Toxic Crusader Hands-On Preview: ’90’s Nostalgic Toxicity

Toxic Crusader

Gamers who have been watching cartoons since the ’90s, you might remember the Toxic Crusaders; an animated series loosely based on the Toxic Avenger film. At PAX East 2023, Retroware announced a brand new side-scrolling beat-em-up, and as it turns out, the game was playable as well! Let’s be honest, not many people in 2023 are going to remember the 13-episode Toxic Crusaders cartoon from the early ’90s, but I am old enough to have seen it, and thanks to the nostalgia and success of last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenger, the timing seems perfect for more games like this to hit the market.  

Cleaning Up!

About Toxic Crusaders; I’m not going to pretend to know everything about the history of Troma Entertainment; going all the way back to the cult classic Toxic Avenger, the entire Tromaville universe has built a massive following, and Toxic Crusaders seems like the perfect franchise for a game like this.  

Since I live near Boston and have been to every PAX East, this was one of the games I was pretty excited to get my hands on, and as it would happen, they had what I consider to be the premium location on the floor at the bottom of the main escalators and their display was awesome. They even had two people dressed up as Toie and Yvonne that you could have pictures taken with. I’ve seen a lot of great booths over the years, and this was one of the best I can remember.  

The game has seven playable characters: Toxie, Junkyard, No-Zone, Major Disaster, Headbanger, Yvonne, and Mrs. Junko. I ended up playing as Junkyard, and my friend Chris played Toxie. Two characters were greyed out, so I assume they weren’t ready or maybe locked for progression. Possibly even being saved up for a surprise reveal too. 

Kicking Dirt Around

I don’t think you need to know much about the franchise to enjoy this game and appreciate it for what it is. It’s not reinventing the wheel by any means, but like TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (Read the MP1st’s review of it here), it is all about leaning into the nostalgia of growing up in arcades. It is an absolute button masher full of bright, vibrant colors that leans into the campiness the whole Troma Universe has created.  

The demo I got to play was longer than I expected, and lasted approximately 15-20 minutes. The game features up to four-player co-op, and my friend Chris and I had one other people join us in the fun. People were able to drop in and out on the fly. I started the session by myself, then Chris joined in, then a third person who played for a bit and dropped out, only to have a fourth person join back in. They picked No-Zone and then Yvonne to go with Toxie and Junkyard. In the end, we fought a big Godzilla-looking boss and saved the streets of Tromaville.  

It’s pretty safe to say you know what you’re getting here if you’ve played any classic arcade game like X-Men, The Simpsons, Altered Beast, and of course, those lovable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Retroware did a great job capturing that old-school arcade vibe, and based on my short playtime with it, So far, I think Toxic Crusader is in good hands. Being at a PAX East like this one, where the big guns all sat out, hopefully, means a huge opportunity for studios like Retroware to have more eyes on their games, as these indie titles often end up being the big standouts, which Toxic Crusader definitely is. 

You can currently Wishlist the game on Steam, though no actual release date is available at this time. It seems like, as of now, that is the only platform the game will be available on, but I do hope it makes its way to consoles at some point. since these types of games are perfect for couch co-op gaming.  

For more details, head to playtoxiccrusaders.com  


Jason Joseph runs the YouTube Channel JayShockblast, which you can check out for more video content.

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