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57-564: The game follows two Battletoads , Rash and Pimple, on a quest to stop Silas Volkmire and the evil Dark Queen from ruling over the world. Many of its levels are enhanced or remixed versions of levels from the original Battletoads , featuring similar mechanics and gameplay styles. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs received a mostly positive response from critics, with praise for its varied gameplay and music, and criticism for its lack of originality and high difficulty. The story begins with

114-625: A jidaigeki -themed martial arts action game where player samurai fight a number of swordspeople before confronting a more powerful boss samurai. SNK 's Sasuke vs. Commander , released in October 1980, is a ninja-themed shooting game where the player character fights enemy ninjas before confronting bosses with various ninjutsu attacks and enemy patterns. It was one of the earliest games with multiple boss encounters, and one of SNK's earliest games. Phoenix , released in December 1980,

171-556: A "boss song" that is more difficult, or a high-difficulty, computer-controlled opponent in sports games . In multiplayer online battle arena games, defeating a map boss usually requires teamwork of two or more players, but it brings various benefits to the team, such as buffs or lane push power. Some games, such as Cuphead , Furi and Warning Forever , are centered around continual boss fights. Bosses are usually harder to beat than regular enemies, have higher health points, hence can sustain more damage and are generally found at

228-536: A boss battle, but later appear as a regular enemy, after players have become stronger or had a chance to find more powerful weaponry. Many games structure boss battles as a progression of distinct phases in which the boss produces different or additional hazards for players. This is often reflected by a change in the appearance of the boss, or by a boss displaying increased frustration. The Legend of Zelda series and games inspired by it are recognized for having dungeons with bosses that are specifically vulnerable to

285-810: A boss. They come in many variations, such as the Chargin' Chuck Swarm encountered in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam , the Armos Knights from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or the Battle of 1000 Heartless from Kingdom Hearts II . A main requirement with most wolfpacks is that the whole group must be defeated in order to win; in order to prolong the fight, many wolfpacks, particularly in games with turn-based combat in lieu of real-time, will summon reinforcements to replenish their lost numbers. An example of this

342-537: A choppy scrolling floor in the bonus stages and invisible obstacles in the turbo tunnel. The SNES version of the game was re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online service on February 21, 2024. GameRankings , a game review aggregator, assigned Battletoads in Battlemaniacs for the SNES an averaged score of 78% based on two reviews. Retrospectively, the staff of GamesRadar ranked the SNES version as

399-503: A concept that Kung-Fu Master designer Takashi Nishiyama later expanded on when he created the fighting game Street Fighter (1987) at Capcom . The term "boss" was used in reference to the game's final boss by Mike Roberts in a review of the game published in the May 1985 issue of British magazine Computer Gamer , while he used the term "super baddies" for the end-of-level bosses. Sega's arcade game Fantasy Zone (1986) popularized

456-488: A final boss in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link ). A superboss is a type of boss most commonly found in role-playing video games . They are considered optional enemies and do not have to be defeated to complete the game. However, not all optional bosses are superbosses. They are generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot or quest , more difficult even than

513-414: A game. Boss battles are generally seen at climax points of particular sections of games, such as at the end of a level or stage or guarding a specific objective. A miniboss is a boss weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level, though usually more powerful than the standard opponents and often fought alongside them. A superboss (sometimes 'secret', 'hidden' or 'raid' boss)

570-432: A handful of bonus stages in which the player can earn extra lives. These stages appear after the second and fifth stages, respectively, and feature Rash or Pimple on a circular disc as the screen scrolls to the right, allowing the player to collect red and blue colored bowling pins and avoid the black ones. In addition, the game features a handful of boss fights , ranging from a massive stone pig named Rocky, who jumps high in

627-581: A mass prank calling to the Gold and Silver pawn shop, home to the popular television show Pawn Stars . The callers would repeatedly ask the employees if they sold Battletoads . This call led Rick Harrison, star of Pawn Stars and owner of the store, to repeatedly swear and yell at the callers, who recorded this and uploaded it to YouTube . This originated a series of many other similar videos of pranksters dialing random establishments and asking about Battletoads . Battletoads developer Rare has acknowledged

