Battletoads trademarked by Microsoft

Battletoads is famous for being so unbalanced that it's almost impossible to defeat alone. That's precisely the sort of thing we need a reboot of, right?

Microsoft has trademarked Battletoads which, as a Rare property, is a thing it could conceivably bring back as an HD re-release or reboot.

The trademark follows a series of hints that some sort of Battletoads project might be in the works, such as a costume in Kinect Sports Rivals.

"Microsoft often acquires various trademarks as part of its ongoing business strategy, but beyond that we have no comment," Microsoft told Polygon.

That's lovely, Microsoft, but remember when you trademarked Killer Instinct? Battletoads reboot for 2016, I'm calling it.

We have no idea what Rare's been up to since Kinect Sports Rivals, although we know Microsoft gave it its head and told it to lay off Kinect games, so there's certainly reason to hope.

VGLeaks has an image of the trademark application, if you're keen.

Designed to rival the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Battletoads kicked off in 1991 on the NES and spawned multiple sequels and ports as well as a pretty dire cartoon. It commands slavish affection from its masochistic fans.