Battletoads. Challenges of a lifetime...
Written: Oct 02 '04 (Updated Oct 22 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Remarkable graphics and animation; brilliant level design; countless techniques; massive challenge; peculiar humor.
Cons: If you appreciate difficult but rewarding games, none.
The Bottom Line: This one-of-a-kind masterpiece must be played to be believed.
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| platonism's Full Review: Battletoads for Nintendo |
Is Rare's Battletoads (1991) a classic? Its hyped release was greeted with glowing reviews, and it made most 1991-1992's lists of best NES games, topping many of them. Thirteen years later, the game is still vividly remembered. But Battletoads is not a classic in the sense that The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus or the Contra, Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania series might be. Unlike these immensely popular carts, Battletoads has suffered some backlash over the years. Most of the complaints had to do with the game's towering difficulty. Packing more in some of its individual levels than other games in their entirety, Battletoads expects uncommon patience, dexterity and perseverance on the part of its players. But this unique masterpiece amply rewards effort and should be in every NES collection.
A masterpiece of construction: the game's 12 levels
As such, the story relies on clichés: you sent by Professor T. Bird to rescue your friend Pimple and the Princess Angelica from the hands of the evil Dark Queen. But the execution is simply flawless, and level design is elevated to a true art in this game. Not only are the levels nice to look at, but they are also expertly devised: each stage showcases tremendous detail, ingenious layouts and offbeat humor. I will preface this review with an overview of the game's 12 levels.
Ragnarok's Canyon is a very easy level. Its aim is to familiarize the player with some fighting techniques that will be more important later on. Once the boss is reached, the game switches to his own point of view. In level 2, Wookie Hole, you keep descending in a tunnel filled with remarkably varied enemies: birds of prey, ravens, carnivorous plants, retro blasters, electro-zappers, etc. By repeatedly “juggling” the birds in mid-air, you can earn a slew of 1-Ups. The real fun starts in level 3, Turbo Tunnel, which is one of the most infamous stages in any NES game. After dispatching a few enemies, you hop on a speed bike and get the ride of your life. You have to dodge walls and enemies, jump over obstacles and align yourself correctly with various launch ramps. The initial trials are easy enough, but as the pace quickens, obstacles become harder to get by. Some players remained stuck forever in this level…
Level 4, Arctic Cavern, is probably as close as the game gets to the traditional, 2-D side-scrolling style. But the stage is not entirely conventional. Snowmen are conveniently attacked with snowballs, and their remains are used to destroy barriers; ice blocks have to be alternately dodged and used; several jumps must be timed perfectly. This level also introduces one of the game's most dangerous hazards: spikes, which instantly kill you. Level 5, Surf City, is reminiscent of Turbo Tunnel in that it alternates between ground battles and speeding episodes, this time on a surfboard. But it is a lot slower, and thus easier. The mid-level boss is dangerous if you let him move around, but there's a way to trap him on one side and use a juggling attack until he's defeated. In level 6, Karnath's Lair, you ride snakes and dodge spikes and trying to reach the exit in four different rooms. It is sometimes necessary to keep running as a snake moves, so that your toad keeps his position while waiting for the snake to complete its course. With some practice, this level proves to be quite easy… and remarkably short.
Level 7, Volkmire's Inferno, is also in the tradition of Turbo Tunnel… only ten times harder. I was stuck in this stage for a good while. The thrills begin when you start flying a plane, a quarter of the way in. The challenges keep coming one after another: aligning the plane with small openings, dodging a massive number of immobile fireballs and a proliferation of rockets (both from the top and the bottom of the screen). This spellbinding stage is more difficult than the final level of most games. In level 8, Intruder Excluder, you have to ascend a building while avoiding enemies, electric shocks and gas. Once a certain height has been reached, falling under it leads to a death; each move must be planned well in advance. The end boss, Robo-Manus, is tricky because he can quickly kill you with his bullets or by jumping on you. Having some spare lives is key. The colourful and maze-like ninth level, Terra Tubes, brings a vast set of challenges: robots, massive gears to run by and an assortment of underwater threats (electric eels, Steel-Beaks, spikes, etc.). Several segments have to be carefully memorized.
In level 10, Rat Race, you race three times against Giblet to defuse bombs; the races proper are bracketed by robots and obstacles. Building leads in each race is as crucial as it is difficult… the practice you got with the gears of Terra Tubes might help. Level 11, Clinger-Wingers, keeps the racing element of the two previous stages and is a pure trial-and-error affair: you move ahead of an Orb that will quickly kill you if you don't know the layout. Succeed in reaching the end in front of the Orb and you'll get to fight it. The very last level is called The Revolution and takes place in the Dark Queen's tower, which you have to climb. Many enemies and platforms are in the way, but your efforts are rewarded with a final battle against the spinning Dark Queen.
Smooth and delirious
Few NES games have more impressive graphics than Battletoads. The backgrounds vary between stark, almost ascetic atmospheres and busier backdrops. Your character is well-sized, and the animation is simply remarkable – each level has its own specific animations. As an example, the sliding animations are used exclusively in level 4. Moreover, no two animations from the speed levels (#3-5-7) are alike. You won't realize all that your toad can do and express until you actually beat the game. The first stages will give you hints, with the varied fighting moves and delirious facial expressions and reactions. In the later levels, you'll see your toad choke from gas and swim elegantly, among other things. (A game like Earthworm Jim, which I have also reviewed, obviously tried to recapture the humor and agreeable madness of Battletoads, but even though it was an excellent game in its own right, it was not as effortless as its predecessor.)
