I don’t think the animation looks retro at all though. It looks more like a hand drawn cartoon like Dragon’s Lair or especially like the Ralph Bakshi “The Wizards.” It’s a hand drawn animation but it doesn’t harken back particularly to NES/SNES era graphics. Which leads me to believe this is deliberate. But we will see - most likely at E3 next year.
Edit: rewatching the trailer the text suggests they are going for difficult…
I have to post this since this is the funniest thing ever.
Check out @AphexArcade’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/AphexArcade/status/1005929565234040832?s=09
The animation style is giving me more of an early 90s Nickelodeon cartoon vibe then anything imo.
Very 90’s but the pallet do give me Bakshi vibes.
For me personally it’s a bit of a relief, I was afraid of a uber gritty aesthetic. I want to see the redesigns soon.
It’s wonderful to see it return but I don’t think you’ll get the violent dismemberment from the arcade game, MS may go with a Teen rating again so it can show blood but in a stylised way. Dismemberment is the one thing that will knock a rating up so I’m sure they’ll avoid it.
It’s weird because as a kid I could happily play through hours and hours of E-Swat memorizing AI actions repetitively playing the same level. Times were different back then games were simpler and you sure as hell weren’t spoiled for choice.
Couldn’t agree more with this it would have been perfect, I’m not sure the timing is right now and if people will even care apart from die hards of course. I really hope it’s not being brought back just for the sake of “doing something” with the IP
To be fair though, most people likely have only had experience with the originals via the console games, and they didn’t have the blood and junk the arcade game had.
Very true actually, in fact my first memories of Battletoads was the NES version 
Given how the Turtles are also being rebooted in a goofy, Teen Titans Go-way, this is probably more true than I want to admit.
I’m a fan of goofy, stupid humor but it has to be done well. I’m not confident this one will hit the mark, but it’ll be fun in parts for me at least. (This is all speculation really. Still have to see some gameplay)
Idk the new TMNT reminds me of the original Teen Titans more than TTG.
I have mixed feelings about the Battletoads game. I love the idea of the 2d hand-drawn platformer hybrid.
But I think the natural evolution of Battletoads is to would take advantage of the 3d movement to add complexity to the platforming and brawling. Also actually developing the characters unique abilities and personalities.
I’ve never been a fan of Battletoads, but I have to admit, that looks really fun, and more like a Nickolodeon Cartoon than a game.
everyone says it looks bad, but i kinda like this new style.
though i do get where people are coming from about the artstyle.
People confuse “bad” with “something I don’t like.” It has a very strong style. I’m not a fan but it is a clear visual identity and it’s consistent with Battletoads. It’s also clearly well executed - the game has a ton of animation and the gameplay looks to blend with that really well.
A lot of people expected a gritty, realistic Battletoads starting with character design like Rash from KI. Frankly, I think those people are kidding themselves and clearly unfamiliar with Rare’s body of work if they expected them to take it in that direction. But I also think this is a lose lose thing. The original is (in my humble opinion) one of the most if not the most overrated game in history. It had terrific NES graphics but suffered from many of the design flaws Common to the era - including difficulty as a substitute for lengthy content. Battletoads actually has decent level diversity but it only takes you a few minutes to finish each level. But it takes you days of practice to beat each one. You are fighting the controls as much as you are fighting the enemies. The infamous turbo tunnel (which everyone claims to love but is where most players quit the game) Is hard not just because it’s a dexterity challenge but because the visual representation of the platforms does not line up with the hitboxes. So you spend hours essentially memorizing the feel of winning and ignoring what your eyes tell you. It’s objectively not good.
All of this is to say if the new game is anything other than “hardcore impossible!” A bunch of people complain that It’s too easy and has been dumbed down for modern gamers. But if it uses the same difficult design as the original no one will like it. It will be interesting to see what the reception is and what the actual game plays like.
I’m really curious why we have seen so little information over the course of development. Besides the controversial style choices the game looks well animated and potentially pretty good. But they didn’t release any information until right before release.
I owned the original Game Boy version as a kid. I still have it somewhere. After the first two levels, it was a miserable experience. I never got very far. Maybe level 4. You summed it up excellently.
ill stick to battletoads and double dragon still. if fightcade has the arcade version ill be on that too. i just cant get behind that nasty cal-arts style, ill accept cartoony just not that flavor lol
Again, this looks really, really fun. I wonder if there will be a trial or demo.
It’s free for gamepass subscribers so I will certainly give it a try, although I can’t say I’m especially excited for it.
No Game Pass for me, so I’ll need to see what other options there are.