Battletoads (2020) - Act 1, All S-Ranks (Battletoad Difficulty)

TOAD TO NOWHERE
0:00 Feed the Fantasy
11:00 This Just In
11:57 Menial Jobs
13:27 Breakdown in the Apartment
15:14 Toad to Nowhere
23:36 At the Carn-Evil
45:48 So That's How That Works
1:05:07 Toadshambo
1:08:44 Toadshamb-oh
1:08:52 Time for Plan B
1:11:46 An Uneasy Alliance

ACT II:    • Battletoads (2020) - Act 2, All S-Ranks (B...  
ACT III:    • Battletoads (2020) - Act 3, No Deaths (Bat...  
ACT IV:    • Battletoads (2020) - Act 4, No Damage (Bat...  

A new Battletoads is finally out after 26 years, and it's a bit different from the previous games. It's not just a beat 'em up, they've also included a bunch of mini-games, puzzles, shoot 'em up stages, and platforming stages, all tied together with a cartoon story. The beat 'em up gameplay is actually really good, and honestly, I would have greatly preferred a straight arcade style beat 'em up without the genre shifts, but overall the game is still enjoyable for what it is.

The grading system took me a while to figure out. It seems like you want to do as much damage to enemies as possible to get them into the death state (with the skulls floating above their head) - if you kill them earlier than that, by hitting them with a highly damaging finishing move, then you'll lose out on progress to the next grade. So basically just get their health to zero, then finish them off (while switching characters often, I guess). It would have been nice if that were more transparent, but whatever.

There are also some forced cutscenes that I really wish could be skipped. But still, I enjoy the game. It's definitely worth a shot if you have Game Pass.

edit: Just noticed I was dropping a lot of frames on the bike section especially. I'll have to change my OBS settings, hopefully that won't happen again.
 
(PS. I might take some time to finish this since I haven't been feeling well lately.)

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Beat 'em Ups (e.g. Final Fight):    • Beat 'em Ups  
2D Action (e.g. Metal Slug):    • 2D Action  
STG/Shmups (e.g. Dodonpachi):    • STG Replays