*Review based on Battletoads in Battlemaniacs release as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Service*
Few names are as infamous in the world of video games as Battletoads. Rare’s riff on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles provided a game that was not only considered the most difficult in the NES library, but even today many people will point to it as the most difficult video game ever made (and not always for the right reasons). Despite its ludicrous difficulty, Battletoads was popular enough to warrant a franchise for a time (even being rebooted in 2020 by Dlala Studios). The series made the jump to the Super Nintendo in 1993 with Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, which serves as kind of a sequel to, and kind of a remake of the NES game. Strangely, while the original Battletoads has seen numerous re-releases over the years (even Battletoads Arcade made it into Rare Replay), Battlemaniacs didn’t see any form of re-release until it launched on the Nintendo Switch Online Service in late February 2024. Though I have to admit, we weren’t missing much in its absence. While Battlemaniacs definitely looks better and has (relatively) smoother controls than its predecessor, it still suffers from the same callously unfair difficulty of the original.
Battlemaniacs sees two of our disgustingly named heroes, Rash and Pimple, travel to a virtual reality world called “the Gamescape” in order to save the third Battletoad, Zits (the Battletoads aren’t cool enough to ever have all three available for the adventure, as Pimple was kidnapped in the original). The Battletoads’ nemesis, the Dark Queen, has teamed up with another baddie named Silas Volkmire in order to take over the Gamescape and the real world (they also kidnapped some CEO’s daughter. Though why that was necessary to the story, I’m not sure). So Rash and Pimple have to fight their way through six stages in order to defeat the Dark Queen and Volkmire, and save their friends.
I have to say, Rare really got the look, feel and tone of the Saturday morning cartoons of the time down pat. The anthropomorphic animal heroes, the “extreme” attitude, outlandish baddies, and even more outlandish character names all feel ripped straight out of the kind of cartoons that were airing at the time. They even had the gross-out humor of the 90s checked off with the names of the Battletoads. The 16-bit overhaul means that the Saturday morning cartoon mentality of the series even shines through in the game’s visuals this time around. And the music (partly composed by David Wise) includes some real bangers that help liven things up.
Sadly, that same attention to detail was not applied to fine-tuning the game. On the surface Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, despite having half the stages of the NES game, features a good deal of variety, with each stage playing differently than the last. The first level is a straight-up beat-em-up, while the second combines that with descending down a giant tree and avoiding hazards. The third, meanwhile, is the infamous Turbo Tunnel, where the toads ride on speeders while avoiding oncoming obstacles.
Wait a minute! These are the same stages as the NES game!
Yes, despite being the big 16-bit sequel to Battletoads, Battlemaniacs ultimately feels more like a remake. Its six stages recycle the framework of half of those from the original, albeit expanded upon and with more visual splendor. Though lacking in originality they may be, at least every stage is distinct from one another. It’s a shame more developers can’t squeeze in as much variety in the lengthy games of today as Rare could in just six levels on the Super Nintendo.
Battlemaniacs can also be played with two players in two different modes. One of which, like the first game, allows the players to injure each other, while the other mode (the only sane option) turns that feature off. At least this time Rare gave players an option, but given how insanely difficult the game already is, it shouldn’t even have the team attack option at all. It makes the game unplayable.
That difficulty is the game’s great flaw. I’m all for difficult games, being a fan of titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring and what have you. But there’s a distinct difference between a game that’s difficult because of how it was designed, and a game that just feels unfair and comes across like none of its developers ever playtested it. Considering I keep bringing up the difficulty of Battletoads, I think you know which category I think Battlemaniacs falls into.
The Battletoads series is one of the few instances where a game’s difficulty doesn’t simply seem hard, but feels like the developers were playing some kind of sick, cruel prank on the player. While one would hope Rare would learn from their mistakes when making the sequels, sadly, Battlemaniacs feels like it’s pulling the same pranks as its predecessor, only now in 16-bits! The six stages of Battletoads in Battlemaniacs all have the potential to be something great, but each of them ultimately stumbles because, rather than design these stages carefully so players can gradually learn from their mistakes, here the mistakes are all on Rare, as their idea of difficulty when designing this series seemed to be to throw everything and the kitchen sink at players (often at a split second’s notice) and then faulting the player for not knowing what was going to happen ahead of time.
Take for example, the second stage. There’s a moment where fans try to blow the player into spiky logs as they descend, with the player having to push the character forward to fight the gust of the fans. Then all of a sudden, one of the fans pulls the player into the spikes, with no visual distinction between this fan and any of the others. It’s one thing to change things up, it’s another to outright give the player the middle finger by changing the rules the game itself established without any indication.
Then we have that damned third level, which requires absolutely perfect reflexes and complete memorization of the stage’s obstacles. That may sound standard for games at the time, except that the level drags on and on for so long – and with so few checkpoint – that asking players to memorize it, let alone have perfect precision every time, is just ridiculous. Oh, and you only get three lives and three continues to beat the whole game. If those run out, it’s back to the beginning of the whole game for you (because why not punish the player for the game’s own poor design?). There is a cheat code you can enter at the title screen (hold down, A and B and press start), but all that does is increase the lives and continues to five. It helps a little, but so little it just feels like another means for the game to mock you.
A couple of bonus stages are played after the second and fifth levels, in which the player has the chance to win extra lives, but of course the game uses this as another opportunity to mess with the player. As the toads ride a giant hockey puck and collect points (100 points for an extra life), enemies and obstacles litter the field – again often showing up at a split seconds’ notice – and take your points away upon contact. By the time these bonus stages are done, you’ll likely only get one or two extra lives, which will probably vanish within seconds of the next stage anyway.
Admittedly, Battlemaniacs may not be quite as difficult as the original Battletoads, if only because it has fewer levels and because the SNES allowed for more precise movements (which the NES game demanded, but the hardware couldn’t allow). And playing it on Switch Online means you can create save states, which I highly recommend after every frustrating moment (so about every 5 seconds). But being slightly easier than the original Battletoads is like saying walking on hot coals with socks on is slightly more tolerable than walking on hot coals barefoot.
For some reason, people from my generation often look back fondly at Battletoads. I’m assuming it’s probably because the characters reminded us of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which were all the rage at the time. But actually going back to play this series again is a reminder that some things are best left in the past. Rare would later reach new heights with games like Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie (before they eventually fell into one niche after another when Microsoft bought them out). But Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is not one of those Rare classics. It could have been – it still looks and sounds great, and the tongue-in-cheek nature of the series shines through – if only it weren’t so needlessly vindictive with its difficulty.
Games like Dark Souls are difficult in such a way they make you want to see the challenge through. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is difficult in a way it makes you just want to play something else instead. And with plenty of other, infinitely better games made by Rare out there, you should do just that.
4
Wizard Dojo 