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684-409: A massive, spiky boot. The game is split up into six stages, each with their own special type of gameplay. For example, the first stage, "Khaos Mountains" is a side-scrolling beat 'em up, whereas the fifth stage, "Tracktors" is a racing level that takes place on rails. Though the stages feature unique twists on gameplay styles, all of the stages are actually enhanced versions of their counterparts from

741-777: A more detailed version of the regular ending. Examples of a "true final boss" include the Radiance in Hollow Knight and the Moon Presence in Bloodborne . The term "Foozle" is used to describe a cliché final boss that exists only to act as the final problem before players can complete the game. Scorpia stated in 1994 that "about 98% of all role-playing video games can be summed up as follows: 'We go out and bash on critters until we're strong enough to go bash on Foozle. ' " A precursor to video game boss fights

798-503: A number of titles in the Dance Dance Revolution rhythm game series contain "boss songs" that are called "bosses" because they are exceptionally difficult to perform on. In combat-focused games, a boss may summon additional enemies, reinforcements, or minions ("adds") to fight players alongside the boss, increasing the boss fight's difficulty. These additional enemies may distract from the boss battle or give time for

855-616: A special item that is located within that dungeon. Player(s) typically acquire this item while exploring the dungeon and is given opportunity to learn to use it to solve puzzles or defeat weaker enemies before facing the boss character. Boss battles are typically seen as dramatic events. As such, they are usually characterized by sometimes quite theatrical cutscenes before and after the boss battle and unique music. Recurring bosses and final bosses may have their own specific theme music to distinguish them from other boss battles. This concept extends beyond combat-oriented video games. For example,

912-499: A temple) and fighting a boss character at the end of each level; in turn, this end-of-level boss battle structure was adapted from the Bruce Lee film Game of Death , where Lee's character fights a different boss character on each floor as he ascends a pagoda. The game was distinctive for giving both players and each boss a health meter , which leads to the game temporarily becoming a one-on-one fighting game during boss battles,

969-429: A time limit by having a large number of players or parties working together to defeat the boss. Examples of such superbosses can be found in games like Pokémon Go and World of Warcraft , and are generally referred to as a raid . Toby Fox 's games Undertale and Deltarune both feature superbosses in the form of Sans , Jevil, and Spamton NEO. Some major video game series have recurring superbosses such as

1026-494: A typical dungeon campaign there would be one powerful enemy acting as the boss of the weaker minions that players would face beforehand, in the same sense as a crime boss, which later inspired the boss battles of role-playing video games . The first interactive video game to feature a boss was dnd , which was released in 1975 for the PLATO system . dnd was one of the earliest dungeon crawl video games and implemented many of

1083-463: Is Astaroth in Diablo IV . Many other wolfpack bosses empower themselves when one of the other enemies in the battle is killed to keep the threat level from falling over time. The final boss, last boss or end boss, is typically present at or near the end of a game, with completion of the game's storyline usually following victory in the battle. The final boss is usually the main antagonist of

1140-456: Is Bruce Lee 's Hong Kong martial arts films , including The Big Boss (1971), in which Lee fights a criminal gang before battling the eponymous "big boss", and Game of Death (1972), where Lee fights a different boss on each level of a pagoda , which later inspired the boss battles of martial arts action games such as beat 'em ups. Another precursor is tabletop role-playing games starting with Dungeons & Dragons (1974), in which in

1197-547: Is a fixed shooter where players's ship must fight a giant mothership in the fifth and final level. At several points in Namco's vertically scrolling shooter Xevious (1982), players must defeat an Andor Genesis mothership to advance. In side-scrolling character action games such as beat 'em ups, Irem 's 1984 arcade game Kung-Fu Master established the end-of-level boss battle structure used in these games, with players progressing through levels (represented by floors of

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1254-449: Is generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot and is often an optional encounter. A final boss is often the main antagonist of a game's story and the defeat of that character usually provides a conclusion to the game. A boss rush is a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession. For example, in a run 'n' gun video game, all regular enemies might use pistols while

1311-650: Is recovered, but Volkmire is nowhere to be found. Similarly to the first ending, it is alluded to that Volkmire and the Dark Queen will want revenge. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs is an action-platform beat 'em up game that takes place inside the Gamescape, a fictional, virtual world where computer-generated villains created by Silas Volkmire run amok. The player controls either Rash or Pimple, depending on which controller they have plugged in, and have longer health meters than in previous games. Unlike previous entries in

