As one of the artists that worked on Battletoads Double Dragon on the SNES waaay back, I found this to be a fascinating and nostalgic look at the history of Battletoads. I had very fond memories of working at Rare in the early 90’s. I’m also grateful to the speed running community for keeping this game and others very much alive to this day! I get such a kick out of seeing people zip through this game so fast. Excellent video, loved it! Thank you so much!

Whoever designed the Dark Queen knew exactly what they were doing.

It’s hilarious how unnecessarily convoluted the Battletoads story is. It just keeps going and going.

I beat the NES game as a kid but couldn't make it past the jet ski level as an adult. I peaked at 11 years old. Sigh.

Back in the 90s, I briefly worked in the Tradewest office (William’s Ent.). In the upstairs meeting room there were tons of paperwork and among it were mock ups for Battletoad toys, Halloween costumes, electronic toothbrushes. There were a few physical prototypes of BattleToad calculators, school supplies, and toothbrushes with the characters printed on them. I don’t know if any of that stuff survived, I’m sure thrown in the dumpster years ago after Midway bought out Williams and moved the operations across town. I’m also unsure if any of those products ever came out. It was kinda sad to look at what they had planned for that game that never came out.

That commercial was so 1991, I'm worried watching it again might do permanent damage to the time-space continuum... You know what? Worth it.

I like how you actually mentioned Megalopolis Toys being the company behind the current Battletoads toyline considering that they rebranded themselves as Preminum DNA and tried to distance themselves from their "Megalopolis Toys" past. For those unaware, Megalopolis Toys was a toy store much like Big Bad Toy Store - they also had an offline storefront as well. People liked shopping from them since their prices were generally lower than retail. However, a few years ago they stopped shipping product to ppl - they basically claimed that they had items that they actually didn't have. Eventually, they liquidized their Megapolis Toys company and changed their Preminum DNA line of toys as a new company - the key people at Preminum DNA lied by saying that they had no connection to Megalopolis Toys despite that there are interviews contradicting their claim. To this day, they still owe refunds to irate customers. Megalopolis Toys are currently in a lawsuit with Entertainment Earth.

My mom liked the game so we would play it together. We never got past the second stage. We felt vindicated years later when the game started popping up in “hardest games ever” lists.

My brother and I used to input random Game Genie codes into this game, and half the time we would get crazy effects. Our favorites were: Telekinetic punching, Everything shatters like glass, All the sprites look like piles of vomit. There were a ton more, and we wrote them all down in a notebook so we could play with them over and over. Ah, good times.

I think the most difficult thing for that game was playing 2-player, and having a 2nd player that's also trying to kill you throughout the game...

That dreaded Jet Ski over the lava level was brutal. Only made through it once.

I remember the initial TV ads for the NES, but never understood the reason foe the robot. Have to admit seeing Paul Rudd in the Super Nintendo advert at 5:42 was unexpected, dude looks like he barely aged.

5:43 Holy cow! Is that a young, very early career Paul Rudd in a Super Nintendo commercial?!?!?

Man, no reference to the "do you have Battletoads" meme? I'm almost saddened. It's the one thing that's kept Battletoads in the mind of gamers during that 25+ year silence. I'd go as far as to say the remake wouldn't have happened without it.

Beating Battletoads back in grade school was tantamount to hooking up with the Homecoming Queen, and probably a lot harder to pull off. The ending was kind of anticlimactic, but to beat it was definitely a feather in your cap.

GameStop employees biggest fear.

We really need an MK-style fighting game with Ninja Turtles, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Fatal Fury characters. That could very well be the best fighting game ever.

The Dark Queen retroactively reminds me of Tera Patrick 🤣

Battletoads was one of the few Turtles knock off that actually worked. And then 2020 reboot happened...

I wonder if anybody's ever done a video on Captain Simian in the Space Monkeys. I very surprisingly liked that cartoon.

Heard an interview with the creator of the Battletoads. He said he created the Battletoads while doodling in high school. When Rare was looking for a mascot, he brought in the notebook. He claims that a co-worker's comment on how they looked like the Ninja Turtles were the first time he ever heard of them (as he'd be in his twenties when they came out). Obviously his bosses knew they had an answer to Turtles on their hands.

