DISQUS

Cinema Blend: Rant: Why The Hell Does Everybody Still Like Battletoads So Much?

  • Sammo · 5 months ago
    Challenge accepted...

    I remember Battletoads much more clearly than all the other cool, fun beat-em-up games for four reasons:

    - They're toads, which made them akin to the Ninja Turtles. Which at that age was just about the bombest thing ever. G.I. Joe, too serious. Transformers/Voltron, too flashy. Ninja Turtles, just surreal enough to be cool. The same logic applied to BT compared with other beat-em-up games that took themselves too seriously.

    - The huge fist / huge foot / huge headbutt just had a timing, and a sound effect to them that made them extremely satisfying to watch. Not like hitting the guy with the pipe in Double Dragon, which was only about as fun as pushing a button. Like, that stuff came out of nowhere. (Remember the first time you played that game and saw that? I just about flipped out.)

    - The theme music, Like I said in my previous comment. This factor can add a lot to a game. (also see: MegaMan, Mech Warrior.)

    - The "unbeatable" third level. I actually beat it a couple of times, and it more or less lead to an even harder speed level. I never saw what was on the other side of that one. This just made it unattainable, which made it something to obsess over. Which most kids did.

    So in my opinion, BT just landed on a nerve, combining a bunch of video game elements that were perfectly suited to the kids of that day and age. You could probably say a lot of the same stuff about some other games (back to ninja turtles, also x-men, metroid even though it was crazy frustrating). I say BT deserves all the praise it gets. Good times.
  • Draken · 5 months ago
    I passed the third level! In an emulator... using save states. I agree, it's damn near impossible to to go past the speedbike stage, let alone beat the game. But here's why I have such fond memories of Btoads in Battlemaniacs:

    -Hyper Stylish. No matter how cool were the Double Dragon brothers-whose-name-I-forgot, or the TMNT, none of them could transform they feet in a medieval mace or an axe, or grow horns on the forehead. Seriously, how cool is that? Also, the beat'em up gameplay was, for me, much better than the likes of TMNT IV or DD.
    -Some of the best graphics i've seen for Snes
    -Awesome, awesome soundtrack (what was pretty common fare for Rare's Snes games). The intro track is still one of my favorites.
    -Playing with my brother. I actually never played other beat'em up with him, so Btoads is pretty much the best coop I had when growing up. Oh, and friendly fire. Nothing like kicking the crap out of your brother's character, pick him up and throw him into a bottomless pit.

    There's a lot of nostalgia in there, but I think Battletoads is a great mark of an videogame era (all of Rare's pre-gamecube games are).
  • jimmyjojoshabado · 5 months ago
    Who still likes Altered Beast? I do. I just completely fucked up your logic there, since you said that no one likes the game anymore.
  • riknight36 · 5 months ago
    Well, that makes two people, I guess
  • anon · 5 months ago
    You've possibly missed something. It's a 4chan meme start on /b/, the random board.

    http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/battletoads-preorder