Battletoads

Baby's First Battletoads
This is the game you show your kids before you show them the real stuff. Then they tell you they liked the new one better, and you have to disown your kid because they have no culture.

This game NEEDS online co-op.
Split screen/couch co-op is just not enough.
Besides we're living during a pandemic, we aren't supposed to have friends over.
But it is a lot of fun. Steam Remote Play works. But we end up having to play on everyone's stream so they get the achievements. (if you care about those things)
It mixes different game modes like the original games had.
Challenging, but not too hard. I like that they have different difficulties so you can challenge yourself.

This is the nuts and bolts of battletoads. The style is completely different from the originals that it's no wonder why people hate this game so much. But as a standalone game it's actually pretty good, the issue seems to be that people were waiting for a sequel of sorts in a modern style, but they rebooted it completely instead to the point of angering a lot of classic fans, however it's actually a good game on it's own just like how nuts and bolts would have been if it wasn't a banjo game.
tldr: it's not what people expected, however it's still pretty good.

Apparently I'm one of the few people that grew up with the original battletoads AND loves this game. The way I see it is we either could have gotten A) a poor attempt at recreating what the original had, with no real dialogue, endless combat that is the same punches and kicks over and over, with an even poorer attempt at the humor. Or B) Something that is unique, very beautiful graphically, a variety of combat moves that is quite fun to witness, a variety of mini-games much like the first one, real voice acting that shows some real money went into it, and something that showed the developers were actually trying to make something for the fans.
So what if they messed up on some things such as the queen. I'll gladly take a few mess-ups over an entire pile of crap any day. And to complain at a $20 price tag when we have so many $60 games that make you spend hundreds just to get cosmetics? Some gamers just make me lose hope in humanity...

The soundtrack at the beginning brings me all the memories!

A lot of people are complaining about Battletoads not involving enough combat, I feel they almost didn't play the original Battletoads. This game is filled with mini games and lots of different ways the game plays, which plays more homage to the original game than most people think.
Looking at the original Battletoads, you had things like the bike race, the climbing snake level, descending through a pit on a rope, riding a surf board, and so on. Often, you had more of a puzzle game than an actual beat 'em up.
However, some of the minigames in this one do outstay their welcome towards the end of the game. After you're hit with your third SHMUP you do tend to tire a little. Which is odd, as the other mini games before aren't used as often or don't last as long. Also some of the fix the ship minigames, if you have to do them on your own can be a little difficult to get them done in the time limit. I completed the game on toad difficulty and the fixing ship mini game was the only one where I was slightly tearing my hair out.
Overall, if you enjoy the old games for what they are and like some comedy injected into your game, then you'll enjoy it. If you just want a beat 'em up, you're better off looking at Streets of Rage 4 or similar.

Battletoads is a fun game. I've beat it solo and look forward to trying it on the hardest difficulty as well as playing co-op (which, if anything like its predecessors, should make the game harder.) I own Battletoads (NES), Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES), Battletoads and Double Dragon (SNES) and the arcade game. I've beaten the SNES titles and arcade game, but not the NES game, which I think is the hardest of the bunch in a series that is defined by being difficult, muscle-memory based games.
I say this to establish some credibility; I've enjoyed this series for a long time, but until I beat Battlemaniacs, I never really knew what this series was. See, most people never made it past level 3, the Turbo Tunnel, in the NES and main SNES game. If I had to guess, I'd say at least 95% of people who have played Battletoads have only ever experienced the first 3 levels of the game unless they used a game genie, which is kind of missing out on the real experience anyway.
What I'm trying to get at is this: most reviewers who are trying to make some appeal to nostalgia should face some scrutiny; how many have experienced the original games in their entirety, or even close to their entirety? The series has always been an absurdist Saw-like meat grinder with an obnoxious difficulty level, and Rare made a new Battletoads game that sports an obnoxious (but wonderful) sense of humor. This game is most everything you ought to expect from a Battletoads sequel in 2020 and does a pretty good job honoring its past.
Battletoads 2020 is arguably the most beat-em-up oriented the series has ever been (not counting the arcade and Double Dragon spin-off) and it's still not a beat-em-up. Battletoads has always been a variety game that offers a buffet of different level types. This entry includes side-scroller levels with several races like the old Turbo Tunnel and Intruder Excluder levels, and new additions, like bullet hell and platforming levels. There are also a bunch of fun and silly mini-games.
The story never takes itself seriously, but the games have never had much of a story until now, so the cut scenes and dialogue are suitably ridiculous. The controls are solid and the graphics are crisp and clean, obviously taking note from current cartoon art styles. It can feel a little bit of a stimulus overload, but so much of the older games were built around stimulus overloads anyway that I think it is keeping with its heritage. Plus, it works artistically and the player gets the hang of it after the first or second level.
My only minor criticisms actually revolve around the difficulty level and some characterization. A game that has the type of difficulty Battletoads featured on the NES just isn't going to sell super well anymore, but this game is a shade easier than the old titles. It gets pretty difficult in the later stages, which is good because. well, most players in the 90's only ever experienced 15 minutes of Battletoads content. A more gradual increase in difficulty is better. But I wish it spiked a little harder at the end.
And as for the characterization issue, it's really just an art choice. Battlemaniacs (SNES) and the arcade game developed unique style for all the Toads' signature smash moves that you can see in the trailer. Zitz transformed his body into machinery, Pimple into blunt force objects like hammers and bricks, and Rash into more elegant bladed and medieval weapons. Zitz and Pimple are pretty spot on, but Rash now uses rubber chickens and fish and unkempt feet. It doesn't feel like it has the same unifying theme, and I miss that. Plus his old axe kick was rad. Oh, and they need to bring back the ability to smash enemies literally into the ground.
Anyway, that's my meandering gate-keeper review. Battletoads 2020 is a fun and silly game. I think it has a particular audience, maybe one that is capable of laughing at how damn hard it is trying at such a silly game, but if you're in that group, hopefully with a buddy or two, then this is a good one.