Battletoads is the first game of the Battletoads series. It is developed by Rare and published by Tradewest. It was originally released for Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, with ports for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear, Amiga, Amiga CD32 and Nintendo Game Boy (with the subtitle Battletoads in Ragnarok's World so as to separate it from the earlier-released Game Boy sequel).

Battletoads is considered to be a game that shows the true potential of the NES' graphics, mainly due to the year of its release, when developers were focusing more on 16-bit consoles. Not only is it graphically-advanced, but it is also considered to be one of the hardest games of all time, appearing in possibly every listing of difficult video games. It is currently listed at 8th place in IGN's "Top 10 Most Difficult Games to Beat."

The gameplay of Battletoads is considered a mix between side-scrolling games of the beat-em-up genre (similar to that seen in Double Dragon) and arcade-styled vehicle stages. Fighting areas require the 'Toads to punch enemies to weaken them, then finish them off with a Smash Hit, a technique that usually involves comical transformations (such as using giant boots to bash an enemy off the screen). Occasionally, the 'Toads can use their tongues to snag life-replenishing flies and can also find extra lives and level warps.

There are four vehicle stages in the game. All of them require precision reflexes and pattern memorization in order to evade all the incoming obstacles, almost all of which are fatal to collide with. Between this and the speed in which they appear, these stages provide much of the game's intense challenge level.

Once you start the game, you start with three lives, which look like pink hearts. Each life gives you 6 HP for your character. If you lose all your lives, you will be brought to the Game Over screen. You will have to press start to try again.  You only get 3 continues, and the fourth "Game Over" is complete Game Over, and you will have to start back at Level 1, Ragnarok's Canyon. There is also no save file or anything that you can save to, so you will not be able to go back to the stage you are on if you turn off the game.

You can also play with another person by pressing start on the second controller. Both players have the same amount of lives and continues. One of the cons of the 2-player mode, though, is that if one dies on a stage with checkpoints, both players will have to start back at the latest checkpoint.