It's been a long time coming, but Battletoads is finally making a comeback, with a teaser for a new game in the series revealed as part of the Xbox E3 2018 press conference. The original Battletoads came out all the way back in 1991, and was developed by Rare. Although remembered for its hard-as-nails gameplay, the title has gone on to be thought of as one of the best games on the original NES.
However, releases for the series would be few and far between going forward. Two sequels were released in 1993, including a cross-over with fellow beat 'em up Double Dragon, before an arcade game release in 1994. With that, the history of releases in the Battletoads franchise was complete, and fans were left with nothing more than rumors that cropped up every few years.
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However, those rumors have now become reality, with a new game announced for the franchise during E3 2018. The reveal was made via an extremely brief teaser video, which can be seen above. The teaser itself doesn't give much away about the title at all, aside from making a few choice references towards the original game.
Aside from that, fans of the franchise don't have much to go on. The title promises 3-player couch co-op, one for each of Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, and a 4K, hand-drawn 2.5D design. Understandably, fans will expect a kind of side-scrolling fighter, and the video's reference to "body morphing genre mash-ups" suggests that the variety of the first game in the franchise is going to make a welcome return - although some fans could do without the speeder bike segment.
The game seems to be created between Rare and Dlala Studios, although a recent Twitter post from Rare seems to suggest that Dlala Studios is taking the reigns with development. The UK-based studio has a history with vibrant, cartoonish characters in its previous projects, and as such could be a solid fit for the Battletoads property as a whole.
However, long-term fans of the series may well be cautious for now. Hints about a new Battletoads game had been appearing of late, and understandably many gamers would love to see another game in the franchise appear, but after such a long time out of the spotlight it could be difficult for Battletoads to find a place in today's market. Given the notoriety that the first game received, though, chances are that at the very least would-be players will be keeping an eye on the game.