The Battletoads actually made a cameo in "Ready Player One", which I was definitely able to notice the first time I saw the movie in theaters back in 2018.

I guess the motto could be, hey there's money to be made. Imitation is the best form of flattery.

I couldn't beat that game, even with Game Genie and skipping to the last level! It was really fun in some places, and really frustrating in too many others. I did like the variety of levels/gameplay, and it was another good cast of anthropomorphic characters from that boom period (TMNT, Bucky O'Hare, Biker Mice, etc.)

the crossover game "Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team" was my first introduction to the franchise & was immediately hooked!! Since then, the Battletoads had always had a special place in my heart!! LOL😊

Man the Dark Queens design was definitely a decision. Would love to have been in that room.

I love the toads! Battletoads and Double Dragons blew my mind as a kid to see these franchises crossover.

I had an out-of-body experience playing Battletoads. I swear the sound went out, all I could hear was my fingers on the buttons, like that scene in Shine. It was the first and only time I made it through the speeder level. After that I didn’t have nearly enough lives to finish. But, then, what would have been the point?

I am a fan of the Dark Queen's NSFW outfit and all the lore this game packed into one title. The difficulty was insane. I could only get so far before the difficulty ramped up into insanity.

I played it back in the day and could eventually beat the turbo tunnel on command thanks to a trick my brother taught me. Sometimes I could beat the next level, usually not, and I never got beyond the snakes level without using the warp. On a side note, I think the Dark Queen was my first video game crush. She can cross over into my world any time!

Instead of asking if anyone beat Battletoads, you could be asking if they beat Battletoads without the Game Genie.

I beat Battletoads. I always thought it strange that Nintendo Power had the comic showing the Battletoads were originally human but the actual game manual does not mention their origin at all. Also, this video does not mention the first Battletoads game for the Game Boy. It was not a port. It had new original stages but it was a one player game.

I remember playing the 94 arcade game when I was a kid - it was at a cute little diner my grandmother took our family to on Sundays. It was also balls hard, probably spent waaaay too much playing it... It's gone now, they got rid of it after they remodeled the diner, but it gave me my love for the 'toads.

Played Battletoads on my friends NES back in the day. We never got very far, and it pissed us off. Played it again years later, with all the advantages of using an emulator. Still didn't get very far, and it pissed me off. Also, it's a shame the arcade game didn't get more love, it was actually quite good.

The lesson of Battle Toads is this: you can ripoff ANYTHING, so long as you put your own spin on it, because THAT will make it memorable. That game will be remembered for being hard, one of the hardest of its time. That said, I was more of a TMNT kid.😎

Combat Amphibians is my favorite ever game!!!

Would love to see a history on Nick Arcade. That was one of my favorite shows. Seeing video games on TV was a big deal back in the days.

I remember the cartoon. I loved it and wanted more. I saw it on christmas day too!

Kids today: "OH MAN! Elden Ring is tough!" Kids from the 80's: ⌐_⌐ "Battle Toads was Elden Ring times Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3, to the power of Demon Souls......... Then if you beat it, you get to play level 2!"

Love your series! Thank you for finally making a Battletoads Video. There is so much info that is missing. Did you know that Rare tried to pitch a Battletoads movie script to Dan O'Bannon of Alien fame who felt that the movie would be too expensive to produce? Before the Bendem toys, they pitched to Tiger toys, and prototypes were actually produced? There was an entire planned merchandise line that never materialized. If anyone wants to learn more let me know for an invite to our discord channel.

I love how the gameplay clips in the commercial cut a split-second before the player gets squashed, splattered, etc.

I was bathing in nostalgia and then 14:53 you gave me flashbacks to a company that continually lied to hundreds, if not thousands, of collectors that collectively had thousands of dollars tied up in their controversies.

Would like a Battle Toads collection with every iteration that there has been for all platforms

Didn't even knew there was a backstory other then what you got in the game. 😅 Don't think we finished it at the time though although I do remember getting passed the notorious jetbike level after wasting a summervacation on it as children much to the grievance of our parents.

