Battletoads (1991). Play online

Summary

Battletoads for the Game Boy stands out as the second entry in the series, offering a brand‑new set of eight levels that share no DNA with the NES original. The player only controls Zitz, navigating side‑scrolling fights and a variety of vehicle sequences — from speeder bike courses and jet‑ski races to rope‑swinging caves and timed jet‑pack flights. The game is notorious for its difficulty, demanding memorized patterns, rapid reflexes, and the patience to survive the Dark Queen’s taunts in cut‑scenes even though she never appears as the final foe. Robo‑Manus, a robotic henchman, serves as the climactic boss after Zitz races past rolling brain‑like boulders and rappels down dangerous chasms. Released in North America in November 1991 by Tradewest (Europe 1992 by Nintendo, Japan 1994 by Masaya), it never left the handheld and earned an aggregate score of 77.67 % on GameRankings.

Storyline

The Game Boy classic Battletoads opens with Zitz, Rash and Pimple partying on the deep‑space leisure station Lost Vega. Their fun is cut short when a Thallian Thorax Dancer reveals herself as the evil Dark Queen and kidnaps Rash and Pimple. Zitz manages to flee in the Toadster, returning to the mentor Professor T. Bird aboard the Vulture.

The professor drops Zitz onto the hostile world of Armagedda, where the mission to rescue his friends truly begins. The planet’s surface is littered with Psyko‑Pigs and rat‑piloted UFOs that attack any intruder. Zitz must battle through caverns, swamps and even the belly of a massive Wurm as he tracks the captured toads.

Rash and Pimple are being held by the Dark Queen’s robotic henchman Robo‑Manus, who serves as the final boss. Although the Dark Queen only taunts Zitz in cutscenes, Robo‑Manus must be defeated to free the duo. With the toads rescued, Zitz proves he’s a bona‑fide Battletoad.