Troma’s Toxic Crusaders comin’ back in beat-’em-up form

destructoid.com:

Surreal, there’s almost no other word for it — Studio Retroware has announced that it is producing a side-scrolling beat-’em-up based on short-lived ’90s cartoon Toxic Crusaders. The Tromatastic release is expected to ooze on PC and consoles in late-2023, and is already price-tagged at $24.99.

Still today one of the most baffling children’s adaptations of all time, Toxic Crusaders is an animated spin-off of the extremely violent and thoroughly bad-taste Toxic Avenger movies — a series launched by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz’ notorious New York studio, Troma Productions. Toxie is a superhero created when bullied nerd Melvin Junko falls into a barrel of toxic waste, emerging as a physically deformed, eye-gouging, arm-ripping vigilante. The films are typified by their avalanche of sex and violence, and featuring scripts that are packed with outrageously offensive jokes.

And thus, in 1991, TMNT producer Fred Wolf picked up the license for a children’s TV show.

The Toxic Crusaders video game — which is seemingly already well underway at Retroware given the above trailer — will see one-to-four player select from a mighty seven characters, including Toxie, his girlfriend Yvonne, humanoid dog Junkyard, and surfing mad scientist Headbanger, before heading out into the streets of Tromaville to clean up its pollution-lovin’ villains. Toxic Crusaders will feature classic arcade brawler action, a newly recorded score, full voice acting, motion-comic cutscenes, and cameos from other denizens of the Troma universe, including Poultrygeist and Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

While I’m still kind of reeling from the news, I have to admit, if the aftermath of Shredder’s Revenge means we’re going to be inundated with beat-’em-up love letters to