Rare's Battletoads is one of the most iconic action platformers of the '90s, and was positively bursting with ideas and set-pieces – it's also as hard as nails, a trait which has both endeared and annoyed people in equal measures over the decades.
While many people think of Battletoads as a property inexorably linked to Nintendo – perhaps due to Rare's close connection with the company back then and the fact that it began life on the NES – Rare's green-skinned heroes were not exclusive to Nintendo hardware. The game would be ported to other systems, including the Genesis, Game Gear and even the Amiga CD32.
Knowing which of these versions is the best can be tricky, so Inglebard Gaming has stepped in to take the pain out of the decision. He's made a "mega comparison" video which shows you how all of the ports shape up against the original NES version.
What's interesting is that each version has its own strengths and weaknesses.
The Genesis port – which was handled by Arc System Works – looks great and boasts additional parallax scrolling in some stages, but the Turbo Tunnel section actually runs faster and smoother on the NES original. Meanwhile, the Game Gear edition has some cool exclusive effects, such as the boss battle at the end of level one using an AI-style overlay to represent the enemy's perspective.
The video is well worth a watch, and who knows, by watching it, you might learn a little more about this iconic '90s title.