Battletoads & Double Dragon (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Tradewest's 1993 beat 'em up game for the NES, Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team.
Battletoads & Double Dragon was as unlikely a crossover as anyone could have imagined. At least, it might've been if anyone had expected anything of the sort in the early 90s. The concept of a crossover between different company's franchises was all but unknown in the western console gaming world.
Enter Rare, a trailblazing pioneer of NES-era software development. Licensing the rights to Technos' Double Dragon characters, Rare built a new Battletoads game that saw the dermally-challenged Zitz, Rash, and Pimple partner up with Billy and Jimmy Lee to take on the Dark Queen and her newly hired army of Shadow Warriors minions.
Just one look at the game is enough to tell you that Rare spared no expense in bringing the "ultimate team" to the NES. The original Battletoads was already a technical and artistic overachiever when it was released in 1991, but BT&DD pushes the envelope far harder. This is easily one of the most impressive games on the platform.
The characters are huge and have tons of animation: their eyes bug out when Abobo comes punching through a wall, they dance around in pancake-form after being squashed, and their blazing bodies are violently ejected from the screen when they're caught in a rocket engine blast. Neat stuff. The backgrounds pull some really cool tricks as well - check out the constant use of parallax effects, the faux 3D line-scrolling effects in the Turbo Bike sections, and the buttery smooth action of the space battleship fight. The game somehow manages to put on an even more accomplished show than the original Battletoads did.
The sound is right up there with the graphics, too, and the soundtrack is one of Rare's best on the NES. The tunes are hyper-catchy and drive a good beat, and the bassy sound effects lend some real weight to the over-the-top finishing moves.
But the gameplay is where Battletoads & Double Dragon really shines. It is very much a Battletoads game with Double Dragon characters tossed in - the controls, stage designs, and enemies are all pulled directly from the Battletoads design manual - and it comes together beautifully. The big boot/big fist/head smash combo finishers are all here and as exaggerated as ever, and the Lee brothers have been adapted quite nicely to the new style.
Even better, the difficulty level has been dialed waaaaaaay back from Battletoads. It's no walk in the park, but it's so much more reasonable. If you wanted to love Battletoads but had a hard time stomaching its difficulty, try this one! Rare listened to the critics of the first game and balanced this one to be far more accessible to the masses.
Battletoads & Double Dragon was also released on the Game Boy, SNES, and Sega Genesis, but the NES game was the original. That the 16-bit versions so closely mirrored this one speaks to just how well made the 8-bit game truly was. If you want a good beat 'em up on the NES, Battletoads & Double Dragon is an outstanding choice that arguably surpasses the classics it was based on.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

The NES was on life support by 1993, but that didn't stop Rare from pulling out all the stops and giving it an action game that rivaled the quality of most 16-bit games of the time.

[@bigduke5902]

This game was Earthworm Jim before Earthworm Jim.

[@andrewenserro3185]

Is this because of battletoads in battlemaniacs on Nintendo Switch online?

[@thecunninlynguist]

@@andrewenserro3185 probably

[@NintendoComplete]

@@andrewenserro3185 Nah, it was completely coincidental. I recorded this about a month ago.

[@GPWT-video]

Давно я уже прошел эту игру, спасибо за видео

[@danalong1237]

David Wise, who composed not only this game (and its prequel and many other Battletoads games) and many other Rare titles for the NES, later went on to do the score for the original Donkey Kong Country (which came out one year after Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team) with Eveline Fischer (now Novakovic) and Robin Beanland. David Wise, just like his fellow British composers/sound designers Rob Hubbard, David Whittaker, Jonathan Dunn, Mark T.W. Cooksey, Tim and Geoff Follin, Marty Galway, Martin Goodall, Tony Williams, Keith Tinman, Dean Evans and his fellow Rare composers/sound designers Ben Cullum, Grant Kirkhope, Graeme Norgate (later at Free Radical Design) and the aforementioned Novakovic and Beanland, will always be DA GOAT!!!!!

[@SonicTheHedgehog17]

Can I just say that the premise of this game is so absurd it's fantastic? A battleship bursts out of the moon and the good guy use a chopper to fly into space and fight the bad guys. Perfection.

[@maxacorn]

rented this sucker the day i saw it at blockbuster. one of my favorite beat'em ups ever and the best version of the game.

[@jvj5644]

I never returned mine lol

[@king-of-a-thing]

This is one of the NES' most underrated gems.

[@jevonknights3507]

Damn i love this game. That 8bit audio is top stuff. Unlike Battletoads I think l actually beat this one as a child but now could barely get through stage 3 😅

[@spoonshiro]

Love this game. From an erawhen video game crossovers were almost unheard of!

[@Spawnwick_Boseman446]

Now this is the battletoads game I was looking for

[@bigduke5902]

It's most certainly an unpopular opinion in these homogenous days, but I believe this game represents exactly what a video game should be. Games like this feel to me like a really great music album where the levels are like songs that can all be enjoyed singularly, but come together to create a cohesive whole. It's inventive and is constantly offering something unique and new, yet sticks with a few core ideas long enough to feel like the game builds upon itself rather than constant tutorializing. I think this game is perfect.

[@morechuchoggaming4800]

YYESS! Especially level 5 ropes n roper!! 😊

[@gamet2004]

36:42 I have no words to describe THIS death animation

[@magoid]

I think that the first game is more of a platformer with beat'em up elements, and this one is the reverse.

