Battletoads
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An animated series called Battletoads (upon which the games were based) was made by DiC Entertainment in the early 1990s.
Battletoads is a video game franchise. The first game, entitled simply Battletoads, is a 2D beat 'em up from Rare Ltd. for the Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy (as Ragnarok's World), and the NES. It was released in 1991. It was arguably the most graphically advanced video game for the NES, at a time when the game market was turning to Sega Genesis and SNES.
An arcade version of this game was released in 1994 by Rare, but developed by Electronic Arts.
The distinctive music of the Battletoads series was composed by David Wise.
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Story
Three teenaged, mutant toads affectionately named after skin disorders (Zitz, Pimple and Rash) have to save Princess Angelica from the evil Dark Queen, ruler of Planet Ragnarok, with the assistance of Professor T. Bird and his space ship, The Vulture.
Gameplay
Play consists of four different types of levels: racing, "snake", climbing/falling, and water. In the racing levels, half the battle is memorizing all the obstacles that are ahead of you. "Snake" levels involve climbing twisting, twirling snakes to the exit. Climbing/falling levels are a race to the top or bottom of the level through deadly, complicated obstacles. There is also a water level full of sharks, electric eels and other baddies.
The game is a balance of challenge and skill: it is very challenging but not impossible, and luck plays almost no part. Some would disagree; even among the hardcore gamers, Battletoads has a reputation as being virtually impossible to beat, mostly because of the final level, which is both very long and very unforgiving. While theoretically possible, it would require perfect or nearly perfect gameplay throughout the game to gain enough lives to defeat the final boss, which will kill you many times, no matter how good you are. Even defeating the game with a Game Genie will garner you respect for those who are old-school enough to remember the game.
Difficulty aside, it is considered by some to be very enjoyable, and possibly one of the best NES games ever.
Criticism
Due to its innovative gameplay and (for the NES) superior graphics, the original Battletoads was almost universally well-received by gaming critics. However, it has remained somewhat maligned in the eyes of the public, due mostly to a critical design flaw. Battletoads is notoriously known for its brutal difficulty and quick deaths. It gave the player limited opportunites to continue after being defeated (most other games of this size gave unlimited opportunities) and had no password or lithium battery-based save feature to enable the player to continue the game across multiple sessions. Therefore, only the most dedicated players made it more than halfway through the game, let alone completed it.
List of Games
There are several other games in the franchise, for Nintendo and Sega consoles:
- Battletoads (Game Boy): game for Game Boy. Takes place chronologically before the first Battletoads game, and features levels and some characters not seen in other Battletoads games.
- Battletoads & Double Dragon: very similar to the first game, a semi-official crossover with the characters from the Double Dragon series with a few liberties taken. Released in 1993 for the NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and SNES.
- Battletoads in Battlemaniacs: game for SNES and Sega Master System. The characters are bigger and the graphics are better. Also starring Pimple, Zitz and Rash. Released in 1993.
- Super Battletoads: arcade version released in 1994
- Battletoads in Ragnarok's World: Game Boy version of the original game, Released in 1993.
Comeback
In 2004 the lead designer of Rare's Game Boy Advance team's lead designer stated that 'a Battletoads game would be really cool on the GBA - there's nothing to confirm at the moment, but hopefully we can do one in the future.' [1] (http://www.rareware.co.uk/extra/tepidseat/gbateam/index.html) in response to a question whether a new Battletoads game was in development.
See also
External links
- The KLOV entry on Battletoads (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=B&game_id=7058)
- MobyGame's entry on the Battletoads series (http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/sheet/gameGroupId,551/)
- ClassicGaming - The World of Battletoads (http://www.classicgaming.com/battletoads/index.html)