Up to three players, as the Battletoads, brawl aliens and mutant rodents through six levels to save the universe from the Dark Queen.

Each Toad has its own signature attack, and as customary for the series, players can knock enemies towards the screen, breaking the fourth wall.

Rare took greater liberties with violence and gore in Battletoads Arcade since the product was not destined for home consoles.

[3] Up to three players, as the Battletoads (Rash, Pimple, and Zitz), punch and kick oncoming enemies through six levels[4] to save their alternate universe from the Dark Queen.

[5] As customary for the series, the Toads can knock enemies off-screen such that they appear to fly towards the players, breaking the fourth wall.

Rare founders Tim and Chris Stamper created the series in response to interest in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[4][8] Since this sequel was in development for arcades rather than consoles, Rare took greater liberties in its depiction of violence, unlike their obligations in the rest of the series.

Battletoads Arcade was the first Rare game to use PowerAnimator, well before it was implemented in Killer Instinct and Donkey Kong Country.

[4] Christopher Michael Baker (AllGame) wrote that the arcade release rode the success of its console game predecessor when the order is usually reversed.

Retro Gamer put it on par with the arcade games of Konami and Sega and praised its humour, combat, and character.

They added that Arcade was a swan song for the series, with numerous references to moments and levels from previous games.

The magazine added that the level of gore set it apart from previous series entries and that the game had a mediocre reception in arcades.

[4] Twenty years after its initial release, several Rare Replay reviewers highlighted Battletoads Arcade within the compilation.

[19] In the mid-2000s, Rare began to plan a possible sequel but ultimately decided that there was no original direction for the game apart from its past and did not want to repeat the failed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.