IN THE KNOW

» PUBLISHER: XBOX GAME STUDIOS

» DEVELOPER: DLALA STUDIOS, RARE

» RELEASE: 2020 » 

PLATFORM: PC, XBOX » 

GENRE: ACTION

Gaming has had some unlikely comeback stories, but the 2020 revival of Battletoads is a particularly impressive one. When the game was announced at E3 two years prior, it was the first sign of new activity for the series in well over two decades – and while the series wasn’t forgotten, it had acquired a certain reputation. For most people under the age of 30, Rare’s brawler was most recognisable as a staple of prank calls and lists of obnoxiously hard games. While a residual fondness drove those things, could Rare and Dlala Studios get people to take a new Battletoads seriously?

[Xbox One] Ass-kickers they may be, but in 2020 the Battletoads often have more confidence than luck, leading to hilarity.

Fortunately, that question never needed answering. After a triumphant brawl through the first stage, the second stage throws any pretence of seriousness out of the window as Pimple becomes a masseuse and Zitz sends repetitive emails – all under your control. “When we were writing things and decided that the toads were going to have to go back to basics, to go to a job agency and get jobs, we were like, ‘It would be funny if it was a story beat, but how much funnier would it be if you had to play these stupid jobs?’” says AJ Grand-Scrutton of Dlala Studios, designer and director of 2020’s Battletoads. “When we spoke publicly we had these big pillars, but there was a hidden pillar. On a big blackboard in the middle of the office, we had, ‘Does this make you say stupid game?’ and that kind of embodied our approach to making the game. We wanted a game we took seriously [in terms of] making, but that was just a ridiculous game – and not for the sake of it, but so that it made sense in the story we were telling.”