Battletoads is actually the best TMNT ripoff, the game is fun despite being hard. Also that cartoon pilot would’ve been a success had the studio DIC went with a network like Fox Kids, but they probably rejected it since they saw the animation as terrible. But it would’ve been good if it had a full season order, Fox Kids greenlit lot of obscure cartoons at that time.

Please do a video on "Video Power" - the greatest game show for kids ever!!!!!! Tbh, i wish they'd bring it back - it would better than the Price is Right Having all those game boxes on the velcro vest must've been the dream for a bunch of kids

"Playing video games at their local convenience store." I remember those days. Most of the hours I logged on Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition was at the local 7-11.

We need Battletoads on current gen consoles. We're getting the classic Turtles games. Would love to see Battletoads come back as well.

There was a .99c store near me that had knock off battle toad toys. Hollow plastic, but still a 9in fig. I loved them.

Wait… was that Paul Rudd in the oldschool NES commercial?!

I think a lot of us had hit the same wall. !@#$ing jet ski level, true rage quit right there! Battletoads: difficulty on the level with soulsbourne ring

5:43 WOW ! I didn't know Paul Rudd was in the super Nintendo launch commercial!

Loved BattleToads on the various game systems. But the vehicle levels haunt fans and players to this day.

How I Beat Battletoads: On my 15th birthday, I was almost hit by a train thanks to a sketchy crossing gate going up and down at the wrong time. But it was also the day I got and played Battletoads for the first time. While avoiding the train was just a simple matter of trusting my 16-year-old cousin to navigate those temperamental gates faster than the train could catch us (she was driving, and my job as a passenger was simply to shout, "Drive!"), beating Battletoads was a much more challenging, much more demanding effort. But after a month-and-a-half of daily play and progress, I managed to snag that victory--a victory that, at the time, I was unaware would be so elusive for the majority of players because so few of my friends had played it, and KZfaq was still 14 years away. As a kid who'd never finished Super Mario Bros. (because I'd never actually owned it), I'd just assumed finishing Battletoads was a testament to endurance, not skill. And in a way, I was right. I didn't finish Battletoads because I was some kind of awesome gamer. I finished Battletoads because I'd learned that the secret to winning had nothing to do with skill but with rhythm and muscle memory. For example, to beat the Turbo Tunnel, you couldn't look at the screen. You had to "juggle the controller," as in, you had to learn how to roll your thumb over the cross pad a certain way at a certain time to get through the Star Wars Episode One Pod Race-level challenge (while also paying attention to the flashing graphics, not the stuff actually on the road). You also had to move in a rhythm. One-two-three-jump. One-two-three-jump. By playing the game through rhythm and muscle memory, it was possible to get to the end. The only real challenge was any section that tossed elements at you at random. The fire jet level (Level 7), for example, was likely the reason I needed glasses by 16. Once those random fireballs came at my character, I had to pay close attention to their positions and mine, and I couldn't blink, and I didn't have long to take care of the resultant headache before having to revert back to rhythm and muscle memory to get through the next round of electric barriers that you could get through only if you hit down or up on the cross pad before you even reach the gap you're ascending or descending to. Yes, Battletoads, tough but winnable if you turn off your analytical brain and just respond to what you already know works. Trying to beat it takes time, and it may be more stressful than outrunning a train and less rewarding for succeeding, but doing both tells a good story, especially when most can't do it anymore (beating Battletoads, I mean; hopefully, we can still dodge a train when needed). Moral of the story: When one method for achieving success doesn't work, try another. Victory is possible when you find the right combination of movements and commit to them. The other moral of the story: Battletoads was the game that set human beings on the path to becoming repetitious robots (if they expected to win). Just a side note: The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES game was harder to beat. At least the Dark Queen was predictable. Shredder was downright unfair. Also, I couldn't beat Battletoads & Double Dragon. Didn't have the time to develop the muscle memory for it, especially since later installments of Battletoads took the "switch-it-up" factor too far when they reversed the controller button functions, causing me to jump every time I wanted to hit something. It's as if they knew the secret to winning was muscle memory, so defeating muscle memory was the secret to making the game unwinnable. As far as I'm concerned, that's where Rare succeeded in creating the impossible game. Of course, finishing Level 11 (the unicycle level) with two players has also been proven impossible. I'd certainly never done that.

