''Toxic Crusaders'' refers to a series of side-scrolling,

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels ...

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s based on the American

cartoon series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eithe ...

Toxic Crusaders ''Toxic Crusaders'' is a 1991 animated series aimed at children, loosely based on '' The Toxic Avenger'' films. It features Toxie, the lead character of the films, leading a group of misfit superheroes who combat pollution. This followed a trend ...

'' (1991), and

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them p ...

's 1984 film '' The Toxic Avenger''. The games were developed for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same te ...

and

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, respectively by

TOSE () (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game development company based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's ''Game & Watch Gallery'' series, various ''Dragon Ball'' games, as well as other Nintendo products. Tose ha ...

Realtime Associates Realtime Associates is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1986 by David Warhol and a group of ex- Mattel Electronics employees originally to create games for the Intellivision system. Since then, the compa ...

, and

Infogrames Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive#Infogrames subsidiary, Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. (1993–present), Atari, Inc. It ...

, and released in 1992.

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

released the NES and Game Boy games, while Sega handled the Genesis game. A

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

version was planned by Bandai around at the same time with the NES and Game Boy versions but it was never released for unknown reasons. The Game Boy version is a rare collector's item, fetching prices of up to US$500 on auction sites for a complete copy. On April 30, 2013,

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

, the director of the film that the game was based on, appeared on an episode of ''

Angry Video Game Nerd ''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (abbreviated as ''AVGN'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometime ...

'', reviewing the various ''Toxic Crusaders'' game releases. A new ''Toxic Crusaders'' game, unrelated to the 1992 releases, is scheduled for release in 2023.

References

External links

* * * 1992 video games Bandai games Beat 'em ups Game Boy games Nintendo Entertainment System games Platform games Science fiction video games Sega Genesis games Side-scrolling video games Video games based on animated television series Video games set in the United States The Toxic Avenger (franchise) Tose (company) games Sega beat 'em ups Infogrames games Realtime Associates games Video games developed in France Video games developed in Japan Video games developed in the United States Single-player video games {{beatemup-videogame-stub