The controls are just as smooth as the animation. In fact, they have to be considered alongside the graphics because they blend seamlessly together. Practice makes perfect, whether you're fighting, riding bikes, planes and surfboards, swimming, hanging on ropes, etc. You have a large variety of moves at your disposal, especially in the fighting segments: straight punches, headbutts, powerful kicks, throws, etc. The various enemies often react differently to your actions, some being buried in the ground, others being stunned first and then disposed of. The only problem involves the running move. Your toad runs left or right when you double-tap one of the directions (unless you're in the water). Unfortunately, accidentally double-tapping in the later levels could mean an untimely fall… and instant death. In the tense levels of Battletoads, such inadvertent double-tapping is hard to avoid.
The sound effects are just as powerful (and personalized) as your toads' moves: every punch, kick and collision registers with uncommon intensity. By contrast, the music is very understated throughout. The musical themes themselves are extremely varied and each level has its own -- as a whole, the game has little of the aural repetition that can be noticed in many NES games.
Sources of the game's difficulty
Battletoads' massive degree of difficulty has brought it a lot of attention, and whether players appreciate the game or not depends on how they feel about its innumerable challenges. In my opinion, the extreme difficulty is caused by three main factors:
1) Absolute variety. Each level has its own set of techniques, enemies and hazards, and no two levels have the same exact feel. The speed levels (3, 5 and 7) have many common points, but they feature different mechanics. The variety is such that mastering an early level does not necessarily mean that later stages will be any easier.
2) Individual learning curves. Most games have a clearly defined learning curve: i.e. the first few levels set the stage for what is to come. Not so with Battletoads. In this game, every level has its own learning curve. Each stage has multiple sections which get more and more difficult: the early sections showcase the techniques that will have to be mastered in order to clear the tougher, later segments.
3) Unpredictability. At some points in the game, the player will automatically lose a life if he/she doesn't know in advance what is coming. Obstacles sometimes appear out of nowhere, and Battletoads has quite a few moments of trial-and-error gameplay. In levels 9 and 11 for instance, you will necessarily lose many lives before discovering the best paths to take.
Inventive challenges
Even though Battletoads is as radical as an action game can possibly be, it does have a use for several classic elements: for instance, like most NES action carts, it has an ice level (#4), stages that take place in fiery environments (#3 and #7), a level in which you have to swim (#9), etc. But it goes a lot farther and blends a plethora of genres, from Double-Dragon-style fighting action to racing, 2-D platforming, puzzle-inflected moments and more.
The player begins with three lives and three continues, but a trick (holding DOWN + A + B on the title screen and/or continue screen and pressing START) enables you to have five lives on each try. Even then, there are no passwords and the early levels must be played over and over again, whether you use warps or not. This situation could have been aggravating, but the variety is such that every level offers an entertaining, if tense, experience. I consider each individual stage as a mini-game in itself: Battletoads is a kind of unofficial 12-in-1 cartridge…
Four warps have been included; they can be accessed in levels 1, 3, 4 and 6, and each skip two levels. Three of these warps disappear quickly, so they're not automatic. The perspective of skipping levels in such a difficult game is inviting, but it is mainly useful for those who can already get through the skipped levels; if, for instance, you decide to skip level 7 altogether because you can't pass it otherwise, prepare to hit a wall in the following stages, which get even harder.
The game's power-up (and power-down!) system is inventive as well. Life points can be earned by correctly flicking your tongue at nearby flies. In some levels, enemies try (literally) to steal life points away from you; you have to defeat them and catch the items as they fall. 1-Ups are scattered throughout the stages, but getting them is not always easy. It is sometimes necessary (as in levels 1 and 5) to gauge where the 1-Up's shadow lies in order to snag it. Others involve tricky, potentially fatal jumps. The designers have shown compassion, because some of these 1-Ups are in the most difficult parts of the game. You also gain an extra life when you reach 100000 points (and 200000, 300000, etc.).
My Battletoads experiences
I barely played Battletoads when it was initially released… I was probably too busy playing a 115th season of Tecmo Super Bowl. I had little interest in action games at the time. Still, I rented and liked the Genesis version sometime in 1993, and subsequently bought the Game Boy game Battletoads in Ragnarok's World, which was very close to the NES original as I recall. When I purchased a used NES in 2000, Battletoads was one of the games I wanted to experience again.
In 2000, I remained stuck in the last section of level 3, like I did close to ten years earlier. When I finally got past stage 3, I reached the seventh level in a matter of days. That level in turn gave a lot of trouble, especially its frantic, enormously difficult last half. I did manage to pass the level earlier this year, and can now reach the later stages of game.
I don't always use warps, because I enjoy the game's unique challenges. When I do use them, I usually take the following path: I go from level 1 to level 3 via the first warp, play through levels 3-5, and then warp from level 6 to level 8. Since I can go through levels 1-7 cleanly, the warps somehow replace passwords.
A touchstone
This unique and masterful game will never be forgotten and belongs in every NES collection. This is (by far) my longest Epinions piece yet, but I have only scratched the surface of Battletoads. Give this game a try if you wish to experience challenges of a lifetime...
Here's a list of my Epinions pieces on video games
Recommended:
Yes
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platonism
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