Battletoads Review by: rcarter2 - 8.8/10
Battletoads: Prepare for a challengeOverall: 8.3
The NES is well known by the older generation of gamers for making some of the most difficult video games in history. When they are asked to list some of the hardest NES games of all time, Battletoads is almost always on that list. This game is borders on cult classic, and it definitely lives up to it's hype. It is an old fashioned beat em up side-scrolling game with about a dozen twists, the obvious one being you are muscular human-sized toads pounding pigs, rats, and robots until they beg for mercy.
Graphics: 10
When it comes to graphics, the NES has it's ups and downs. But they went all out on this game. The environment is just stunning, especially considering what they had to work with. Each character had shadows, levels had running water, well shaded objects, a background that turns from wood stakes to endless fire, and the list goes on. The creators of this game were not lazy when it came to the small details with this, and it is one of the most beautiful graphics the NES gave.
Sound: 10
Have you ever played a game and hated the music or sound effects so much that you had to mute your TV? I can assure you that will not be
the case when you play this game. If anything, you will crank that volume up! I love the crunching sound of your light punches, and then the
deep BASH when you knock them off the screen. The music of this game is also amazing, and better yet, is unique to each level. That means you don't have to listen to the same music over and over again. Lastly, this is likely the ONLY game you will keep paused just to hear the awesome paused music.
Addictiveness: 6
Even though there is a variety of things to do in this game, the sound rules, and has awesome graphics, I had to give it dock it on addictiveness simply because it is so hard. You have a fair amount of opportunities for extra lives, and you get three continues. But the game is still ridiculously hard, and you are sent back to a checkpoint every time you lose a life, meaning you have to repeat hard parts again. Since there are no passwords, you can't continue from a level after you lose completely. When a game is this long, that hinders the addictiveness. There is nothing more frustrating than playing for an hour, getting really far, dying, and have to start from the very beginning. You are likely to quit for a while rather than keep playing.
Story: 7
Stories typically aren't super well developed in NES games, and this is no different. The main story is the Dark Queen has captured a princess and one of the Battletoads, so it is up to the other two to rescue them. I bumped up the story a point because the banter the dark queen gives you before and after each level, and the Falcon's (toad's commander) offers insults back to her can be entertaining. The game also has different things, and they pick them randomly each time you play, so it is worth reading the dialogue even if you played before since it will be different. Also, the fact the toads names are Pimple, Rash, and Zitz is enough to bump up the story by a point.
Depth: 10
Even though this game follows a completely linear path, leaving no room to explore, this game is still massive. There are 12 levels in all. The first level is pretty short, but it pretty much ends there. A lot of the levels will take you up to 15-20 minutes to go through assuming you don't die and do things perfectly with no stopping. I also this was a beat em up game with many twists, and this is why. Not only do you get to pound enemies to oblivion, you get to ride turbo bikes, surf, fly a jet, travel through an entire level hopping on giant snakes, travel through an entire descending down a hole with a rope, swimming, race rats, and ride a clinger winger (just have to see that one). There is not a lack of variety, so you can't claim this game gets repetitive.
Difficulty: 10
This is a game that has more than earned a 10 rating on difficulty. Though normal enemies aren't too much of a problem, the environment is a giant death trap. About half the things in this game are instant kills. On two levels (the bike level and jet level) it starts off easy. But at the end, the obstacles are coming at you so fast, your movements have to be perfection. A lot of times, that is a figure of speech. Not on this. If you delay for the slightest possible moment, you crash and burn. On the clinger winger level, there is no easy beginning. The entire has to be near perfection, or you will die because the orb chasing you is faster than you are. This game is likely the cause of a lot of NES consoles being broken, controllers flying through the TV, and hair pulled out. Don't start this game taking it lightly.
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