
	Platform SNES Genre Side-scrolling punch ‘em up Developer Rare Publisher Tradewest Year released 1993
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Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team

battletoads,double dragon

On the NES, the Battletoads brought fun back to side-scrolling action with their exaggerated moves and cool graphics. After Battletoads first outing on the SNES, they returned, this time teamed up with Double Dragons. After Battletoads & Double Dragons: The Ultimate Team (BDD), Battletoads vanished. Which is too bad. Those guys knew how to have fun!

Two-player punch ‘em ups have always had a special place in my heart. Probably because they were the only kind of games both my brother I could play together at the same time, thereby avoiding any, "It’s my turn now!" and the SNES being smashed into several chunks. BDD brings together two of coolest fighting teams but the game won’t hold your interest very long. Part of the reason for this is that it’s just too difficult be very enjoyable. Enemies from the Double Dragon and Battletoad games gang-up on you and you can’t fight back while you’re having the tar beaten out of you. And the moves for the Dragons are absent. You can’t pull elbows or perform head butts -- moves that were staples of the original Double Dragons game. In terms of "special" moves, there aren‘t any that can be performed on your own. It‘s preset for each level. One level you’ll be kneeing the bad guys in the head then tossing them, while the next level it will be different. There are some weapons to

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use. Who can forget pogo-sticking it to the bad guys? Instead of emphasizing strict fighting there are levels that present you with different challenges. One entire level takes place in outer space with you buzzing around in a small spaceship, blasting asteroids and facing off against a big mothership! There are also the very familiar speed bike and descending sequences that are synonymous with Battletoads to fend off the tedium of "punch, punch, kick."

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The single-player game is incredibly hard. Two-player action is the proper way to play, so find a buddy. But even with another player and the three continues you get, crossing the finish line is an accomplishment.

Graphics and sound are fairly good across the board but the characters feel too small. To make full use of the cartoony graphics they should have been bigger. But there’s no slowdown and you can tell what’s happening at all times so I guess that’s the trade-off.

Descent enough in it’s time, BDD lacks depth for players of today, but it’s still a fun -- if brief and frustratingly hard at points -- trip down memory lane. It also brings to bear the question of other video game team-ups. What about Conker and Leisure Suit Larry? Solid Snake and Serious Sam? Donkey Kong and Pac-Man? All three are Games of the Year just waiting to happen!

- Omni