The Battletoads Return... as Shovel Knight Guest Characters

[Steven Bogos]

The Battletoads Return... as Shovel Knight Guest Characters

Probably not the Battletoads announcement fans have been waiting for, but oh well.

Ever since Microsoft acquired Banjo-Kazooie and Battletoads dev Rare, fans have been patiently waiting for the company to revive some of those classic Rare franchises. In January, Microsoft's Ken Lobb stated that the company "saw value" [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139402-Battletoads-Other-Rare-Properties-May-be-Revived-Says-Microsoft] in franchises like Battletoads, and cause all of our hearts to flutter at the thought of a possible revival. Now, the Battletoads are finally back... just not in the way we were expecting.

Twitter [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/11784-Shovel-Knight-Review-Digging-For-Trouble] that Zitz, Rash and Pimple will be joining the Xbox One version of the game as guest characters. Check em out:



We don't yet know exactly what role the Battletoads will play in Shovel Knight, but we are assuming they will be playable characters in the side-scrolling platformer. It's also unknown of the 'Toads will make their way to the other platform's versions of Battletoads, but again, we can probably assume they will be exclusive to the Xbox One for now.

We've reached out to Yacht Club Games for more info.

Hopefully, having the Battletoads return, even in a small way like this, may pave the way for a proper revival of the franchise, and all the other forgotten Rare IPs.

Source: Twitter [https://twitter.com/YachtClubGames/status/573208273681182721]

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[CrystalShadow]

~sigh~ Pretty much nothing good has come out after Microsoft bought rare.

Pretty much their entire collection of IP has just been left to rot.
What was even the point?

I don't know if Microsoft is what killed them, or if they were already dying when they made Starfox Adventures...
But it's remains sad to see the broken remnants of what was once such an amazing development company.

About half the N64 games I own were made by rare (and that's about 7-8 games they made which are all either brilliant, or at least, very good...)

And what have we seen in the last decade or so?
Nothing much to speak of...

 

[Xman490]

Hey, at least Microsoft is aware of their ownership of these IPs. Cameos like this and Conker eventually coming to Project Spark are something, better than nothing.

 

[dragongit]

So, Conker in Project spark, and Battletoads in Shovel Knight... does anyone remember when Rare made games? Hell I thought Star Fox adventures was really good... and the original Banjo Kazooie games... or even Viva Pinata.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

A cynical part of me sees this and Conker in Project Spark as being Microsoft's limp-wristed way of trying to attract more people to the Xbone. It seems like their way of saying, "Come on, if you buy our version of this game on our console, then we just might, possibly consider allowing Rare to make a full game featuring these characters that you like". Of course if the numbers for these games aren't as high as Microsoft wants them to be, they can also turn around and say something along the lines of, "Of course Rare aren't working on new Conker or Battletoads games; nobody would buy them".

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

While I understand how much this reminds people that "Rare is Dead", I just want to point out that Killer Instinct is actually one of the best fighting games on the market right now.
Mightn't be the most on topic statement ever but at least something of Rare's legacy still remains

 

[CaitSeith]

Is it unusual that the first thing I remember of Battletoads is the sound of losing one of my lives?

 

[killerbee256]

~sigh~ Pretty much nothing good has come out after Microsoft bought rare.

Pretty much their entire collection of IP has just been left to rot.
What was even the point?\

To deny Nintendo one of it's best second party developers. Franky if I was Nintendo I would help former rare employees found their own company so they could reconstitute rare in all but name

 

[Kyber]

Motherfucking battletoads, what you know 'bout my BATTLETOADS

 

[CrystalShadow]

~sigh~ Pretty much nothing good has come out after Microsoft bought rare.

Pretty much their entire collection of IP has just been left to rot.
What was even the point?\

To deny Nintendo one of it's best second party developers. Franky if I was Nintendo I would help former rare employees found their own company so they could reconstitute rare in all but name

To be honest I have heard a lot of it's main talent had already left by then.

Some of them founded 'free radical design' supposedly.

Nintendo did have the chance to buy out rare completely as I recall, but chose not to for some reason.

It's an odd set of events to me, to put it mildly...