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Battletoads - What Happened?

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


  • 00:15–01:32 — The video introduces the history of the Battletoads franchise and explains that its decline was caused by a combination of factors: changing ownership, shifting gaming trends, fading mascot popularity, and publisher decisions rather than poor game quality alone.
  • 04:14–06:28 — Rare created Battletoads in the early '90s after seeing the massive popularity of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise in the U.S. The Stamper brothers and artist Kevin Bayliss wanted to make a similar but edgier mascot franchise inspired by TMNT and the merchandising boom around Batman.
  • 06:28–07:48 — The original 1991 NES game stood out because it mixed genres: beat 'em up combat, platforming, racing sections, boss fights, and visual effects that pushed the NES hardware. Its infamous difficulty came largely from programmer Mark Betteridge, who balanced the game around his own hardcore skill level.
  • 07:48–10:10 — Publisher Tradewest aggressively tried to turn Battletoads into the "next TMNT" with plans for cartoons, comics, toys, and merchandise. However, most of these projects failed, including an unaired cartoon pilot, as turtle mania was already fading by the early '90s.
  • 10:10–12:01 — Rare simultaneously developed Battletoads Double Dragon and Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, but both struggled commercially. Beat 'em ups were losing popularity due to the rise of fighting games like Street Fighter II, making Battletoads feel outdated despite Rare's efforts.
  • 12:01–14:05 — Battletoads Arcade became the franchise's biggest commercial failure. Although technically impressive with early 3D-rendered sprites and more violent gameplay, it launched during the peak fighting-game boom and underperformed badly in arcades, worrying Rare about future projects like Killer Instinct.
  • 14:05–15:47 — Rare even completed an unreleased Game Boy title called Super Battletoads, but canceled it due to declining sales and weakening third-party Game Boy markets. By late 1994, the franchise effectively entered hibernation while Rare focused on newer Nintendo-backed projects.
  • 15:47–18:24 — After Microsoft acquired Rare, the studio struggled for years under Kinect-focused management. Battletoads only resurfaced through cameos and re-releases, including Rare Replay, Shovel Knight, and Rash appearing in Killer Instinct.
  • 18:24–20:35 — The 2020 reboot, Battletoads, developed by Dlala Studios, took a comedic and self-aware approach that divided fans. Many disliked the new art style and tone because they expected either a darker reboot or a retro-style revival closer to the original games.
  • 20:35–22:28 — The video concludes that Battletoads likely will not return anytime soon due to Rare's inactivity and Microsoft's lack of interest in classic Rare IPs. Still, the franchise remains historically important because its varied gameplay structure heavily influenced later Rare classics and helped shape the studio's identity.
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You dont need a video, this happens
 
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Weird-uncalled for artstyle, pretty mid gameplay, and local co-op only in an era of gaming where people are lonelier than ever and gaming is done in corners of bedrooms, alone, under the glow of RGB lights.
 
There was no snes follow up. Battletoads could have taken over the world. I was the exact demographic, the NES game was a household name to any boy my age in the country, and they fumbled it. There was never a follow up that made it to my orbit. No cartoons, no action figures, nothing.
 
I am so into beat em ups and BattleToads doesn't disappoint. However, unless you have a level up system with unlockable characters or moves with online multiplayer, it's not going to attract enough people to matter.
 
simpatico said:
There was no snes follow up. Battletoads could have taken over the world. I was the exact demographic, the NES game was a household name to any boy my age in the country, and they fumbled it. There was never a follow up that made it to my orbit. No cartoons, no action figures, nothing.
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There was a SNES followup and a cartoon. Neither of them were particularly good.
 
I enjoyed the latest BT game for what it was.
A simple, silly, fun romp that was over in an afternoon or two.

Let's not pretend that the IP ever really enjoyed recognition beyond the NES game, and even that one is famous for all the wrong reasons.
 
baphomet said:
There was a SNES followup and a cartoon. Neither of them were particularly good.
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It didn't make it to my bubble, so it basically didn't exist. It's so fascinating looking back at how information traveled back then. How the hell did I get the Mortal Kombat blood code for Sega in small town Ohio with no internet? I remember getting it off a kid at school and memorizing it lol. It seems impossible with today's means. Battletoad stakeholders fumbled big time after the NES game. It had S-tier goodwill among the boys in the school yard. It seemed as big as TMNT in terms of sentiment.
 
Mmm this looks like a fun watch. Battletoads was so good for the first few stages. If only kid me understood I needed a brain disease to actually complete the game. Now with rewind states I've actually managed to get pretty far into the game though with co-op it's near impossible for my son and I to beat that razor-wheel-hand-peddle stage where the toads can get cut in half. Why was so much of the NES and SNES game not a beat em up? And there was a cartoon, I tried to watch it any chance I could which was almost never.
 
Played a lot of the OG and the SNES games and was very interested in a revival after Killer Instinct. But the art style and awful humor of said revival killed any interest I had before I ever saw what they did to the Queen.
 
I actually liked it. At least it was beatable by mere mortals, unlike the NES game where I never got past the third stage.

Also, the OST slapped!

When MS got cozy with Nintendo, I was hopeful they'd bring it to Switch. Disney Illusion Island proved the hardware can handle their engine/pipeline. Maybe someday…
 
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Still one of the hardest games ever with some of the best music ever.

Got Toads NES and Mario 3 for Xmas one year. Even just being able to get to that first bike section in Battletoads was enough for me as a 10 year old.
 
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