QCF: Battletoads (2020)

6 years is a long time ago—hell, I bet some of you reading this aren’t even 26 years old yourselves, and couldn’t have possibly imagined what the vibe was back then. Well, there was one thing that dominated the scene that time in contrast to the occasional sighting at your local laundromat, and that’s over-the-top Arcade games.

 Among all of the Final Fight’s and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle clones, however, was Rare’s last hurrah for their infamous Battletoads series with a coin-op gem that wouldn’t get a proper console port until 2015 with Rare Replay, a compilation that included it along with the original title for NES. Needless to say, it made an impression with players; between the success of their inclusion onto that collection, and the various cameos the characters have made on other popular titles like Killer Instinct and Shovel Knight, the fever for more toads had grown. Unable to ignore the interest for it any longer, Microsoft and Rare decided to formally bring them out of retirement with a brand new title for the Xbox One.

 Partnering with Dlala Studios after working with them on Sea of Thieves, the latest entry to the franchise is a reboot that’s starkly different from anything the Amphibians have ever done before—and thankfully it’s a step in the right direction, albeit a undeniabley clumsy one.

 Let’s address the elephant in the room right now and talk about the presentation—the Xbox One sequel sports a unique visual style that heavily diverges from the 80’s Saturday Morning cartoon motif that defined the look of the series until now, subsequently causing a sizable uproar with fans shortly after the game’s reveal. This specific title aside, the Cal Arts Aesthetic that’s dominated modern cartoons in recent years has been consistently met with mixed responses for years now—and it doesn’t seem like that’ll stop anytime soon.

 Other properties have objectively benefitted from this new coat of paint, like She-Ra, Thundercats, and ironically enough, TMNT, with the release of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—proving that any IP could use a fresh look when it’s been around long enough, and this Battletoads sequel is no exception. While the art style wildly different, the trademark absurdity of the Toads like their wacky transformations and gross-out attitudes are still illustrated in full force, only with loads of more character. Even though the classic outline still has an enduring charm to it, this new design has this remarkably magnetic personality that just can’t be denied, especially in motion—this shit is just fun to look at. The music is just as captivating with a soundtrack that ranges from progressive arrangements of classic tunes to entirely new beats that complement the artful action on-screen.

 The vibrant take on the graphics isn’t the only change, as Battletoads for the Xbox One also takes the series in a more comedic direction, and boy did the folks at Rare really nail it because I can’t remember the last time I laughed as I did with this game in the nightmare world that is the year 2020.

 A lot of the strength in Battletoad’s humor comes from the excellent dialogue; everything from the writing, to the delivery of the riffs and roasts, are just poignantly executed that it’ll be sure to squeeze a chuckle out even the most cynical of players. The chemistry between all the characters is so natural that it raises the question of how much of it was actually written versus how much was potentially improvised, because yes, it’s really just that funny. The vibe of the series has always been style over substance, and combined efforts from Rare and Dlala Studios are a certified smash—but what about the notoriously difficult gameplay—how well has that transitioned here; well…the short answer is, it’s just OK.

 The conventions of the wart-covered warriors have always been a melting pot of twitchy action pieces with a few moments of traditional beat’em up action sprinkled in between, and Battletoads for the Xbox One is all that much of an exception. In the first hour alone, players will beat up dozens of goons in a mad dash to scroll the screen to right, to revving their way through a modernized Turbo Cycle course that runs from a third-person perspective—the difference here are all of the updates and non-sequitur mechanics that keep the gameplay from feeling too familiar.

 Similar to the previous Arcade entry before it, all three toads are not only playable, but each possesses a unique move set and play style that possess various pros and cons for different situations. Rash is the well-rounded fighter, and oddly enough, the best polliwog when it comes to effective crowd control against larger swaths of enemies. Zitz is the easiest to use out of the three with his lightning-fast combo strikes that work to stun enemies faster and easier than his compadres, and of predictably, Pimple is the guys moves slow, but hits things harder than the rest of his squad, and is a total pinch-hitter against stubborn bosses. The main strikes at your disposal are the basic punches and kicks, and the morph attacks, where the toads transform their limbs or bodies in a wide assortment of weird, oftentimes wacky objects to inflict some extra pain with, and whilst being the trademark offensive maneuvers of the series, have never had their own button to use until now.