It's so funny that they released it in Japan with a lower difficulty setting because I'm used to hearing that but the other way around.

I had it on release and still own it to this day! I got past the crazy car weaving section and didn't get much further beyond that 😄 I remember there being warps on some stages!

I find it humorous that in the cartoon pilot the teen heroes decided to just flat out reveal their secret identities to their classmates and teachers just to get them off their backs and it worked. XD

Hey, I live in Oxnard California... first we get mentioned in a Lonely Island song "Semi-colon" and now we're mentioned in a Toy Galaxy video on Battletoads from the pilot episode of the attempted TV Series... we're living in the best reality!

I got a hand me down VHS tape from my cousin that had the Battletoads pilot and some episodes of Power Team on it. Those were the days.

I think you guys overlooked the 1991 Gameboy release, which was an all-new game. Unfortunately, it was only called "Battletoads," and even reused the same box art as the NES game, so confusion is understandable. Ragnarok's World was actually the second GB game.

Need a video on Video Power. Probably have one. It was like watching a toys r us shopping spree each episode.

Beat it, but only utilizing the warps. Tough but I absolutely loved it. It's still hilarious looking back at all the so over the top 90s marketing. Completely insane. Great vid!

Not sure if anyone else has already mentioned this but Rare did not make the 2020 Battletoads reboot game. It was made by a small developer called Dlala Studios. Rare was busy working on Sea of Thieves and didn't want to go back to the Battletoads well until Dlala came along with a pitch and Rare gave them their blessing and I think had some creative input. It Rare was more like a executive producer and not the developer

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 🐢 was conceived in November of 1983, but was published in May of 1984.

No mention of the "oops that was an accident " followed up by "OOPS THAT was an ACCIDENT" effect that basically meant no one got past level 2 in 2 player mode 🤣

One thing that always bothered me since I was a kid is the fact they created three characters for what would be a two-player game. Later games used all three toads, but their first outings didn't. It always seemed like poor planning to me.

Every time I think you've run out of s*** to talk about you surprised me with a new video. I love this thank you

The clip of the guy with the game on the wall that kept being played...what is that from? Is that the show from the late 80s/early 90s where kids competed against each other on NES games? I used to watch that all the time but I can't recall what it's called.

Being born in 87 I never had an NES but in the 2010s I got a Copy in box on Genesis and spent over a month trying and finally beat it. You gotta learn it and know what to do. Also on the speeder bikes you gotta time it and use your ears for the sounds of the Whoosh. The level warps help but if you wanna do well you gotta get extra guys by points by nailing the birds in the 2nd level over and over in a row to get the extra guys. The Ice and Snake levels you can skip with warps but I did beat those on other playthroughs. I trained until I got from level 1 to the Dark Queen on 1 Continue but had 1 life left so after biting it: Took her down. I also did the Master System one on a Multicart and it was much easier as it had difficulty level option that had you didn't burn through lives as fast on lighter ones.

I'm noticing a trend how almost all of these attempts at recreating a Turtles IP they ignore that the Turtles were literally normal turtles who mutated and thus are kind of still learning what it is like to be "human", since they are teenagers, and what the world is like & where they might fit in since they have spent most of the lives in the sewers. Almost all of them were already human, and usually adults, who get turned into some kind of animal hybrid so they kind of have a general understanding of what it was like to be "human", what most of the world is like & where they apparently fit.

I’ve never beaten Battletoads, but this is a great segue into Double Dragon! I was actually just watching a video featuring the Neo Geo version of the series the other day which is a fighting game loosely based on the American film, which was loosely based on the original game. And the cartoon is it’s own bizarre thing, mainly because the Double Dragon twins _do not_ wield swords in their games! It also had a fighting game, and this animated version of the franchise has loads of toys and games. Great Stuff!

I remember as a kid being frustrated with the original NES game at first, but I beat it several times. It wasn't until more than a decade later that I learned that it was considered one of the most difficult video games.

