Toxic Crusaders Coming to Mop The Floor With Evil This Summer
Toxic Crusaders is a forthcoming beat ‘em up that follows on from the 1991 cartoon series of the same name, as well as including nods to the deliriously violent Troma movies that preceded it. It’s due out on all major platforms later in 2025, but fans of radioactive arcade action can try the demo on PC now.
Toxic Crusaders follows Toxie, a deformed mutant superhero, and his mutant friends, as they battle the evil Dr. Killemoff and his Radiation Rangers. The game includes 10 levels set in Tromaville, lets players choose from a wide range of characters, and includes local co-op for up to four players.
“The Toxic Crusaders are back to defend Tromaville against the evil Dr. Killemoff and his army of Radiation Rangers,” Retroware, the studio behind the game, said in a recent press release.
“With local co-op, you can grab up to four friends and take on the forces of Smogula across a variety of vibrant pixel-art levels. Choose from seven playable characters and dive into an action-packed, pun-filled adventure that’ll drag you through the wonderful world of Troma!”
It’s Clean Up Time!
Toxie first appeared in The Toxic Avenger, a gory 1984 comedy from Troma Entertainment, a studio renowned for its low-budget but highly creative B movies that’s still going strong. In the film, Melvin, a stereotypical nerd, falls in a barrel of radioactive waste following a prank. However, rather than melting him down to his bones, it mutates him into a hulking, super strong mutant.
Luckily for society, Toxie uses his powers for good and dispenses violent justice to bad guys, with his cinematic actions covering five movies; a remake starring Peter Dinklage is due out this August. Surprising pretty much everybody, Toxic Crusaders aired in 1991 and managed to follow similar story beats as the first four movies but filtered through a kid-friendly cartoon.
As in the upcoming game, the action is set in Tromaville (the location for most of Troma’s movies) and pits Toxie and his friends against an evil alien, Dr. Killemoff, intent on polluting the world. Only one season aired, so the game continues stories and ideas from it to work as a season two of the cartoon.
A Game That Oozes Retro Charm
Sharing a similar pixel style and arcade sidescroller action as TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, Toxic Crusaders includes seven playable characters and a Tag Out ability to swap between two during a fight. For fans of Troma’s movies, there are even locations based on Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
Toxic Crusaders comes from Retroware, a Pennsylvania-based studio founded in 2017. As well as developing and publishing games, the company has a physical arcade in Lansdale, PA. It’s made over 10 games already, including Iron Meat and three titles featuring the Angry Video Game Nerd.
