(This is the 40th game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)
This review of Battletoads comes months after I initially played the game, as I took a break from the challenge shortly after, so I might be iffy on some details in this review. One thing I know for sure though is that I was impressed by it and how, in a lot of ways, Battletoads did things I have not seen any other game do up to this point. At the same time, it's ridiculously difficult, which is counterintuitive when the developers clearly put a lot of energy and passion into creating all the levels this game has on offer.
Battletoads released on June 1, 1991 for the NES and later got released for the Sega Mega Drive, Game Gear and Game Boy. It's a beat 'em up / platformer game, was developed by Rare and just a few years ago, in 2020, actually got a reboot, but released to an underwhelming reception. One thing that is critized about the reboot is that it lacks the difficulty of the original, however, having played the original, I can't say that in itself is a bad thing, considering that this game goes way overboard with that. But if you want to reboot a game like this and take advantage of the name recognition among its fans, you need to realize that those fans most likely remember this game FOR its difficulty, so I guess that criticism is justified in that regard.
However, all my thoughts about the game you can find in my review below.
STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 2/10
There is very little story here apart from the set-up. There are three Battletoads called Pimple, Zitz and Rash. Yeah I know, very endearing names. They are escorting Princess Angelica. Pimple and Princess Angelica find themselves kidnapped by the Dark Queen and her gang, so Rash and Zitz are sent to rescue them. Rash and Zitz are differentiated in color but in this game, there aren't really any other differences between the two. The SNES game that released in 1993 actually gives each character different powers.
GAMEPLAY | 14/20
This is a very fun game to play, at least over the first third/half of the game. Most levels are actually unique in design, in some you just beat up enemies, in one you climb down a "wookie hole" and fight enemies whilst hanging from a rope, then there is an ice level where you dodge rocks and throw snowballs, a level where you surf, where you climb snakes, where you have to quickly run through tubes while large gears try to mow you down and much, much more. There is incredible variety here, and so much creativity in the design of each level, that you just have to wonder why they decided to make this game so difficult.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Battletoads would have done just fine, if its levels were actually beatable without having to spend dozens and dozens of hours to collect the muscle memory to beat this thing. For the majority of players,, most of the levels this game has to offer will simply be unachievable, whether through lack of skill or 'willpower', though I'd rather call it thickheadedness to put oneself through the torture of perfecting every button press in order to win.
In one level for example, you have to race a rat to the bottom of the map. The rat is so fast, that you simply will not beat it unless you figure out when exactly to move exactly where in the exact millisecond to avoid losing momentum. I simply could not do it after hours. That includes using an emulator and rewinding every time to try and get it down perfectly. To think that people had to do it through trial and error and with limited continues, and the thought of that just makes me nauseous.
Somehow, I got to the next level however, which is actually the penultimate level in this game. Here, you hold on to a tire and have to run away from a lollipop-like looking circle that rushes after you. To not lose your speed, you need to move left, right, up and down through many many corners and have to press the appropriate button at the exact moment that you reach the edge of the line that you are currently driving on. Miss it by a tiny bit and you already lose speed and I think just a couple of those misses are already enough to have you be outrun and overrun. It's just brutal and a little more leeway would still have this game last many hours, but actually be beatable in a proper amount of time.
As it is, the game is incredibly varied in its level design, a lot of fun, but incredibly frustrating altogether.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 6/10
There is no voice acting. Both the music and sounds are not really anything special in my opinion as far as the NES goes. Playing this game for dozens of hours to beat it will of course burn the music for the first few levels into the players brains, and I personally found the first few songs to be the best (best being slightly above average) but the overall soundtrack to be average, if not below average.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 9/10
This game looks good graphically for an NES game. Where it is very good is in the sprite quality and especially in its animation. I chuckled the first time I saw Rash's jaw literally drop to the floor when he saw a strong enemy. But even apart from that, good animation work is omnipresent in this game and it definitely adds a lot to the presentation here.
ATMOSPHERE | 8/10
The vibes in this game are pretty positive based on the presentation. Sounds, graphical design, level design and soundtrack combine to trick you into thinking this will be a fun little affair, but then you add the difficulty to the mix, which we frankly have to as it is such a big factor in this game, and it starts to get a little weird. I can't tell if it's positive or negative weird.
CONTENT | 5/10
On the one hand, I want to give a much better score here because the content is so varied and original, but on the other hand, the majority of these levels come with the caveat that they are simply very, very tough to beat without hours and hours of frustration and/or the use of the rewind feature of an emulator of your choosing.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 7/10
I got similar feelings here as in the "content" section, however, I'm gonna be a bit more friendly here because the levels are just that creative. You gotta think though, was the design choice to make it so difficult made before the levels were designed or after? Either way, I'd like to know what the devs who designed these thought about the choice to make the game so difficult, because it really is a waste of the creativity and passion put on display here for the latter levels.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 7/10
Few games are these varied and creative during this time period of gaming, especially amongst platformers. Many devs however chose to make their games more difficult than they would in a world where making games last longer without the added difficulty had been possible.
REPLAYABILITY | 1/5
Unless you're a masochist, you're not replaying this after/if you beat it.
PLAYABILITY | 5/5
The game worked well at all times.
OVERALL | 64/100
A fantastic showcase of how creative developers were at this time in video gaming history. They pulled a lot out of the NES and then some, made each level unique, put a lot of love and attention to detail, only to decide to make this game tough as nails and not allow most of the players to even see the majority of levels the devs spent so much time on designing. Very weird, but it's clear why Battletoads has its hardcore fans. I'd say absolutely check it out, but don't be surprised if you don't make it far before you drop it.
