"Excellent Beat 'Em Up Game Made By... Rare???"

Battletoads was a fun side scrolling ''beat 'em up'' game originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The success of the game spawned sequels on the Game Boy and Super Nintendo, and a teaming up with fellow fighters from Double Dragon.

In Battletoads, you play the role of one of three big, huge, mutated toad creature. Your girlfriend has been kidnapped by the evil Dark Queen, and you must battle though eight chaoctic stages to save her. The plot, like most pre-Genesis action games, is Gouda-level cheesy at best.

Battletoads does excel in the important aspect of action games - gameplay. Each toad has the same abilities. You can jump, punch, and run. Punch is one of the two main attacks in the game, and after five punches a super punch is thrown, if the enemy is weakened enough. If it isn't, then you'll simply kick the enemy.

The other main attack is running (by tapping the directional pad in a direction twice) then pressing attack. This will launch a flying head butt, which obliterates most enemies. You can also pick up enemies and throw them, however, this won't damage most of them. Some enemies leave behind parts, such as a leg, which can be used as high damaging weapons.

There's also a few other play modes. At some points, you're supposed from a rope and must battle while falling down a pit. However, the controls stay essentially the same. You also get to ride a cool hoverbike and a gnarly spinning wheel. The other modes provide some welcome favorite to a somewhat tired genre.

The control is a soft part of Battletoads. At many points in the game, your controller will go hurtling towards the television in a sort of beserker's fury. Jumping is a particularily sticky part, and it takes time and practice to execute well. There's also no jump attack. Your toad just punches in the air, which is not especially effective.

Make no bones about it, Battletoads is NOT an easy game, despite the somewhat kiddish appearance and plot. Enemies are relentless, and the stages always provide plenty of tricky and skill-requiring jumps. This game is not for the faint, or the easily frustrated.

Battletoads is a frustrating multiplayer game. Both players are sharing the same screen concurrently. As a result, jumps must be made at the same time, otherwise one character gets ''pushed'' off by the oncoming screen. You can also inadvertantly kill you partner, because your punches do damage to the other Battletoad. All in all, the multiplayer could have been massively improved.

Graphically, Battletoads resembles a good animated cartoon. The colors used in the game are pleasing to the eye, with vivid shades of green and red and orange. Huge exaggerated limbs are also plentiful. There's some very small issues with graphical slowdown, however, it's never a large issue at all.

Sound-wise.... Well, it's the NES. If you're expecting anything great, look elsewhere. It's mostly midis, and machine blips and beeps. The effects are good though, with big explosion noises when you launch a big boot or fist.

Overall, Battletoads is an extremely good game, and deserves a spot in your collection next to other games such as Double Dragon. The control prevents it from achieving a perfect score, but it's still incredibly enjoyable. Try it out for as little as four bucks at Funcoland.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/01/01, Updated 03/01/01