Battletoads
バトルトード
- Year
- 1991
- Developer
- Rare
- Publisher
- Tradewest
- Platform
- FC / NES
- Hardware
- Family Computer (8-bit)
- Genre
- Beat 'em up / Action
- Players
- 1-2 players (co-op)
- Controls
- D-pad + A (jump) / B (attack)
- Series
- Battletoads series
Gameplay Screenshots
About This Game
Battletoads is Rare's answer to the brawler, and it is remembered for two things: an enormous variety of stage types and a difficulty curve that starts at 'unforgiving' and gets worse. Zitz, Rash and Pimple rescue Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen across twelve stages that change genre almost every time.
The opening brawler gives way to the Speed Bike tunnel race, a descending shaft with instant-death walls, the ice caverns, the Surf City chase and the infamous Clinger Winger. There are no continues and very few checkpoints, and the two-player co-op is famous for friendly fire - a second player can knock you into a pit without meaning to. Its animation, drawn by Rare's artists at a scale the NES rarely attempted, is still striking.
- Twelve stages that switch genre - brawler, racing, platforming, chase
- The Speed Bike tunnel, one of the NES's most notorious stages
- Two-player co-op with genuine friendly fire
- Large-scale character animation from Rare, unusual for the hardware
Version History
- NES US version1991-06
Original release - the version on this page.
- Famicom Japanese version1991-12-20
Japanese release of the same game.
- Battletoads Arcade1994
A separate arcade brawler by Rare, not a port of this game.
Tips & Strategy
Memorise the Speed Bike, do not react
Stage 3 kills you the moment you improvise. The safe route is fixed - learn the obstacle order rather than watching for them.
Use the pause trick in co-op
Pausing during a two-player game lets the other player reposition. If a pit jump goes wrong, pause before the fall registers and reset the approach.
Friendly fire is real
In co-op your partner's attacks hit you too. Agree to stand on opposite sides of the screen, especially on the vertical stages.
Restart rather than press on
With no continues, arriving at a late boss with one hit point left is a waste of time. Restarting the stage is almost always faster.
Download Resources
Resource packs for this game are provided through the button below.
⬇ Coming soon