Battletoads

This article is about the media franchise. For the titular characters, see Battletoads (characters). For the original video game, see Battletoads (video game). For the Game Boy game, see Battletoads (Game Boy). For the arcade game also known as Super Battletoads, see Battletoads (arcade game).

Battletoads
Genre(s)	Beat'em up
Developer(s)	Rare
Creator(s)	Tim and Chris Stamper
First release	Battletoads 1991
Latest release	Super Battletoads 1994

Battletoads is a video game franchise by Rare that began with the original Battletoads in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions (Rash, Zitz and Pimple), the series was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games.

Video games

• Battletoads: The Battletoads have to defeat the evil Dark Queen on her planet and to rescue the kidnapped the Princess Angelica. Originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 and subsequently ported by Mindscape to the Amiga in 1992, by Arc System Works to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega Game Gear both in 1993, by Rare to the Game Boy in 1993 (retitled as Battletoads in Ragnarok's World), and by Mindscape to the Amiga CD32 in 1994.

• Battletoads (Game Boy): The Dark Queen has captured Rash and Pimple, leaving Zitz to go out and try to rescue his teammates in a solo effort. Despite having the same box art and title as the original NES release, Battletoads for Game Boy is a completely different game with new levels. A modified version of the original game was later released on the Game Boy as Battletoads in Ragnarok's World. This version of the game has fewer levels in it and is only single player.

• Battletoads & Double Dragon: A crossover with the characters from the Double Dragon series with liberties taken. The Dark Queen and Shadow Boss team up and it's up to the five heroes (the three toads, Zitz, Rash and Pimple, and the two Lee brothers, Billy and Jimmy) to stop them. The game allows players full and free choice of playable characters for the first time through a selection screen. Released in 1993 for the NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, SNES and Game Boy.

• Battletoads in Battlemaniacs: Released in 1993 for the SNES and in 1994 for the Sega Master System. In this game, Zitz and the daughter of Psicone Industries' CEO have been captured and it's up to Rash and Pimple to save them from the Dark Queen's clutches. Different from the previous games, in this one each character has its own specific abilities and combos. The player 1 character, Pimple, is the powerhouse, big and with huge range with punches (like his aerial anvil-fist finisher), while the Player 2 character, Rash, is nimble and smaller, fighting using kicking attacks (like his aerial battle axe finisher attack). Aside from cooperative play, a solo player is able to play as Rash by switching to the second controller.

• Battletoads (arcade game) aka Super Battletoads: An arcade game released in 1994. The arcade game, unlike the other games, featured voiceovers and several other features that distinguish it from the other games, such as an increased level of violence (players could bloodily decapitate some of their enemies with specific attacks). It follows the Battletoads in Battlemaniacs updated formula of each character having his own design and specific abilities and combos, but this time featuring the three toads, Zitz, Rash and Pimple, as selectable characters. While Rash is kept as the nimble and smaller character and Pimple as the powerhouse, Zitz is represented as the intermediate and balanced character. Also, during vehicle levels, combat is emphasized rather than memorizing and avoiding obstacles.

A canceled sequel/remake game was being developed for the Game Boy Advance while Rare was still owned by Nintendo; an Xbox game was being considered. In 2012, Sean Velasco, lead designer of Double Dragon Neon was quoted as saying: "Maybe if everyone from the internet calls and bothers Microsoft and Rare enough, we could get the Battletoads into Double Dragon Neon as DLC."

Cartoon

Battletoads
Title card
Genre	Comedy
Created by	DIC Entertainment Rare (characters)
Developed by	Phil Harnage David Wise
Written by	David Wise Phil Harnage
Directed by	Kent Butterworth
Voices of	Kathleen Barr Ian James Corlett Michael Donovan Andrew Kavadas Lalainia Lindbjerg Scott McNeil Jason Michas Alvin Sanders
Theme music composer	Kip Lennon Ron Hicklin Susan Boyd Jon Joyce Jim Haas
Composers	Murray McFadden Michael Watts
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of episodes	1
Production
Executive producers	Andy Heyward Robby London
Producer	Kent Butterworth
Original release
Network	syndicated
Release	1992 – 1993

Battletoads also spun-off a Canadian half-hour animated television special produced by DIC Entertainment that aired in syndication in the United States on the weekend of Thanksgiving 1992 in an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DiC would try this again later on by producing Street Sharks and then later Extreme Dinosaurs). It was developed and written by Phil Harnage and David Wise (Wise has no relation to the Battletoads video games composer of the same name but was the main writer of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV cartoon series). However, only the pilot episode made it to the airwaves; it was never picked up as a full animated series, despite comic-style ads in GamePro magazine claiming otherwise. A VHS tape with the pilot was released in the United States on January 15, 1994.

Set in Oxnard, California, the show stars three Junior High Schoolers (despite the fact that the comic's story revolved around three video game testers). The trio is given the ability to transform into anthropomorphic toads with superhuman strength and the ability to change their arms and legs into weapons in techniques called "Smash Hits". They are charged with protecting Professor T. Bird and Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen, who wants to steal Angelica's magical amulet for her plans of universal conquest.

The pilot served more as a prequel to the video game franchise. The comic with the backstory of Battletoads, written by Rare employee Guy Miller, was also published in Nintendo Power. In 2008, Battletoads was given the fifth place on the list of "the five worst one-shot TV cartoons ever made" by Topless Robot. According to Gawker, "Some say it was nothing more than a blatant Ninja Turtles rip off, but Shredder had nothing on the Toads' sexy nemesis, The Dark Queen."

Characters

Main article: List of Battletoads characters

See also: Battletoads (characters) and Dark Queen (Battletoads)

Reception

In 2010, Game Informer included Battletoads among ten gaming franchises that deserve a revival, and precisely, "a true HD sequel".

External links

• Battletoads series at MobyGames
• Template:Tv.com show
• Battletoads at the Internet Movie Database