The revival of Rare’s classic beat-em-up Battletoads aims to offer fans who’ve waited 26 years for a new game a similar old-school experience polished up for modern tastes. That includes polishing up the NES original’ notorious difficulty, something most players and critics agree Battletoads succeeds in doing. That said, the Turbo Bike sections can still be brutal.
No conversation about Battletoads is complete without mention of its hoverbike sections, like the first game’s Turbo Tunnel, a level only the most skilled players can beat with ease. Back then, the side-scrolling level gave players little time to avoid the obstacles that suddenly appear on screen, leading to countless frustrating deaths. The new Battletoads game from Dlala Studios does a lot to mitigate this frustration, as its bike sections feature an over-the-shoulder view that makes it easier for players to see what’s coming their way.
Even with these changes, though, players are still finding plenty of opportunities to get destroyed. Only 24 hours after the game launched on Thursday, Rare announced on its Twitter page that 4.3 million Turbo Bikes had already been scrapped in Act 1, Stage 3: To The Queen, the game’s opening bike level. A day later, that number had surpassed 10 million.
Rare has yet to provide any further updates on the number of bikes wrecked, but it’s safe to assume that it’s grown considerably since yesterday. It’s an especially wild statistic considering that it’s just for the game’s opening bike section. One can only imagine how many bikes players will lose trying to beat Battletoads’ more nightmarish bike challenges.
Battletoads is available for PC and Xbox One.