Game Debate #21: Battletoads

[Reed Rothchild | 9,493]

 

[G-type | 2,472]

I love Battletoads. It is a TMNT ripoff, but somehow it still manages to carve out its own identity. The NES game is an amazing but flawed game. Levels 10 and 11 both have game breaking glitches. The 2 player experience is pretty bad (they shouldn't stop the game if someone dies, friendly fire is really hard to avoid on certain levels, and on level 11 the second player simply can't play).

The extreme difficulty level is perhaps exaggerated. Yes, it IS incredibly difficult, but this is par for the course for a ton of NES games that people don't seem to complain about so much. Put it this way: I beat the game, and I'm average skill level at best. The game's high difficulty, is part of the reason it has remained relevant. It does require incredibly precise gameplay, but mostly it requires memorizing every level, because there just isn't enough time to react to some of the obstacles unless you already knew they were coming.

The graphics and music are very good. The level variety is great: They got beat'em up, rhythm game, 2d platforming, racing/obstacle dodging, psuedo 3d levels.  Its constantly introducing cool little touches to charm and entertain you (eating flies to regain health, space invaders that literally attack your life bar, fists that get giant when you punch, transforming into a wrecking ball when you are on the rope, your eyes cartoonishly bug out when you see a big boss, fight seen from a boss POV, infectious beats on the pause screen) 

Edited October 29, 2020 by G-type

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

It's okay, but I'd rather play the Double Dragon or TMNT games. 

[ifightdragons | 234]

To sum Battletoads up, personally:

Core mechanics, controls, music and graphics: Very good. It's tightly programmed.
Level design and challenge: Somewhat mediocre and unfair.
Conclusion: Not very fun, except for in very short bursts, where it can shine. 5/10

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

best best em up on nes 

[mbd39 | 2,013]

I don't know about best beat em up on NES. It's not even really a beat em up. But it's a 10/10 from me.

[mbd39 | 2,013]

5 minutes ago, ifightdragons said:

To sum Battletoads up, personally:

Core mechanics, controls, music and graphics: Very good. It's tightly programmed.
Level design and challenge: Somewhat mediocre and unfair.
Conclusion: Not very fun, except for in very short bursts, where it can shine. 5/10

Have you made it past the turbo tunnel?

[ifightdragons | 234]

13 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

Have you made it past the turbo tunnel?

Only once, sadly. I've watched numerous longplays though. Do you enjoy the later levels more?

[mbd39 | 2,013]

2 minutes ago, ifightdragons said:

Only once, sadly. I've watched numerous longplays though. Do you enjoy the later levels more?

Yes. There's 9 more levels. You really can't judge it on the first three. I enjoy the variety, the high degree of challenge and the level designs.

As for the game being unfair, there is a lot of stuff that will kill you unless you know in advance that it is coming. Trial and error and memorization are required. That could be seen as unfair but it doesn't bother me.

 

 

[Tulpa | 3,485]

It's got a charm, and that Rare quirkiness in the graphics and gameplay that makes it unique, but it's too uneven a game for me to rate it very high.

Music is top notch, especially Volkmire's Inferno.

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

1 hour ago, mbd39 said:

I don't know about best beat em up on NES. It's not even really a beat em up. But it's a 10/10 from me.

not a beat em up?

your show brother!

[mbd39 | 2,013]

6 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

not a beat em up?

your show brother!

It's a beat em up for the first two stages (which is about as far as most people get) and then there's a bunch of vehicle stages and platforming. Not sure calling it a beat em up does the game justice.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Pretty much what g-type said. Fun game and very inventive but broken and extremely cheap in parts. 2 player sucks as well. Great music and graphics.

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

33 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

It's a beat em up for the first two stages (which is about as far as most people get) and then there's a bunch of vehicle stages and platforming. Not sure calling it a beat em up does the game justice.

its a beat em up whenever there is an enemy

[peg | 370]

If you want to play a Battletoads beat em up play the arcade version.  As for the NES game, it's one of the best platformers on the system.

 

The difficulty is overrated, it's not very hard at all considering the ridiculous number of extra lives you get, and that's not even counting all the warps that let you skip 1/2 the game.

 

8/10 for me.  The scoring system is broken and the bugs drag it down a bit, especially the game breaking ones in the later levels and the 2-player bug.

Edited October 29, 2020 by peg

[mbd39 | 2,013]

11 minutes ago, peg said:

If you want to play a Battletoads beat em up play the arcade version.  As for the NES game, it's one of the best platformers on the system.

 

The difficulty is overrated, it's not very hard at all considering the ridiculous number of extra lives you get, and that's not even counting all the warps that let you skip 1/2 the game.

 

 

It's very hard for most normal people who never even make it past the third level.

Adventure Island would be way harder than Battletoads if it had limited continues. It still might be harder.

 

[peg | 370]

1CC or bust.  Most games rank a 0 out of 50 on my difficulty scale if you can use continues.  I got to the final stage of Battletoads when I was 9 years old, If I had any patience back then I would have beaten it easily.

Edited October 29, 2020 by peg

[mbd39 | 2,013]

1 minute ago, peg said:

1CC or bust.  Most games rank a 0 out of 50 on my difficulty scale if you can use continues.

You can continue in most arcade games so would those all rank a 0?

 

[peg | 370]

If you use continues, yes, I rank them a zero.  You just feed coins until you reach the ending screen, how is that hard?

[mbd39 | 2,013]

Just now, peg said:

If you use continues, yes, I rank them a zero.  You just feed coins until you reach the ending screen, how is that hard?

You use continues to get good enough to eventually 1cc (if you're into that game).

 

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

2 minutes ago, peg said:

1CC or bust.  Most games rank a 0 out of 50 on my difficulty scale if you can use continues.  I got to the final stage of Battletoads when I was 9 years old, If I had any patience back then I would have beaten it easily.

1cc is for babys. no death.

1 minute ago, mbd39 said:

You can continue in most arcade games so would those all rank a 0?

 

 

[mbd39 | 2,013]

If we're ranking difficulty based on how difficult a game is to 1cc, I would put Adventure Island near the top of NES games, and Battletoads wouldn't be close.

[peg | 370]

Just now, mbd39 said:

If we're ranking difficulty based on how difficult a game is to 1cc, I would put Adventure Island near the top of NES games, and Battletoads wouldn't be close.

Yeah that's what I'm saying.  The 1CC difficulty is the only one that matters.  Adventure Island is much, much harder than Battletoads.

[docile tapeworm | 4,194]

wait a second this peg fella sounds like pegboy

[JamesRobot | 5,778]

All killer no filler!