1368-458: The Battletoads series, however, each character has their own combo attacks and special moves. Pimple, for example, can use the "BT Big Hammer" special move at the end of a combo, wherein an exaggerated hammer protrudes from his fists, instantly killing his foes. Rash, on the other hand, can use the classic "Big Boot Block" move from the original Battletoads , where his foot transforms into

1425-594: The Kirby games. Others may be a recurring version of a previous boss, who is either weaker than previously encountered or is less of a challenge later in the game due to character or equipment progression. An example is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ' s Gaibon and Slogra. Other video game characters who usually take the role of a miniboss are Vile ( Mega Man X series), Allen O'Neil ( Metal Slug ) and Dark Link ( The Legend of Zelda series, though he appears as

1482-720: The Battletoads visiting the Gyachung-La fortress in northern Tibet . Professor T. Bird has invited them there to witness the Psicone Corporation's first demonstration of their new virtual reality game system, T.R.I.P.S. (Total Reality Integrated Playing System). While showing off the system's artificial world (entitled "The Gamescape"), a pig of the apocalypse leaps out of the screen and kidnaps Michiko Tashoku (daughter of Psicone Corporation's CEO, Yuriko Tashoku). Zitz attempts to rescue her, but gets knocked out by

1539-457: The 2.5D style" similar to Mark of the Ninja . The series' return was also demanded by other outlets, including Complex , Maxim and GameRevolution . On the other hand, the animated version of Battletoads was very badly received. It was included on the lists of five "worst one-shot TV cartoons ever made" by Topless Robot in 2008. Beginning in early 2011, 4chan users organized

1596-402: The 30th best game on the platform, praising it for having "some of the best graphics on the system" and offering "one hell of an experience," stating: "The bosses are massive, the music is rockin', and the ever-present '90s attitude is in full effect—who cares if it's a cynical knock-off of TMNT when it looks and plays this good?" In 2013, Arcade Sushi ranked it as the fourth best retro game in

1653-600: The Ruby and Emerald Weapons. Some superbosses will take the place of the final boss if certain requirements are met. Some superbosses can yield special items or skills that cannot be found any other way that can give players a significant advantage during playthrough of the rest of the game, such as added experience or an extremely powerful weapon. For example, the "raid bosses" from Borderlands 2 give rare loot unavailable anywhere else. Some superbosses in online games have an immense amount of health and must be defeated within

1710-630: The Tradewest-authorized guide to the Battletoads console games, was written by Steve Schwartz and published in 1994 by Prima Publishing . Detailed playing tips, strategies, and secrets were provided for the following games: Battletoads (NES and Genesis), Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (Super NES), and Battletoads/Double Dragon (NES, Genesis, and Super NES). Battletoads spun off a half-hour animated television special produced by DIC Animation City in an attempt to capitalize on

1767-838: The Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon in Final Fantasy and the Amon clan in Yakuza . The Warden from Minecraft could be considered a superboss, as it is vastly more difficult to fight than the final boss, the Ender Dragon. However, Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, has explicitly stated that the Warden was not intended to be fought by players. A wolfpack boss is a group of enemies who may be considered weak on their own, but in large groups can be considered strong enough to be

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-409: The ability to change their arms and legs into weapons in techniques called "Smash Hits". They are charged with protecting Professor T. Bird and Princess Angelica from the Dark Queen, who wants to steal Angelica's magical amulet for her plans of universal conquest. The cartoon was adapted and written by David Wise (no relation to the Battletoads video games' composer of the same name ). A comic with

1881-789: The air and stomps the ground, to the Dark Queen herself, who teleports around her tower and shoots magic missiles at the player. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs was first released for the SNES in North America in June 1993, in Europe in October 1993, in Australia in 1993 and in Japan on January 7, 1994 for the SNES . The game was ported in 1994 to the Master System by Syrox Developments and

