Developed by Arc System Works and published by Tradewest in 1993

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Back in the early 90's, UKbased developer Rare (those of Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye fame) released the first game in the Battletoads series for the NES. Following the success of the NES version, the game was licensed out to other development studios who converted the game to a range of gaming platforms.

The game stars Rash, Zitz and Pimple, the ohsocharmingly named Battletoads. You might have noticed that the titular toads bear a notsouncanny resemblance to a certain group of Ninja Turtles, something that Rare no doubt intended. Whilst the Toads would never reach the giddy heights of stardom enjoyed by the heroes in a half shell, they were popular enough to warrant several sequels and even an illfated animated cartoon.

The game begins with the Pimple and Princess Angelica, a friend of the toads, being kidnapped by their archnemesis, the Dark Queen (is having a voluptuous, latexclad dominatrix for a nemesis such a bad idea thing?). Naturally, Rash and Zitz are nonetoohappy with this predicament and set off in hot pursuit of their comrades, aided by their mentor, Professor T. Bird.

On the surface, the game begins as a fairly standard sidescrolling beat 'em up. Enemies emerge from the sides of the screen, holes in the ground or out the background itself and the toads must defeat them with a series of punches and kicks. One of the games most memorable features is the way toads deliver knockout blows with oversized fists and feet, adding a comedy element to the game.

Beyond the first level, the game begins to introduce new mechanics and events, most of which last for a single level; one moment the Toads can be rappelling down a chasm on ropes, the next they're catching some wind atop surf boards whilst avoiding deadly whirlpools.

I suspect that the one thing that most players remember about the game is crushing difficulty level, particularly the infamous 'Turbo Tunnel'. Essentially a test of reflexes/memory, this level proved to be a real test of skill and patience I suspect that a lot of players never made it beyond this level.

Although Arc System Works did a reasonable job in sprucing the game up for the Mega Drive, some parts of the conversion feel a little ragged. Take the Dark Queen's total of four animations in the game's final battle, or the way certain sounds are missing from the game (e.g. whilst riding the dragon). Then there's a the game's ending sequence, which is so remarkably short that you might blink and miss it entirely! I went and compared the ending to the NES version and the entire section showing the Toads climbing up the ropes on to their ship has been cut! Whether the developers had exceeded the amount of available memory on the cartridge, or whether they simply couldn't be bothered to include it remains a mystery.

The fact is, the game just doesn't have the same impact as the NES version. What might once have seemed impressive on the older 8bit platform doesn't really pass muster on the more powerful Mega Drive. Bear in mind that the Mega Drive version was released a full two years after the NES and, not only were there more technically impressive games available (e.g. Sonic 2), there were more entertaining games as well.

The way that the designers tried to keep things fresh by introducing new mechanics is by no means a bad thing, but as a fighting game, Battletoads is actually pretty dull Streets of Rage and both sequels knock spots of this as far as I'm concerned. There are very few enemies in the game and none of them offer much in the way of a challenge or variety. Once you factor in the difficulty of the Turbo Tunnel and later levels, Battletoads doesn't really make a compelling case for continuing once you reach the inevitable 'Game Over' screen.

Despite some some quirky elements and humour, I suspect players will lose interest quickly and move on to bigger and better things.

#retrogaming
#sega
#battletoads