This review of Battletoads comes months after I initially played the game, as I took a break from the challenge shortly after, so I might be iffy on some details in this review. One thing I know for sure though is that I was impressed by it and how, in a lot of ways, Battletoads did things I have not seen any other game do up to this point. At the same time, it's ridiculously difficult, which is counterintuitive when the developers clearly put a lot of energy and passion into creating all the levels this game has on offer.
Battletoads released on June 1, 1991 for the NES and later got released for the Sega Mega Drive, Game Gear and Game Boy. It's a beat 'em up / platformer game, was developed by Rare and just a few years ago, in 2020, actually got a reboot, but released to an underwhelming reception. One thing that is critized about the reboot is that it lacks the difficulty of the original, however, having played the original, I can't say that in itself is a bad thing, considering that this game goes way overboard with that. But if you want to reboot a game like this and take advantage of the name recognition among its fans, you need to realize that those fans most likely remember this game FOR its difficulty, so I guess that criticism is justified in that regard.
However, all my thoughts about the game you can find in my review below.
STORYTELLING/CHARACTERS | 2/10
There is very little story here apart from the set-up. There are three Battletoads called Pimple, Zitz and Rash. Yeah I know, very endearing names. They are escorting Princess Angelica. Pimple and Princess Angelica find themselves kidnapped by the Dark Queen and her gang, so Rash and Zitz are sent to rescue them. Rash and Zitz are differentiated in color but in this game, there aren't really any other differences between the two. The SNES game that released in 1993 actually gives each character different powers.
GAMEPLAY | 14/20
This is a very fun game to play, at least over the first third/half of the game. Most levels are actually unique in design, in some you just beat up enemies, in one you climb down a "wookie hole" and fight enemies whilst hanging from a rope, then there is an ice level where you dodge rocks and throw snowballs, a level where you surf, where you climb snakes, where you have to quickly run through tubes while large gears try to mow you down and much, much more. There is incredible variety here, and so much creativity in the design of each level, that you just have to wonder why they decided to make this game so difficult.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Battletoads would have done just fine, if its levels were actually beatable without having to spend dozens and dozens of hours to collect the muscle memory to beat this thing. For the majority of players,, most of the levels this game has to offer will simply be unachievable, whether through lack of skill or 'willpower', though I'd rather call it thickheadedness to put oneself through the torture of perfecting every button press in order to win.
In one level for example, you have to race a rat to the bottom of the map. The rat is so fast, that you simply will not beat it unless you figure out when exactly to move exactly where in the exact millisecond to avoid losing momentum. I simply could not do it after hours. That includes using an emulator and rewinding every time to try and get it down perfectly. To think that people had to do it through trial and error and with limited continues, and the thought of that just makes me nauseous.
Somehow, I got to the next level however, which is actually the penultimate level in this game. Here, you hold on to a tire and have to run away from a lollipop-like looking circle that rushes after you. To not lose your speed, you need to move left, right, up and down through many many corners and have to press the appropriate button at the exact moment that you reach the edge of the line that you are currently driving on. Miss it by a tiny bit and you already lose speed and I think just a couple of those misses are already enough to have you be outrun and overrun. It's just brutal and a little more leeway would still have this game last many hours, but actually be beatable in a proper amount of time.
As it is, the game is incredibly varied in its level design, a lot of fun, but incredibly frustrating altogether.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE | 6/10
There is no voice acting. Both the music and sounds are not really anything special in my opinion as far as the NES goes. Playing this game for dozens of hours to beat it will of course burn the music for the first few levels into the players brains, and I personally found the first few songs to be the best (best being slightly above average) but the overall soundtrack to be average, if not below average.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN | 9/10
This game looks good graphically for an NES game. Where it is very good is in the sprite quality and especially in its animation. I chuckled the first time I saw Rash's jaw literally drop to the floor when he saw a strong enemy. But even apart from that, good animation work is omnipresent in this game and it definitely adds a lot to the presentation here.
ATMOSPHERE | 8/10
The vibes in this game are pretty positive based on the presentation. Sounds, graphical design, level design and soundtrack combine to trick you into thinking this will be a fun little affair, but then you add the difficulty to the mix, which we frankly have to as it is such a big factor in this game, and it starts to get a little weird. I can't tell if it's positive or negative weird.
CONTENT | 5/10
On the one hand, I want to give a much better score here because the content is so varied and original, but on the other hand, the majority of these levels come with the caveat that they are simply very, very tough to beat without hours and hours of frustration and/or the use of the rewind feature of an emulator of your choosing.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN | 7/10
I got similar feelings here as in the "content" section, however, I'm gonna be a bit more friendly here because the levels are just that creative. You gotta think though, was the design choice to make it so difficult made before the levels were designed or after? Either way, I'd like to know what the devs who designed these thought about the choice to make the game so difficult, because it really is a waste of the creativity and passion put on display here for the latter levels.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION | 7/10
Few games are these varied and creative during this time period of gaming, especially amongst platformers. Many devs however chose to make their games more difficult than they would in a world where making games last longer without the added difficulty had been possible.
REPLAYABILITY | 1/5
Unless you're a masochist, you're not replaying this after/if you beat it.
PLAYABILITY | 5/5
The game worked well at all times.
OVERALL | 64/100
A fantastic showcase of how creative developers were at this time in video gaming history. They pulled a lot out of the NES and then some, made each level unique, put a lot of love and attention to detail, only to decide to make this game tough as nails and not allow most of the players to even see the majority of levels the devs spent so much time on designing. Very weird, but it's clear why Battletoads has its hardcore fans. I'd say absolutely check it out, but don't be surprised if you don't make it far before you drop it.