Battletoads is a video game media franchise by Rare that began with the original beat 'em up game Battletoads in 1991. Starring three anthropomorphic toads named after skin conditions, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, the series was created to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. The series as a whole has been quite popular and at its apex spawned an animated television pilot. The initial Battletoads game for the NES was renowned for its difficulty, but was well received and spawned sequels for various platforms including a crossover with the Double Dragon series. In each of the games, the objective is to defeat the toads' nemesis the Dark Queen and her army of space mutants. Most titles in the series do not feature all three toads as playable characters, with one or two members of the team being captured by the Dark Queen. The exceptions to this were Battletoads & Double Dragon and the Battletoads arcade game.