Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, Nostalgia brought me here

Battletoads is one of those properties that is fondly remembered. The NES game isn’t that great, but it can be fun. Its main issue is being way too hard.

I don’t remember hearing about this game until the 2010s. I didn’t have Nintendo Power, and the PC magazine I was subscribed to never mentioned console games. It is another example of how not everyone knew about every game. This tends to be lost on people in the internet age.

This isn’t a game that I would come back to play again. Not because it is terrible, I think it is better than the NES game, but because I wouldn’t say I like the franchise that much. This is a great-looking game, but it isn’t all that good as a beat ’em up.

TLDR: It is a beautiful-looking game but a shallow multi-genre game that doesn’t do anything particularly well.

Narrative

The game has a story. It isn’t a great story but doesn’t need to be. It sets up who the characters are, why Zitz isn’t playable, and what is happening. It is exactly what you might expect from a beat’em up in the 1990s.

The Battletoads show up at a science lad, where science is being done. Things go sideways, and two Battletoads have to go into some alternate dimension to rescue a lady and Zitz because Zitz has a fetish for being rescued.

They go to a Gamescape where they have to stop two evil people, one of whom is a Dark Queen. This game also has a few endings, which is pretty cool. That is pretty much it.

Gameplay

This game suffers from the same problems as the NES game. It is too hard and too cheap at first. You can get used to the game and get better at it, but it can take a while.

This is a multi-genre game. Much like the NES game, none of the genres are done particularly well. It is fantastic to see a company try to do this, but you would expect one of the genres to stand out and elevate the game.

You can only play as one of two Battletoads. I have no idea why Rare only included two out of three in the game. You play as either Rash or Pimple. Zitz is in the game, but he gets captured. You can’t choose which character you want.

There is no way to change the difficulty, number of lives, or anything else you might expect. You can change the music, though. I’m not sure why you would want to.

As a beat’em up, this isn’t that great. There is little strategy involved; you can walk up to enemies and mash the attack button. You can jump and need to if you want to get through the game. Aside from those two buttons, there isn’t much else you can do.

This feels like an NES game. Little to nothing was changed to improve the gameplay, and I was expecting more from an SNES game.

Visuals

This game looks fantastic! The sprites are huge and well-detailed. The levels look really great.

I never had any issues lining up attacks. When projectiles appear, it is easy to avoid them if you act quickly. It is a great-looking game.

The cutscenes are wonderful. I love how they look; they add so much to the game. It makes the game feel more like a comic book than a video game.

Overall, I like the look of the game. The graphics are wonderful, and it looks much better than some of the games on the SNES. I wish the gameplay matched the graphics.

7.5/10. I wouldn’t say I like Battletoads that much. It looks good and is ambitious, but that doesn’t mean it is a good game. Nostalgia has been the driving force behind this franchise.

Pros

• Great Graphics
• Ambitious Multi-genre game
• Unlimited Continues

Cons

• Repetitive
• No difficulty options
• Frustrating

Conclusion

As a beat’em up, this isn’t a very good game. When you look at it as a whole, it is an ambitious game that doesn’t do much to stand out. It has a bunch of great ideas, but none of them are done well.

The gameplay is the most annoying part of the game. Every fight is cheap. There is very little strategy in the game. It feels like you mash your attack button until you win. When the game moves into another genre, your hitbox is too big.

It is nice that this game exists, but I don’t like it that much. I prefer the Sega Genesis version of Battletoads. This whole series of games feels like something I should like, but I can’t get into them.