1938-514: The backstory of Battletoads , written by Rare employee Guy Millar, was also published in Nintendo Power . In 2010, Game Informer included Battletoads among ten gaming franchises that deserve a revival, and precisely, "a true HD sequel". In 2012, Forbes listed it as one of five video game franchises "that need to come back from the dead", adding that a modern Battletoads "should retain its side-scroller qualities while adopting

1995-665: The beat 'em up genre. In 2018, Complex listed the game #39 on their The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time writing: "Battletoads in Battlemanaics doesn’t quite live up to the original, but it’s an awesome ride all the same. And it’s not as hard. Andy Smith from Sega Power gave the Master System version 72%, praising the game for its "varied types of action" and "occasional humorous touches", but criticizing it for its "mediocre graphics", "button-stabbing tendencies" and its high difficulty. Smith's most common complaint

2052-400: The boss in question becomes progressively stronger and/or less vulnerable as their health decreases, requiring players to use different strategies to win. Some bosses may contain or be composed of smaller parts that can be destroyed by players in battle, which may or may not grant an advantage. In games such as Doom and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night , an enemy may be introduced via

2109-444: The boss to regain or regenerate health, but may also give players opportunity to regain health from health boosters and ammo dropped by the boss's defeated minions. A miniboss, also known as a "middle boss", "mid-boss", "half-boss", "sub-boss" "semi-boss", or occasionally "tank", is a boss-like enemy weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level. Some minibosses are stronger versions of regular enemies, as in

2166-517: The boss uses a tank. A boss enemy is quite often larger in size than other enemies and the player character . At times, bosses are very hard to defeat without being adequately prepared and/or knowing the correct fighting approach. Bosses usually take strategy and special knowledge to defeat, such as how to attack weak points or avoid specific attacks. Bosses are common in many genres of video games, but they are especially common in story-driven titles, and are commonly previously established antagonists in

2223-653: The completion of specific additional levels, choosing specific dialogue options or after obtaining a particular item or set of items, such as the Chaos Emeralds in the Sonic the Hedgehog series or performing a series of tasks in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker . These bosses are generally more difficult to defeat. In games with a "true" final boss, victory leads to either a better ending or

2280-434: The concept of a boss rush, a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession. Michael Fahey of Kotaku noted in a podcast that usage of the term "boss" by Nintendo Power grew sharply around 1988, and that there was no clear single etymology of the term. In the same podcast, former Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo speculated that bosses became known as such because they were "in charge of all

2337-564: The core concepts of Dungeons & Dragons . The objective of the game is to retrieve an "Orb" from the bottommost dungeon. The orb is kept in a treasure room guarded by a high-level enemy named the Gold Dragon. Only by defeating the Dragon can players claim the orb, complete the game and be eligible to appear on the high score list. In 1980, boss battles appeared in several arcade action games. In March 1980, Sega released Samurai ,

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-476: The end of a level or area. While most games include a mixture of boss opponents and regular opponents, some games have only regular opponents and some games have only bosses (e.g. Shadow of the Colossus ). Some bosses are encountered several times through a single game, typically with alternate attacks and a different strategy required to defeat it each time. A boss battle can also be made more challenging if

2451-482: The final boss and often players are required to meet certain conditions in the game or complete a sidequest or the entire game to fight the superboss. The first such superboss (or secret boss) was Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo , that required players meet certain conditions before he would appear as the final boss. In Final Fantasy VII , players may choose to seek out and fight

2508-438: The first Battletoads . For instance, stage three, "Speeder Bikes" is very similar to the original game's third stage, which also featured the player racing on speedbikes and dodging obstacles in the same way. In addition, stage four, "Karnath's Revenge" also resembles the original game's sixth stage, wherein the player rides along massive, fast-moving snakes in order to get to the exit. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs also features

2565-479: The game; however, there are exceptions, such as in Conker's Bad Fur Day , in which the final boss is the antagonist's alien pet. Final bosses are generally larger, more detailed or better animated than lesser enemies, often in order to inspire a feeling of grandeur and special significance from the encounter. In some games, a hidden boss, referred to as the "true" final boss, is present. These bosses only appear after

2622-418: The pig and captured as well. The pig escapes back into the Gamescape and Silas Volkmire appears on the screen, announcing his plans to turn the real world into his own Gamescape, and that Michiko and Zitz are being held captive under the evil Dark Queen. With nothing left to lose, Rash and Pimple enter the Gamescape to rescue their friends and stop Volkmire and the Dark Queen from fulfilling their plans. Along