This was my all time favorite growing up. I have the NES version and the MEGA Drive of Battletoades and Double Dragon. But when I remember seeing the pilot all those times ago was sooooooo hopeful that we would of gotten a whole series but never did. Now I want one really really really BAD! My friends had the SNES Battletoads game back in the day and we would play it all the time. I now have it and haven't played it in a very long time. I need to break it out but I hope some day we get an animated show of the franchise.

Some say there was a board past the “jet ski” level. I still don’t believe it.

you know, i thought i remembered how awesome the dialogue was back in the '90s- but i forgot just how awesome it was (that commercial was sick- to the max!)

1989 was also the year that the TMNT arcade game was made. It was an instant hit and by 1990 it was the most profitable arcade game of that year. It was so popular that Konami couldn't keep up with the demand and had to outsource manufacturing to other companies.

I don't remember playing the original Battletoads. I did play Battletoads vs. Double Dragon on the SNES. Or rather, on a 3rd party SNES floppy drive add-on.

I didn't beat it back in the day but I beat it and the arcade game in Rare Replay on the Xbox. They give you the ability to rewind at any time so it makes them much easier. The upcoming TMNT video game collection is supposed to have a rewind feature as well so that will make the original TMNT NES game finally beatable.

Battle toads was sick. My brother and I made my dad rent it for us as often as it was on the shelf - it was one if the first games with on-screen co-op.....key for two brothers 18 months apart. We got through the bike level......but not often....I don't think we got much further than the ice level.... awesome nes cart though.

5:45 - Holy Shit. Is that Paul Rudd??

I'm still hoping on the Snailiens: Supersonic Shell Fighters video

The 2-player for the game is an unmitigated disaster at 8 years old. Guaranteed to lose tempers, friends and controllers

Battletoads (NES) was literally impossible to complete with 2 players due to a glitch that would prevent player 2 from moving during level 11, Clinger Winger (aka - the one where they ride giant wheels). Fortunately this was fixed in the Rare Replay version.

Battletoads won’t even exist without the ninja turtles

Oh only 1 episode of the animated "series" of battletoads? Aw. I watched it just today

7:26 Damn that commercial was so 90's, all that was missing was rap song to be make it XTREME. 😄

My brother got me hyped on Battletoads when it came out. We had the game, the toys and anything that was sold we tried to get it! I watched the cartoon as well but not that many episodes. I remember liking Pimple so much but was upset you couldn't play as him until Battletoads x Double Dragon.

that commercial is so bodaciously tubular that it almost looks like a parody of a 90s commercial somebody would make today.

I thought Battletoads was so awesome....until that damn jet ski level

Battletoads and Double Dragon was one of the best games on the original NES. My brother, my friends and I loved playing it back in the day. The arcade game is wonderfully funny. My nephew and I play it when he comes to visit.

Holy cow the advertising for this was 90’s af 😅

the original battletoads for the NES is one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind. It goes 1) fire 2)battletoads 3) the wheel

I've never beat the NES game, but me, and a buddy back in our late 90s high school days did finally beat the SEGA Genesis port passing the controller back, and forth, as it was easier to play as 1 player than 2.

For a short while I was in the top ten Endless Turbo Tunnel times on the Rare Replay version of NES Battletoads. I'm sure that time has been obliterated by now. These days though, I'm actually pretty decent at Battlemamiacs, I can finish it without too much trouble.

The craziest thing about Battletoads I’ve ever seen is the Mexican Runner doing the blindfolded speedrun of the turbo tunnel. Very cool if you haven’t seen it

I found an old VHS tape of myself playing this game and getting so frustrated at turbo tunnel. I never beat it legitimately. It’s fun to watch people who are very good at the game, but I do agree that there are major balancing issues in different levels that just made the game overly difficult and only fun for the first two levels.

2:06 I GEDDIT!

Frogs and toads are not the same thing frogs have smoother skin while toads have bumps How did maker of game confuse toads and frogs?

One of the all time greatest TMNT spoofs I can remember was the comic book Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils 😂😂😂

I don't care what anyone says this game is o.g it was so cool playing as a kid I got the remake on my Xbox