Poll of the Day > Why does the new Battletoads game "seem" terrible

(+) Yeah! (+)

It should be awesome, it might even actually BE awesome...

...

So why do I get the feeling it's not?

---

Because they went a lame ass Cartoon Network route than trying to appeal to the people who would actually appreciate a modern Battletoads.

That reveal deflated the hell out of me.

---

Krow_Incarnate posted...

Because they went a lame ass Cartoon Network route than trying to appeal to the people who would actually appreciate a modern Battletoads.

To be fair to them, the number of people who would actually appreciate a modern Battletoads, complete with the same level of "fuck you" difficulty, probably numbers in the hundreds at best. It's the weird Venn Diagram crossover between older gamers who are still gaming combined with people who still enjoy Nintendo Hard frustration gaming.

It's not a good recipe for actually selling your game.
---

Forgetting how it plays for a moment, it even looks like shit. What's up with those designs?

I would love for it to become a major franchise, but I don't see that happening with shit like that.

---

Idk. I just bought Destroy All Humans! and apparently there are some changes. I never played the original, so I probably wont notice them outside of what Ive read, but apparently some actions are more tame. Ei: Anal probe reactions.

---

I dont like that type of art style

---

The style and tone of the game feels so much like every mobile game, that even if it turns out great, I just can't. I have to be into the theme of the games I play, and I just can't get into what they made battletoads into, ok?

---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's not a good recipe for actually selling your game.

And yet the entire space where the Soulsbourne and Cuphead/IWTBTG/Super Meat Boy/Isaac games exist and it damn sure isn't mere "hundreds" that bought them.

---

I miss when Battletoads looked like a van mural.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

And yet the entire space where the Soulsbourne and Cuphead/IWTBTG/Super Meat Boy/Isaac games exist and it damn sure isn't mere "hundreds" that bought them.

Literally none of those are based around nostalgia for a game that came out 30 years ago, though.

Hence the Venn Diagram comment. There are a lot of people who like frustration gaming. There are a fair number of people who have strong nostalgia for the original game. The overlap? Not so much.

Keep in mind, statistically more than 50% of current gamers weren't even born when the original game came out. Another 25% likely age out as either being too young to have really played it then, or too old to have cared about it at the time (or who just never bought/played it - I was 14 at the time and I never gave much of a shit about it, nor did any of my friends). And it's generally accepted that younger gamers tend to be the ones who hew to competition and high difficulty curve games, while older gamers tend to want more casual experiences (hence why the gamer curve tends to skew a lot harder towards mobile games and easier/shorter towards the older end of the graph). Probably not helped by the fact that it's pretty much a medical fact that reflexes and reaction time atrophy as we get older - fast-twitch-reflex gaming is a young person's domain.

Are there exceptions? Sure. But enough to hang the success of a game on? Probably not.

So the obvious goal is to try and pander to younger gamers rather than sell it solely on the nostalgia, and hope most of the stupid old people will just buy it for the name anyway. Catering to an art style that looks more like the crap modern kids/teens/young 20somthings grew up with increases the odds of catching new eyes, and that's more important than actually catering to people who've already invested in the brand identity. This is the sort of shit Hollywood has been pulling for decades now.

I'm not saying it's a good plan. I'm not even saying it will work for them. But I can definitely see why they might think it was a good idea. And honestly, they may be right - they MAY sell more copies trying to pander to a younger demo that grew up on shitty Tumblr art and Flash animation rather than trying to desperately appeal to a demo that has already mostly given up on "hardcore" gaming.
---

ParanoidObsessive posted...

So the obvious goal is to try and pander to younger gamers rather than sell it solely on the nostalgia, and hope most of the stupid old people will just buy it for the name anyway

Then why even bother with making the game? The only point to a new battletoads is to appeal to the nostalgia of the original so if thats not a large enough audience to sell to, just don't make the game.

---

Yeah like the fornite and minecraft kiddies will give a damn about a 2d beat em up.

The average console gamer age is about 30. Oh well it's gonna be average at best and it's free on gp. What a waste of a once legendary ip.
---

dont drag minecraft into this it didnt do anything wrong

---

Definitely the art style. I do find to a bit off-putting. Doesn't mean the gameplay will be bad. I'll wait for a sale on PC.

But what did they do to the Dark Queen? Geeze.

---

my son is excited for it

YoukaiSlayer posted...

Then why even bother with making the game? The only point to a new battletoads is to appeal to the nostalgia of the original so if thats not a large enough audience to sell to, just don't make the game.

to try and get a new generation of fans and the art style they chose wouldnt surprise me if they try to do a cartoon show and merchandise if it does well

Fazeo13 posted...

Yeah like the fornite and minecraft kiddies will give a damn about a 2d beat em up.

On Xbox, no less. And I like Xbox(I think).

And I don't think people really care about the new Battletoads being super difficult. One of my favorite SNES games that introduced me to them was Battletoads and Double Dragon, and I just loved the zany ass characters and universe.

Silly me, I was just wanting that with a 21st century artstyle that you wouldn't find on Deviant Art.

This just looks like a PBS program.

---

Battletoads wasn't exactly aimed towards kids from the get go.

I mean, just look at the Arcade game, there's blood, decapitations, you grab giant rats' dicks, an evil lady with huge boobs and you even see rats on the toilet taking a shit.

And of course how hard and relentless all games in the franchise are.

Lots of personality though.

Still, I will probably try the new game on Gamepass.
---

It looks like a flash game

---

Hello Gamestop? My son wanted Battletoads for the Wii and YOU WOULDN'T SELL IT TO HIM

---

Ugh, I hate this fucking art style. I saw in some comments on a video trashing the Star Trek animated show that apparently it's a "CalArts" style, like specifically from some California Art school, and that's where all these very similar crap looking animation styles are coming from.

Also, not only is it ugly....

https://www.deviantart.com/psylisiadragoon/art/Dark-Queen-Comp-Then-and-Now-801098117

They fucking censored the shit out of Dark Queen! Always loved Battletoads, but this is an easy boycott. Rare died the second MS bought them.

Krow_Incarnate posted...

Because they went a lame ass Cartoon Network route than trying to appeal to the people who would actually appreciate a modern Battletoads.

That reveal deflated the hell out of me.

Same