2679-631: The pilot on VHS in January 1994. It received an official YouTube release on August 5, 2014, on a YouTube channel run by the Canadian company DHX Media (now WildBrain), which currently owns the rights to most of DIC's cartoon library. The story served as a prequel to the video game franchise. Set in Oxnard, California , it stars three junior high schoolers. The trio is given the ability to transform into anthropomorphic toads with superhuman strength and

2736-460: The player's actions during this final gameplay segment, there are two possible endings that may occur. If the player is unable to shoot three missiles at Volkmire's teleporter, he gets away, and the Battletoads feel dejected knowing that Volkmire is free and the Dark Queen wants revenge. If the player successfully shoots three missiles at Volkmire's teleporter, the ship crashes in the Himalayas and

2793-459: The plot of the video game. Action-adventure games , beat 'em ups , fighting games , platform games , role-playing video games (RPGs), and shooter games are particularly associated with boss battles. They may be less common in puzzle games , card video games , racing games , and simulation games . The first video game with a boss fight was the 1975 RPG dnd . The concept has expanded to other genres, like rhythm games , where there may be

2850-701: The popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DiC would try this again later on when producing Street Sharks and Extreme Dinosaurs ). Intended as the pilot for a full-fledged series, the special was syndicated by Bohbot Entertainment in the United States on the weekend of Thanksgiving 1992 as part of their "Kids' Day Off" package. It was never picked up for a series however, despite comic-style ads in GamePro magazine claiming otherwise. Buena Vista Home Video released

2907-439: The prank via an achievement named "Do You Have Battletoads?" in their 2015 game compilation Rare Replay . Boss (video gaming) In video games , a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character created as an opponent to players. A fight with a boss character is referred to as a boss battle or boss fight . Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the players have faced up to that point in

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2964-516: The series was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games series . The original Battletoads game for the NES was renowned for its extreme difficulty, but still received a cult following, spawning sequels for various platforms including a crossover with the Double Dragon series and a modern reboot after a 25 year gap in releases. In each of the games, the objective is to defeat

3021-700: The toads' nemesis the Dark Queen and her army of space mutants. The Battletoads appear in a bonus boss encounter in the Xbox One and PC versions of Shovel Knight . Battletoads and Battletoads Arcade are included in Rare Replay , a compilation of 30 Rare games released for the Xbox One in 2015. Rash appears as a playable guest character in the third season of the fighting game Killer Instinct , available on Xbox One and Windows. Rash also appears as an action figure in Grounded . A sequel/ remake game

3078-503: The way, they fight Rocky, a giant stone pig, and race against Scuzz , a rat that challenges them all throughout the final level. The Battletoads finally reach the Dark Queen in her tower and defeat her, but she manages to escape again. Bird picks up Volkmire on his scanners and finds out that he is trying to escape using a teleporter, so the Battletoads leave the Gamescape and hop into the Battlecopter to chase after him. Depending on

3135-730: Was being developed for the Game Boy Advance , but was ultimately canceled. In 2013, Phil Spencer from Microsoft 's Xbox team mentioned his fondness for Battletoads while asking the fans what Rare games should be brought back for the Xbox One . In 2014, "Battletoads" was re-trademarked in the United States. Spencer appeared publicly in a Battletoads T-shirt in 2015, just days after Microsoft Studios ' Ken Lobb (creator of 2013's Killer Instinct reboot ) said they have plans to bring Battletoads and other classic Rare series back "someday". Battletoads: The Official Battlebook,

3192-702: Was going to be published in Europe by Virgin Interactive Entertainment with a slated July 1994 launch date. However, the European release was pulled at the last moment for unknown reasons and with the game already having been reviewed by the British video game press. The game was released in a barely finished state by Tec Toy in Brazil in 1996; it is an unpolished build of the game, with some stages not having music and minor glitches, some including

3249-444: Was the game's lack of originality, explaining that " Battletoads had shades of originality. Battlemaniacs just has shades." He described the game as "showing signs of rapid aging." Battletoads (characters) Battletoads is a video game franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game Battletoads in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple ,

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