The story is this. Pimple and Princess Angelica are cruising through the galaxy in the toadster(a space Chevy) when they are captured by the Dark Queen and her minions. Now Zitz and Rash must fight through the hordes of the Dark Queens minions, stop her plans and rescue the princess and their comrade.
The gameplay hasn't changed from the NES version. The two button controls are still there, making it a pick up and play game. The game is a two player beat 'em up, a genre that is in desperate need to be revived like the 2D fighter got. This game is broken up into platforming, beat 'em up, rhythm/memory speed courses and boss fights. Even with all these different styles at play, the games doesn't feel too schizophrenic. One of the cool things about this game is when you land a finishing blow, the appendage becomes huge and changes shape like a giant fist or ram horns.
The game has been slowed down and given a graphical and musical overhaul from the NES version. Along with these changes a few of the glitches have been fixed too. The game difficulty is a little easier thanks to these changes but that is a good thing believe it or not... though it's still hasn't made finishing it that much easier.... NO I haven't finished it yet! Leave me alone! (T-T)
The level design is fantastic but because of the different styles at work, the difficult curve and pacing it can be overwhelming and frustrating. The reduced speed also makes those really fast sections both little easier and harder at the same time. You'll need to have a good memory(or a YouTube window open in a window on the PC or dumb... I mean smartphone.) to get through this game.
As mention before this game can be played in two player mode. The difficulty gets ramped up here due to many factors. If a player loses all his lives, you have to start back at the beginning of the stage and in some stages just one player losing a life returns you to a check point. Then there's the screen progression... this is where it can get really hard because of the fact that it can screw both players over if one is moving too slow or too fast. Just like in the NES version, friendly fire returns to make the game both funny and annoying because of accidental hits and deaths... depending on how serious you are about finishing it.
As mentioned before the games visuals and music have been upgrades... but it isn't an improvement. The Megadrive graphics don't look as clean as the NES version and enemies look bigger and uglier, proving that less is more. As for the music the Megadrive version is so, so much worse! The pause music is gone, the simulated instruments don't sound right and I find it hard to enjoy the tracks I grew up with on the NES.
Overall this is a difficult but fun game. Sure it's essentially a reprinted game with some patch work and newer graphics, but it's its own game in its own right. I say if you've never played Battletoads before or want to finish it in two player mode to the end I would recommend this over the NES version but I still say the original would be better for solo play. This is a great game none the less and you won't regret playing it. I love the Battletoads series and think if you've never played it, you should rectify it ASAP! This is a golden age game that everyone should play... no exceptions!
Score 4/5
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