 In addition to their unique move-sets, the Croaking Trio also has two new skills; the ability to tongue-whip an enemy into close-quarter by dragging them towards with force, or zip-lining them with a whisk of the ol’ mouth rope, and the ability to temporarily immobilize enemies with a spit of sticky chewing gum. As novel as they may be, these new abilities, unfortunately, aren’t as intuitive as you’d imagine—which admittedly, is a sentiment that can be said about the combat mechanics as a whole.

There’s no denying the variety between the toads and individual styles of martial arts, but the inputs and timing involved to use their assorted techniques are just plain clumsy at best, and cumbersome at worst. Using a system that’s very similar to that of Capcom’s Devil May Cry, the specific attack deployed will depend on the frame of input the player punches in the button commands between the basic attack and the morph attack, which can determine not only the specific attack but the combo finisher their respective Toad will unleash against their foe.

 Although it sounds promising in theory, the execution of the system is critically flawed from frustrating oversight—any string of attacks you weave on the controller are committed strikes that will cycle out until the combo is finished, and can only be interrupted by an enemy attack, leaving players far more vulnerable than they reasonably should be. This is especially annoying in fights where there are goons who attack with long-distance projectiles because any combo you dialed in will just reduce the Toad into a sitting target. There is an evasive dodge but it can’t be used during anything more complex than a two-hit combo—discouraging any tactic that isn’t a hit-and-run strategy, especially during a massive mob encounter. The appeal of Battletoads action has always been the preposterously stupid spectacle of it, I mean, like, Rash can summon a bonafide Battletoads Arcade cabinet in the middle of a fight, and rig the machine to blow as a finishing blow against any foe caught in the blast—it’s so dumb, and yet, so satisfying. The issue however, is that gradually became less fun to pull off from how infrequently  I could effectively use it—steadily becoming less practical with each level after the introductory one.

 Despite the rigidity of its ebb and flow, Battletoads (2020) partly makes up for its stiffness with excellent level design, adding dynamic hazards and unique set-pieces that help make pummeling the waves of monsters into something that can still be fun. During any given segment of a level, players can encounter a wide array of obstacles or hazards that play an active role during the skirmishes you get into, like electric floors, switching platforms, or even 2.5 areas where Toads will be able to take on drives of enemies in the background, and foreground on the screen. As frustrating as the clunky combat can be at times, the innovative set-pieces within the levels help make up for those annoyances, especially when you get into the minutia of searching for secret collectibles that’re gated behind some clever puzzles.

 Unlike the Arcade beat’em up before it, the Xbox One entry has a wide variety of levels more akin to its NES Predecessor, including a bevy of quick-time events that build off of the eccentric humor of the campaign. Whilst a lot of them are emphatic palate cleansers to the action, however, the setup for a majority of them fall apart in a multiplayer setting. The biggest issue lies in the rotating player dynamic of who presses what at any given cue—the telegraphs for the assigned player to follow are often too reactive to discern, leading to unnecessary mayhem that sabotages the whole group from progressing. One particular level near the end of the story campaign commands an inordinate level of coordination between players, with one false step spelling certain doom towards completing the challenge.

 The difficulty of the Battletoads franchise is almost a legacy within itself, commanding a degree of skill that only the most dedicated of players could answer the call to—the Xbox One reboot lives up to that in some sense, though mostly through poor follow-through of its intended design. There are so many inventive design choices here that elevate the gameplay on to the level of something like Castle Crashers or Scott Pilgrim Vs The World; which is what makes the shoddy fighting mechanics all more maddening. The ability to interrupt a combo with a timed dodge or even a simple block button would make such a world of difference. Ultimately, the infectious humor and fan service of the property is what will push players to stick with the latest entry to Battletoads—it’s a fun entry, just a needlessly flawed one. I still recommend it, just know that if you’re a veteran of the series, that it sits firmly between being better than Battle Maniacs, but still not as good as Battletoads Arcade.