Battletoads is one of the latest classic franchises to see a resurgence on modern hardware. This long since the last official release should make anyone concerned. It generally does not end well for the newer release. Call it viewing things through rose colored glasses or what have you, something is usually missing from the newer entry. Battletoads has something missing alright. A rather glaring omission. The old saying, “this is not your parents’…” is true here.

A story only Battletoads could tell

It seems the toads are wanting to become famous again. Their last outing was that arcade game from 1994, after all. Their lack of publicity exposure was not their fault though. An alien race named the Topians locked the toads up in a bunker.

At least they have a different excuse for not being in any games lately. Gotta give the developers credit for some originality there.

Your quest is to return the toads to prominence through a series of levels. There is a good mix of challenge in those levels as well, not just rinse and repeat of the first.

Graphically impressive

If you have a Windows 10 PC then you can crank those graphics up to 4K. That is something not available for gamers on Xbox One, or its variants.

Overall, Battletoads features some impressive hand drawn artwork. Here is where the game stands out and calls back to the original games the most.

Depending on the button combination used, body parts will grow and morph to cause damage on enemies. This is the fun of Battletoads – stringing together some amazing looking combos. Sometimes there is so much going on that it is hard to keep track of what you should be doing.

Exaggeration at its finest.

Nostalgia is strong with this one

For me, Battletoads will always be the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version. That is the one I played the most, the Super Nintendo version being a close second. I dabbled with the Sega Genesis game as well. That version being mostly an upgraded NES version kept me from playing too much of it.

With that in mind, I do want to say, this new edition fits right in. It feels like a new entry in the Battletoads franchise. The mix of animated cut scenes and exaggerated animation in the game is great.

Those cut scenes show there was love and dedication put into this version. This was clearly not thrown together in a few months’ time and thrown out to gamers.

Battletoads controls are somewhat bothersome

I played with an NVIDIA Shield TV controller and had no problems with the controls. I was not excited about using the analog stick to move around though. This is a necessity as the D-pad is used to tag in the toads other than the one you are using.

There are some nagging controller combinations chosen by default. Things that are not used all that often, but still annoying, like eating flies. With the plethora of buttons available on modern controllers I am not sure why we still have to use button/controller combinations to do things. Minor annoyance but needs to be mentioned.

I cannot imagine playing this game using the keyboard. That is just a lesson in self-hate, I would think. If you are doing that, please check Amazon for a deal on a controller and grab one. You will not want to go back to the keyboard for these types of games after that.

Searching for an audience

When a franchise takes this long to see a new entry the question arises, what is the audience? We saw similar situations with Streets of Rage 4, Duke Nukem Forever, and others over the years.

Battletoads is in a unique position. This is because of the added game modes. Streets of Rage 4 was basically 100% brawler and nothing more. Here, we get several game modes.

3D racing for the jet bike levels, brawler levels, action platform, and more. There is a lot going on here outside of just being a brawler.

That is part of the charm of this entry. There is so much going on, from characters exaggerated attacks to new styles to play. This is certainly a worthy entry.

There is something there for fans of the original entries. There is probably just enough variety to get modern gamers into it too.

For either old or potentially new fans, check out Battletoads on Xbox Game Pass. It is cheap to subscribe to and you get access to a ton of games.

Battletoads by Rare
Developer – Dlala Studios

Platform – Xbox One, Windows (version reviewed)
Genre – Arcade, brawler
Rated – E 10+ for Everyone 10+
In-App Purchases – None
Available now on Xbox One, Windows. On Xbox Game Pass

Carl Williams

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