A few months ago, I wrote a relatively lengthy post about violence and how Christians must assess the violent content of any game. Recently, I borrowed Battletoads Double Dragon for the SNES, and by the standards of 1990s videogames, this game is pretty dang violent.Battletoads Double Dragon is basically a beat-um-up side-scroller that combines two NES games: Battletoads and Double Dragon. Battletoads involved three anthropomorphic toads and Double Dragon featured two muscular dudes. Combined, you can choose from any of the five characters; and, like both predecessor games, you can team up with another player.
What's the point of the game? To kick enemy butt -- that's it. You (and another player) run from left to right punching, kicking, and throwing any foe that crosses your path. From a gameplay standpoint, this game is a disappointment. Out of the six possible buttons, there are only two buttons used for unique functions: attack and jump. It's like Tradewest ported an NES game directly to SNES and upgraded the graphics, but retained NES gameplay. In this way, the game is lackluster.
Otherwise, Battletoads Double Dragon is mindless and oddly cathartic, though it is disturbing that dudes beat up on whip-wielding ladies, as skanky as them may be. I can say with certainty that this game does not exemplify Christ, but if it's any consolation most of the foes are robots and alien creatures... I will be returning this game to the coworker from whom I borrowed it. I am thankful I didn't buy it.
