The story is pretty basic for a crossover, where The Dark Queen from Battletoads teams up with the Shadow Warriors from Double Dragon to hatch another plan to rule the galaxy, so it is up to the Battletoads to team up with the Lee Brothers to stop them once again, which is as generic as a crossover plot can be, but it doesn’t matter too much at the end of the day. The graphics are pretty much the same as the original Battletoads on NES, but you can see the improvements made to them all throughout this game, such as with new animations for attacks, and even some moments of 3D that can be seen, the music is pretty good, being what you would expect from a Battletoads/Double Dragon game, but it is still great to listen to as you are kicking plenty of ass, the control is the same as the original Battletoads game, so moving on, and the gameplay manages to retain the same kick-ass gameplay of both series, while also throwing in the variety of Battletoads to make things more exciting.

The game is primarily a beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the Battletoads or one of the Lee Brothers, go through a set of seven different levels that go through numerous locations, beat the fuck out of many different enemies that come from both the Battletoads and Double Dragon universes, gather plenty of points, health items, invincibility items, and extra lives to help you out along the way, and take on plenty of bosses, each one also either being from Battletoads and Double Dragon, who will provide quite a challenge if you aren’t quick on your toes and fast with your punches. In many ways, it is mostly what you would expect from a game from either of these franchises, but what helps is that this is the most fast and fun game that has come out of either of these franchises, and I was having a blast with it from start to finish. Not to mention, there are some new elements to be seen in there.

Since this was developed by Rare, this is primarily a Battletoads game, which means that it plays very closely to one, and it is all the better for it. The combat is still satisfying, the animations are over-the-top and incredible, the moves that you can pull off with each character are plentiful and invigorating, you can also play with a friend, even in a mode where you can’t hurt each other, and the difficulty is thankfully toned down, so you won’t be constantly fucked in the ass! That’s great to see. Not to mention, this game also comes with the variety that Battletoads has, but not to the extent of previous games. It mostly focuses on the beat-’em-up gameplay 75% of the time, but there are moments where you will be riding the speed bikes, or where you will be descending on ropes, just to add a little bit of spice into some of the levels. Not only that, but there is also a brand new type of gameplay segment where you will take control of a ship in an Asteroids-like segment, shooting down plenty of asteroids and taking on a pretty sweet boss fight. It isn’t too in-depth, but seeing something like this in one of these games is pretty refreshing, and I did have a lot of fun with it.

However, this is not a perfect game by any means, or even a good crossover for that matter. Like I mentioned before, this was developed by Rare, so it plays and feels mostly like a Battletoads game, with the Double Dragon characters just sort of… being there. Sure, there isn’t much to get from Double Dragon that would make this feel more unique, but even still, if you were to take all of the characters from that series out of this game and replace them with some other group of randos, nothing would change. Also, while the game’s difficulty is not as bullshit as other Battletoads games, it can still be pretty damn hard, especially in the later levels, and they still kept that mechanic of where if one player loses all their lives, you both get a game over. I don’t know why that isn’t fixed yet at this point, but even so, that is still not fair in the slightest.

Overall, despite the difficulty, game over shenanigans, and lack of Double Dragon presence, this was still a fantastic game, one that I immensely enjoyed playing through and through, and I would definitely say it is the best game so far in both the Battletoads and Double Dragon series respectively. I would definitely recommend it for those of you who are fans of either franchise, or for those who just love old-school beat-’em-ups, because this game will manage to satisfy anybody itching to beat up some dudes to some sweet tunes. And to think, it took a completely different franchise to make a truly fantastic Double Dragon game happen. That is somewhat depressing, especially with what that series had been putting out at that point.

Game #462