Earth is under fire by Colossus, a battleship the size of a city. Using powerful laser cannons, it has destroyed most of Earth's defence forces, while its many troops clean up the rest of the planet. All expect for 5 warriors.

The Battletoads, who are well aware of evil forces in the galaxy, join forces with Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon to defend Earth from the deadly ship and its troops. Using a range of special moves you must fight your way through the streets into the heart of the ship and destroy it.

Five playable characters are now available – Zitz, Rash and Pimple from Battletoads, and Jimmy and Billy from Double Dragon. Each fighter has their own style, yet the gameplay remains consistent no matter whom you choose. The action is definitely more Battletoads than Double Dragon, but Rare does a fine job at connecting the two universes without making it seem forced or arbitrary.

Battletoads & Double Dragon is a 2D beat'em up released for the NES, Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES. It was developed by Rare, which has produced such other hits as the first-person shooters Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark.

The game presents the characters from the famous series Double Dragon, Billy and Jimmy – two young martial arts experts. Also included are three humanoid toads from the Battletoads game. The characters, including enemies, are mostly from the Battletoads game.

In the beginning of the game, the player must choose between the five hero-characters: Billy, Jimmy (humans), Zitz, Pimple or Rash (toads). Then, the chosen character must walk through different scenarios, kicking and punching each enemy which comes onscreen. Like many such games, a boss is included at the end of each stage, which challenges the player to a higher level of the game.

Beyond the punching and kicking and the obligatory dash and jump kick advanced techniques, you can fashion a few useful, makeshift weapons from the carcasses of pummeled foes. (Don't worry, this only applies to enemies of the mechanical ilk, there won't be any rib cage wielding, or femur-style swash-buckling.) Beat on a robot once and claim one of his legs as a weapon. Use it to pound your next enemy into the ground before pole vaulting onto his head and drilling him right through the turf.

You can beat up enemies with your buddy chucking knucks at your side or at your back, and have some laughs hitting enemies and each other. And, as you pound on the attack button continuously, the game will randomly throw in some specially animated finishing moves that should also serve to entertain. A normal fist at the end of a normal punch will suddenly become a gigantic cartoon fist on the end of a super punch that will send your flailing assailant soaring across the screen.

It's really quite fun to play in Battletoads and Double Dragon, it's pretty fast, fun, fighting. Good fun, especially with 2-player co-op, and also, you can fix it so you can fight each other. Not in like a different level, but in a normal level, after beating the baddies on the screen for the moment, you can bash each other over the head.

The visuals are just as impressive as in the first game, with colorful environments, humorous animation and detailed character movement. The enemies look good, backgrounds look pretty nice.