Battletoads!

[DeLorean45]

Hi everyone.  I have been reading through this site for about 6 months, but this is my first post.  I am currently working on building two different arcade machines, a Battletoads JAMMA and Mortal Kombat 3 JAMMA/MAME combo.  I am closer to finishing the Battletoads, so that's what this post will be about.  I think Battletoads is a great game.  I don't know how many were made, but I know I have never seen one in person, and nobody I've ever talked to has even heard of an arcade version of BT.  I don't know if it ever had a dedicated cabinet, and if it did, I haven't been able to find any info or pictures anywhere, just some horrible conversions.  Since this game was basically forgotten after what seemed to be a limited, unremarkable release, I decided to give this game the treatment it deserves.  So I decided to make my own "dedicated" cabinet for it (basically just a glorified conversion).  I am using an existing cabinet, but I am designing my own artwork and control panel for it.  My hope is to make it what it should have been from the factory.  I just picked up the cabinet I am going to use for it yesterday.  It looks like it was originally a Captain America and the Avengers cabinet that got converted to a Golden Tee 2k at some point in it's life. 


The cabinet is in really good shape physically, though the wiring could stand to be redone, and the monitor doesn't power up.  I was originally planning to use a Simpsons/TMNT style cabinet for this project before I found this cabinet.  It is fairly similar in shape, but actually works better for me, since it is a stereo cabinet and BT is a stereo game, and the coin door cutout will fit my 3 player coin door without modification.  It doesn't have any side art at the moment, which is fine since I'm designing my own.  These are my rough ideas for the side art:


After I got the cabinet, I found out that the original BT marquee I have is too small to fit.  So I figured since I will have to get a new, larger one printed up anyway, I'll modify the original to better match the side art I am designing.


Remember that these are just rough concepts at the moment.  But the artwork will come later, right now I am mostly concerned with getting it working.  The coin door, marquee light, speakers, etc. all work fine.  It will play blind, but the monitor doesn't do anything.  It's like it isn't even plugged in, which it is (yes, I checked.     )  Once I get the monitor working or replaced, I'll just need to get the new CP made and wired, replace the JAMMA harness, patch a hole next to the coin door and attach the new artwork!  I think this is going to be a really fun project.  Comments, questions or suggestions are welcome.  Thanks for reading. 

[MonkeyFracas]

That's a great mock-up of the side art, I would much rather have her staring at me from across the living room than the Battletoads!

Honestly though, that's a great theme. I've enjoyed playing through Battletoads a number of times, the giant sprites and shooter modes make it a classic beat 'em up.

Sometimes  it seems like beat 'em ups are an under appreciated genre, but I've found that most people give one a whirl from time to time.

Have fun in that ice level!

[IDDQD]

I had no idea Battletoads was an arcade machine, but I always hated that game... way too hard! Think about how many quarters it would take to play through it in the arcade! Your cab design, though, looks awesome, and I look forward to updates!

[DeLorean45]

The arcade version is definitely hard, too.  I think the first time I played it through in MAME it took almost $20 to beat it.  I've gotten better at it, but I still plan to set this machine on easy!  As hard as it is though, I still don't think this version is anywhere near as hard as the NES version (and you have as many continues as you have quarters!) 

Thanks for the comments guys!  I will try to get some new pictures and post some updates this weekend.