Battletoads is a wonderful example of what a good Xbox Game Pass - review is

The return of the supposedly cult Battletoads brand will not be remembered in the annals of history. But that wasn't exactly the plan either. This game is a very nice joke. I'm not sure if it's worth buying, but it's definitely worth playing.

The fenon of Battletoads somehow missed me - I suspect most of you too. The game appeared at a time when 8- and 16-bit PCs and the Polish-Chinese counterfeit NES, Pegasus, reigned supreme in Poland. Hits for the real NES missed us, as did game consoles from Amiga or Sega. And it is on these platforms that Battletoads gained their popularity.

That's why I didn't go crazy with the rest of the audience when Phil Spencer - the head of the Xbox department - wore a T-shirt with the game's logo at one of the game shows, heralding its return. I understood that this was an important event for many older players and retrogamers. Unfortunately, I remained insensitive to it.

So I went to Battletoads untouched by the magic of the original. I didn't feel any emotions about my childhood memories - because these don't exist. I only knew that the Rare studio (part of Xbox Game Studios) responsible for the game did not take Battletoads too seriously. This is a hobby project, not a hit like Sea of ​​Thieves or Everwild, a game built by Rare.

Battletoads is a brawler. A somewhat forgotten genre of especially honey games.

The game belongs to the same genre as the cult Double Dragon, Golden Ax or Final Fight. So it is a fighting game in which our main task is to duel with successive opponents using mainly hand-to-hand combat. Brawlers, however, differ from fighting games such as Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter in the number and skills of opponents - instead of going through subsequent fights with more or less equal enemies, we fight simultaneously with many much weaker than each other.

The game can be played both independently and with friends. I especially recommend playing with Battletoads on the couch coop . Brawlers work especially well when, together with a friend or colleague, we can yell at the TV and go through the next stages together. Although, of course, you can also play online, and independent play is also a pleasant pastime in a typical, cool brawler.

But is Battletoads really a cool brawler?

Let's start with two remarks. First, Battletoads has some bad luck in the form of an unexpected rival. A dozen or so weeks ago, another retro-bralwer appeared on all platforms - including Xbox Game Pass -. Absolutely sensational, polished, great Streets of Rage 4. Which means Rare can't just feed on memories of those good old days .

Second, Battletoads is not your typical brawler. Rare has made a lot of effort to ensure that it is not boring and monotonous. While playing, we will beat our opponents as often as we will participate in various mini-games and side quests. A lot of time is also spent on interactive animated inserts filled with embarrassing humor. This embarrassing sense of a joke is clearly present in the premeditated game - Rare in Battletoads plays very skillfully with biscuits and cringe , assuming that some jokes can be so bad as to be good. I appreciate it very much and there is no hint of sarcasm in this assessment.

Battletoads captivates not only with humor. The visual setting also attracts attention.

Whether we are talking about characters or backgrounds, or animated cutscenes or whatever - Battletoads enjoy a cool, colorful, expressive and comic-like graphic design. As long as we play in the right game mode - that is, we fight against herds of opponents - it is difficult to fault anything. The style of 2D graphics combined with flawlessly matched animation and an efficient collision detection system.

The cutscenes are even prettier, definitely of TV quality. Not only are they funny (in a quite specific way), which makes it a pity to ignore them, they do not differ in quality from popular animations for young people. But I have nothing nice to say about music. I also have no exaggerated complaints, but in brawler games, the encouraging action and the appropriate soundtrack to wind it are very important. Here it was a bit lacking - although it is possible that it is just a matter of taste.

Now let's get to the game itself… and thank Microsoft for the Xbox Game Pass .

No Streets of Rage 4 it isn't. The combat system is definitely not as polished as in the competitor's game. In all fighting games, the so-called flow is very important - i.e. the smoothness of the blows in the sequence of combos. It should be natural, in the right rhythm, and one should follow from the other. Opponents should be diverse and require different strategies. Not in Battletoads.

Despite the graphical variety of opponents, in reality there are only four types of them - used to control the behavior of dozens of visually different opponents. In addition, we have a choice of three playable characters, differing in the balance between speed and strength of the blows they inflict. It is fun to fight, and there is no shortage of fun. However, don't expect too much depth. Battletoads doesn't have some kind of advanced combat system, super punches and their sequences. What matters is dexterity, reflexes and quick assessment of the situation and basically that's it.

In order not to be too secondary, the game is interwoven with many mini-tasks that test our dexterity. Whether it's a raid through a tunnel with obstacles or any other challenge - Battletoads makes sure that the fight against waves of enemies is never too tedious.

What exactly is Battletoads? It's like Netflix Original for Xbox.

Xbox Game Pass is often compared to Netflix due to a very similar business model. We pay a fixed subscription, under which hundreds of movies, series, or in the case of Xbox, games are made available to us at no additional charge. To retain subscribers, these services publish content not available anywhere else. However, these productions are not always absolutely amazing.

Netflix has understood that even decent series - but in very plural - will be enough to keep customers. After all, it is not possible to provide subscribers with some expensive, sophisticated blockbuster every month. This is more or less the way to look at Battletoads. For a game that would make much less sense without the Xbox Game Pass.

Is Battletoads worth buying? I would recommend waiting for some deals and discounts. PLN 92 seems a bit too high for a nice retro-game, which does not have any excessively high ambitions. I definitely recommend Xbox Game Pass subscribers - especially if you have a companion to play with two (or even three) pads.

And that's it. A game like Battletoads would make no economic sense to Rare without the Xbox Game Pass.

This is definitely not best seller material. I sincerely doubt that the production of Battletoads would be possible in the classic business model. And if anything, using much less resources. This is a production for a specific player who likes to play retro games - but offers him much more than pixelart or other treatments to cover up a low budget.

It's a cut-scene game for an hour. A fun method to kill time while having fun. Is it nice enough that it is worth spending less than a hundred? I have a lot of doubts. Is it attractive enough to click Install without any consequences and just have fun? Oh, definitely yes.

Battletoads are undoubtedly not another Halo, Gears or even Streets of Rage, Limbo or Minecraft: Dungeons. This is another Netflix Original . As an independent, out of context production, it only works correctly. However, it is another element that makes it definitely worth paying for Xbox Game Pass. Do you buy? For now, I'd like to abstain. Do you play? Yes! A few hours of brick fun.

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Battletoads is a wonderful example of what a good Xbox Game Pass - review is