It's competition being Streets of Rage 4, from SEGA and River City Girls, from Arc System Works.
Let's get the obvious out of the way: All three games are both visually striking, sporting some of the strongest break-offs of art direction seen in the genre since Castle Crashers, Dragon's Crown and Guardian Heroes. Streets of Rage continuing with what developer Lizardcube has accomplished with it's hand-drawn styles melding with classic-styled gameplay, River City Girls featuring IMPECCABLE and expressive spritework not seen since Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and Battletoads also featuring a hand-drawn aesthetic -- though it's very 'sticky' and hyper-exaggerated in comparison to SoR. These are some purty ass games that'll probably be seen in visual discussions for the genre for the forseeable future.
But like, we get to the actual gameplay and...Battletoads kind of struggles in that department when put next to it's competition.
I guess one of the bigger grievances I have with Battletoads and the look of it's gameplay loop is the obvious lack of speed in comparison to what SoR and RCG has on offer. I guess it's better to compare it with SoR4 because both it and Battletoads don't seem to have a run option as a default. The walkspeed for the kind of game that Battletoads is looks really, really slow. Not only when put next to it's competition, but to other Battletoads games too. The 2019 title is obviuously using the Arcade release of Battletoads and Battlemaniacs as a reference on how the game is gonna be played instead of the varied NES Battletoads and both of those games had a better sense of speed than what the 2019 title is doing.
Not only that, but I feel that this is the rare, unfortunate instance where Battletoads 'gross-out and gooey' stylization works against it. Yes the transformation attacks look REALLY cool in motion but they seem to cover up where exactly your strikes are hitting in relation to your opponent's hurtbox, and they overstay their welcome too long which can block out your teammates visibility. In MP games like this, ensuring that your CO-OP buddy isn't obstructed during gameplay is super crucial to beat-em-up game feel. No one likes to guess and punch, hoping that your blows are actually hitting.
There's also the issue with lane-transitioning, or shifting up and down different planes of the level to deal with enemies scattered across the map. It's another issue of the gamespeed getting in the way more than anything, which I suppose falls in the general idea of what I said above.
I get that it's all early footage and I'm sure Rare/Dlala are probably going through feedback from Gamescom goers to improve the game, and the combat in Battletoads at least has a very good sense of weight and feedback when it comes to hitting enemies. I'd like to have faith that the game will improve by the time of if it's release...even if it releases this year in the first place.
Hell at least the music sounds good! David Wise, man. :P
Let's get the obvious out of the way: All three games are both visually striking, sporting some of the strongest break-offs of art direction seen in the genre since Castle Crashers, Dragon's Crown and Guardian Heroes. Streets of Rage continuing with what developer Lizardcube has accomplished with it's hand-drawn styles melding with classic-styled gameplay, River City Girls featuring IMPECCABLE and expressive spritework not seen since Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and Battletoads also featuring a hand-drawn aesthetic -- though it's very 'sticky' and hyper-exaggerated in comparison to SoR. These are some purty ass games that'll probably be seen in visual discussions for the genre for the forseeable future.
But like, we get to the actual gameplay and...Battletoads kind of struggles in that department when put next to it's competition.
I guess one of the bigger grievances I have with Battletoads and the look of it's gameplay loop is the obvious lack of speed in comparison to what SoR and RCG has on offer. I guess it's better to compare it with SoR4 because both it and Battletoads don't seem to have a run option as a default. The walkspeed for the kind of game that Battletoads is looks really, really slow. Not only when put next to it's competition, but to other Battletoads games too. The 2019 title is obviuously using the Arcade release of Battletoads and Battlemaniacs as a reference on how the game is gonna be played instead of the varied NES Battletoads and both of those games had a better sense of speed than what the 2019 title is doing.
Not only that, but I feel that this is the rare, unfortunate instance where Battletoads 'gross-out and gooey' stylization works against it. Yes the transformation attacks look REALLY cool in motion but they seem to cover up where exactly your strikes are hitting in relation to your opponent's hurtbox, and they overstay their welcome too long which can block out your teammates visibility. In MP games like this, ensuring that your CO-OP buddy isn't obstructed during gameplay is super crucial to beat-em-up game feel. No one likes to guess and punch, hoping that your blows are actually hitting.
There's also the issue with lane-transitioning, or shifting up and down different planes of the level to deal with enemies scattered across the map. It's another issue of the gamespeed getting in the way more than anything, which I suppose falls in the general idea of what I said above.
I get that it's all early footage and I'm sure Rare/Dlala are probably going through feedback from Gamescom goers to improve the game, and the combat in Battletoads at least has a very good sense of weight and feedback when it comes to hitting enemies. I'd like to have faith that the game will improve by the time of if it's release...even if it releases this year in the first place.
Hell at least the music sounds good! David Wise, man. :P
