Battletoads is a platform beat ‘em up video game developed by Rare and published by Tradewest for the Nintendo Entertainment System and later ported to various other consoles.   Based on the adventures of three humanoid toad warriors who form a group known as the Battletoads, the game is the first installment in the Battletoads series.

Two of the toad warriors, Rash and Zitz embark on a mission to defeat the evil Dark Queen on her planet and rescue their kidnapped friends.  The Dark Queen kidnapped the third member of the group, Pimple and Princess Angelica.  Players take control of Rash and or Zitz in multiplayer mode to battle across 12 levels in order to save their friends.

The founders of Rare, Tim and Chris Stamper created the series in response to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze of the late 1980s and early 1990s.  In an effort to capitalize on the already established Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise the development team where looking to create a game in the same vein to appeal to the same audience.

Originally titled Amphibianz in the early stages of development the art style of the game was designed similar to Disney-themed video games however as the game gradually became more violent in nature the game underwent design changes.  The characters were designed with mass marketing appeal in mind which would allow Rare to be able to produce merchandise in mass quantities if the game proved to be successful.  They were looking to capture and capitalize on their characters appeal much like the recent Tim Burton’s Batman film did with the release of merchandise such as action figures, clothing, bedsheets, etc.