[@TMNTRaphael-lz5ew]

Pimple is my favorite character yo 😎👍👍

[@mariusamber3237]

Great game, my favourite in the series besides the arcade game. I consider it one of the best late-era NES games, personally. If you count it as a beat 'em up, it's probably my favourite game in the genre for the system too. Would be cool to see a similar game in this series one day.

[@NordicAxe]

Weren't those women with the whips called Linda Lash or something ? Love the hair-pull crunch 🤣

[@thecunninlynguist]

Arguably the best version of the game..

[@SamtheBravesFan]

It probably is because it's essentially Battletoads 2. They built off that engine and the action transferred with it.

[@solarflare9078]

It is. Better than the alright, but not terribly impressive Mega Drive port and way better than the rather shoddy SNES port

[@VahanNisanian]

Last NES game from Rare. They made four dozen NES games from 1986 to 1993.

[@danalong1237]

What’s your favorite NES game from Rare Ltd./Rare Coin-It, Inc.?

[@VahanNisanian]

@@danalong1237 R.C. Pro-Am.

[@MasonDaniels-ef6mf]

​@@VahanNisanian now that's a classic loved that game

[@stephennovotny6157]

GREAT GAME 🎮🕹

[@p6mkq]

Fired the game up one year ago and was finally able to beat that blasted Dark Queen's Ratship in stage 4. Took me 2 continues as the machine gun section is just nasty to destroy.

[@cadillacdeville5828]

Omg! I had that GAME!

[@bekerpermataputra4620]

Best game ever on my console 90

[@TheZmusicGroup]

This is an excellent version of the game

[@user-yd4gt2cx3l]

В этой игре уровень мастерства доходил) без потери жизни всю игру проходил) сейчас и с бесмертием уже не пройду 😁🤨легендарная игра была) рубились в неё с друзьями👍👍всех, благ)

[@snejky235]

For me this was best game ever made.

[@arturnazaretyan5643]

12:38 Miracles!

[@Dorian_Scott]

Haven't played *_this_* version, but I loved the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions. Even though Rare got pretty lazy with their 16-bit ports.

[@SolCresta3405]

I’m more familiar with the SNES version.

[@ANIMACIONESFACHERAZAS]

YEAH

[@yuridavy]

The sound of hits and smashes in this 8 bit title blows the 16 bit games out of water. The SNES sample based approach was weak and muted even for the time due to the low resolution and the 11khz sample rate, while the synth based NES could render the kicks rather bright with a much lower data storage usage. I think synth based Sega Mega Drive sound system could rival the quality of this particular title on the technical level, but we never had a toads game on sega so it remains an open question. The SNES version of the game sounded very underwhelming.

[@Aivottaja]

They should remake this game as a sequel to Double Dragon Neon!

[@chrishd659]

Which version of this game would you say it’s the best? I’m personally torn between the NES and Genesis versions, since they both feel raw and fast On a side note, which game do you prefer? The original ‘91 game or this one?

[@Dorian_Scott]

The Genesis version is my favorite. Primarily for its soundtrack.

[@chrishd659]

@@Dorian_Scott yeah, the soundtrack there really contributes to the raw and action packed atmosphere this version has

[@thecunninlynguist]

This is arguably the best version/port

[@NintendoComplete]

My personal favorite one is the NES version, but they're all great. I think I prefer this over the original Battletoads, too. I love them both, but this one skips the controller smashing bullshit.

[@chrishd659]

@@NintendoComplete Yeah, even though I hadn’t beat both games, I feel like there’s more of a polished and complete experience with BT&DD, having Pimple playable + the Lee Brothers and a good amount of enemies and gimmicks fitting to the action and more experience from the dev team make it a more engaging game for me. The original game is still great, though it feels more gimmicky in comparison And yeah, despite myself preferring the NES and Genesis version, the SNES one is no slouch either, you can’t go wrong with any version of this title :)

[@BB-te8tc]

>Just one look at the game is enough to tell you that Rare spared no expense in bringing the "ultimate team" to the NES. That expense was passed onto the secondary market, hahaha. I never could find this game anywhere at a reasonable price and had to settle for the SNES one.

[@morechuchoggaming4800]

Well retrobit had a limited run of these last year and they are somewhat cheaper than the original ones

[@NintendoComplete]

The NES has been dead for thirty years. Unless someone is a collector, I dunno how people justify paying the prices a lot of these games go for. For the price of one semi-rare NES cart you could just buy a flashcart and have easy access to everything, all without doing any harm to Nintendo's business.

[@BB-te8tc]

Exactly! That's why I sold off my collection in 2014 and just got a multicart. Well, that and limited living space.

[@thecunninlynguist]

@@NintendoComplete collectors gonna collect/scalpers gonna scalp, is the only reason why.

[@prfhamed2652]

Is there any other part for this game ????

[@harrymitchell2713]

I got this on SNES

[@user-pg7by8yq8i]

Nice 8 bit pegasus poland power konsol nice game :) legend :)

[@puppylove3781]

They were like the Great Value version of TMNT on a budget, complete with their " misspellin' " to try and be extra even though they are marginal even in 1993.

[@darkerfalcon3747]

It's a shame that you didn't show the cheater ending, obtainable if you beat the Dark Queen through the mega warp zone/stage select.

[@LITTLE1994]

I thought that game was only on SNES/Genesis...

[@Dorian_Scott]

It was first on the NES and was later ported to the Genesis, SNES and even Game Boy.

[@LscVip]

Do you just play these games all day in your house 🤔

[@oxygeninterface]

26:22 ~ nice 9/11 predictive programming.