After 26 years, Battletoads is set to return on August 20 for Xbox One, PC, and Game Pass

After a teaser trailer in 2018, and a gameplay trailer last year at E3, Dlala Studios and Rare's Battletoads reboot pretty much disappeared, at least until today. You can check out the release date trailer above.

For those not familiar, Battletoads is a beat 'em up platformer released in 1991 by Rare for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and later ported to the Sega Genesis (Sega Mega Drive outside of North America), Game Gear, Game Boy, and the Amiga CD32. While there were a few titles released in the series, the last one was Battletoads Arcade in 1994, meaning this reboot is the first time the series has gotten a game in 26 years.

Following the adventures of Zits, Rash, and Pimple, the game goes the route of late 90s cartoons when it comes to its aesthetic, as described by Rare itself:

Battletoads’ irreverent sense of humor pays homage to the stylish, self-aware cartoons of the late ’90s, with the new game opting for a distinctive hand-animated style to capture the exaggerated morph attacks and comic timing of the ’Toads. A cartoon also needs gags, which is why the game’s wild story – penned by award-winning writers – unfolds in several fully animated sequences featuring professional voice talent.

The game will have three-player couch co-op, with the ability for folks to drop in and out at any time. There will also be various difficulty settings "from Tadpole to Battletoad", new vehicle missions, and even puzzles to solve.

This reimagined title is set to get "gameplay deep dives, first glimpses of new collectible merchandise and exclusive giveaways" and even a behind the scenes look at the creation of the game by Essex-based Dlala Studios - founded by two former Jagex (RuneScape) and Bossa Studios (Surgeon Simulator) devs.

Battletoads is out August 20 on Steam, the Microsoft Store, Xbox One, and of course, Xbox Game Pass on console and PC. Game Pass members on either platform are able to pre-install the game today, via the Xbox (Beta) app on PC, or the Game Pass app on iOS or Android.