Battletoads is the first game of the Battletoads series. It is developed by Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, with ports for the Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Amiga CD32 and Nintendo Game Boy (with the subtitle Battletoads in Ragnarok's World so as to separate it from the earlier-released Game Boy sequel).

Battletoads is considered to be a game that shows the true potential of the NES' graphics, mainly due to the year of its release, when developers were focusing more on 16-bit consoles.

Not only is it graphically-advanced, but it is also considered to be one of the hardest games of all time, appearing in possibly every listing of difficult video games. It is currently listen at 8th place in IGN's "Top 10 Most Difficult Games to Beat."

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Five Lives Trick 4 Levels 5 Warps 6 Ports

StoryEdit

Fresh from her recent defeat at the Battle of Canis Major, the Dark Queen decides to take out her aggressions on her archenemies, the Battletoads. The 'Toads and their mentor, Professor T-Bird, are currently escorting Princess Angelica home to her father, the Terran Emperor. During a rest stop, Pimple takes Angelica out for a drive in the Toadster, but the vehicle and its occupants are swallowed up by the Dark Queen's ship, the Gargantua, and taken to her tower on planet Ragnarok.

Rash and Zitz are quickly sent down to Ragnarok's surface to rescue their friends, unaware of the dangers that await them, but willing to chance it all on their rescue mission.

GameplayEdit

The gameplay of Battletoads is considered a mix between side-scrolling games of the beat-em-up genre (similar to that seen in Double Dragon) and arcade-styled vehicle stages. Fighting areas require the 'Toads to punch enemies to weaken them, then finish them off with a Smash Hit, a technique that usually involves comical transformations (such as using giant boots to bash an enemy off the screen). Occasionally, the 'Toads can use their tongues to snag life-replenishing flies and can also find extra lives and level warps.

There are several vehicle stages in the game. All of them require precision reflexes and pattern memorization in order to evade all the incoming obstacles, almost all of which are fatal to collide with. Between this and the speed in which they appear, these stages provide much of the game's intense challenge level.

Once you start the game, you start with three lives, which look like pink hearts. Each life gives you 6 HP for your character. If you lose all your lives, you will be brought to the Game Over screen. You will have to press start to try again, but the game will automatically be over if you run out of continues. There is also no save file or anything that you can save to, so you will not be able to go back to the stage you are on if you turn off the game.

You can also play with another person by pressing start on the second controller. Both players have the same amount of lives and continues. One of the cons of the 2-player mode, though, is that if one dies on a stage with checkpoints, both players will have to start back at the latest checkpoint.

Five Lives TrickEdit

You normally start out with three lives, but by holding down Down+A+B while pressing Start you will be able to get five lives. This method only works on the title screen and on the Game Over screen.

LevelsEdit

Stage 1: Ragnarok's Canyon - The game begins with a short fight across the surface of the planet, battling Psyko-Pigs and Walkers. A massive Mega-Walker guards the exit.
Stage 2: Wookie Hole - This is a mile-deep hole that leads down into the heart of the planet. The 'Toads must rappel down to the bottom while avoiding birds and Retro-Blasters. Especially skilled players can earn extra lives by bouncing birds off the walls repeatedly.
Stage 3: Turbo Tunnel - This is the first level where the players ride a vehicle, in this case the Speeder Bikes, and must navigate a dangerous obstacle course at high speed. This is considered the first truly challenging area of the game, and it only gets harder from here.
Stage 4: Arctic Cavern - In this ice level, traction is reduced significantly, making it hard to avoid the attacks of crazed snowmen and deadly spikes.
Stage 5: Surf City - This time the 'Toads ride surfboards, dodging logs and mines as they coast downriver. Halfway through this level, the players encounter Big Blag.
Stage 6: Karnath's Lair - The players must navigate their way out of the stage by riding on giant snakes to reach the top, avoiding spikes as they go.
Stage 7: Volkmire's Inferno - Titled after Silas Volkmire, the stage is aptly named. The 'Toads ride jet-planes this time, flying through electrified force fields and dodging fireballs and missiles.
Stage 8: Intruder Excluder - The Toads find themselves in an elevator shaft full of new dangers, such as electrified platforms and toxic-gas sprayers. At the top is the feared biogen Robo-Manus.
Stage 9: Terra Tubes - The 'Toads run, swim, and fight through a myriad of pipes. Watch out for rolling gears, self-destructing robots, and, worst of all... rubber duckies!
Stage 10: Rat Race - Here, the 'Toads race Scuzz the Rat to the bottom of the shaft in order to defuse a series of bombs. After three victories over Scuzz, General Slaughter will appear to settle things himself.
Stage 11: Clinger Winger - Once more, the players ride a vehicle, this time a one-wheeled cycle with handlebars. You need to keep your speed up, especially around corners, in order to stay ahead of the pursuing Hypno-Orb. Once the race is won, you'll be able to exact some revenge on the offending object.
Stage 12: The Revolution - Climbing the Dark Queen's tower is a precarious, difficult task, with high winds, vanishing platforms, and hungry Rhynos threatening to ruin the climb.
Stage 13: Armageddon - It's just you verses the Dark Queen. Pimple and Angelica are at stake, so don't let them down now.

WarpsEdit

Throughout the game, you can go to a warp in certain levels, which lets you skip the current level and the one after that.

Stage 1 - When you enter the stage, quickly headbutt the two Psyko Pigs and quickly run to the next part of the stage. Above at the top of the screen is a warp on top of top of the ledge. Jump on it, if you make it in time, you will be teleported to Stage 3, the Turbo Tunnel.

Stage 3 - Reach the near-end of the Turbo Tunnel and try to avoid the blocks that come without warning. Near the beginning of the last part, there will be a warp at the bottom of the screen. If you make it, you will skip the Artic Caverns and go to Stage 5, Surf City.

Stage 4 - Reach one of the parts where you try to avoid the spikes. Jump onto the suspending step and jump again so it goes up and doesn't bring you into the spikes. If you jump the right way, you will see a warp right above you. Touch the warp and you will reach Stage 6, Karnath's Lair.

Stage 6 - Go through the first section with just the snakes, and go to the second part of Karnath's Lair. Wait for the next snake to come out, climb on it, fall diagonally across the spikes, and dash to the warp. This one takes you to Stage 8, Intruder Excluder.

Stage 10 - Race the rat and reach the bomb normally. Once you have kicked the bomb, wait for the rat to drop down face-down. Before he falls, headbutt him and use the kick Smash Hit to blast him offscreen. If you do it in time the Victory Music will play and you will progress to the next level. It is unknown if this is an official warp.

PortsEdit

Several ports of Battletoads were released later on after the success of the NES game.

• The Sega Genesis version was released in 1991. The added processing power of the 16-bit console enabled slightly better graphics and sound and the difficulty was slightly toned down, but is still considered challenging.
• Battletoads in Ragnarok's World was released for the Game Boy in 1993. It contained fewer stages, but maintained the challenge of the NES original. The subtitle was given to separate the port from the previous Battletoads game for Game Boy, which was a completely different game altogether.
• The Game Gear version was released in 1993. Like the Game Boy version, several stages were removed from the original.

The last port was released on the Amiga CD32 in 1994. Though graphically better, it suffered several sacrifices, mainly in the removal of nearly all the in-game music.