I have just as
much of a place in my heart for the Looney Tunes characters as any other
red-blooded American, and so Ive been excited each time a new game
comes out featuring our favorites from the Warner Bros. archives. But I
find that I have been disappointed by the games, not necessarily because
of the creativity and sense of humor used when putting them together,
but because of the seeming lack of attention to the actual playability
of a title. Taz: Wanted, although chock-full of potential, is the latest
in a line of sadly limp games.
The premise of
this game is that Yosemite Sam has captured Tazs girlfriend, the
She-devil, and is attempting to turn the island of Tazmania into a theme
park. Taz must destroy all of the wanted posters in each of four levels
(three sections per level centered around a hub) to thwart Sams
dastardly plan. Along the way he can eat sandwiches for bonus games,
pick up golden statues of Sam for points, and destroy as many objects as
possible, all the while avoiding the Taz Catchers with nets. There are
humorous special powers available during the game, including
Invisibility potions, Super Burp Soda cans, Hiccup Soda, Mega Hot Chili
Peppers, and bubble gum. Taz can also eat elements of the scenery and
spit it out again as an attack. The final part of your arsenal of
attacks is the ACME Dial-a-Costume phone booth, where Taz gets a costume
that comes with a special attack (ten each). Along with the main story
mode are two-player choices of "destruction," "vehicle race," "time
trial," "tournament," and three secret games that can be opened by
beating bosses in the single-player game.
The
graphics of this game are pretty darn good, with all the best of the
cartoon world made into interactive environments. The music was great (I
swear to God that I heard a tooney version of Mansons "The Beautiful
People") and after reading the music titles in the back of the
instruction booklet, I can tell that those people who were working on
the soundtrack had just as much fun as those rendering the graphics. I
wish that there were more vocal responses from Taz and Yosemite Sam, as
it got really repetitive in a very short while, but the other sound
effects are the oodles of fun that youd expect from a cartoon
adventure.
What this
game has going for it is the great sense of humor Looney Tunes is known
for. You can swing with monkeys, bounce and sproing all over the
landscape on special items, twirl until youre dizzy, and thats just
the beginning. Yet while I was often amused by the antics of our
twirling friend, there are elements of the game that are problematic.
The control of Taz is the first and most distressing. Its hard for me
to imagine a child trying to wrestle to get Taz moving in the right
directions, especially when navigating difficult spaces or spinning. I
was frustrated during enough of the game trying to make maneuvers that
should have been easy that I can imagine the level of frustration a
beginner would have on this game.
The second
issue that I had with this game is the terrible design of the two-player
mode. The single player mode is short enough that the two-player mode is
where the game might find some longevity. However, the vehicle race,
which is the most promising of the bunch, is frustrating. You have three
races, one on floor polishers in the Samsonian Museum, one on jet-bikes
in Grannys Canyon, and the last and most problematic, shopping carts in
Looningdales. The floor polishers are very hard to steer and the
shopping carts, in order to move AT ALL, required repeated pushing of
the O button. I know that the designers might have thought kids were
button pushers by nature, but give me a break! After three laps of
repeated pounding, I was ready to find the person who thought this was a
good idea and tap him or her repeatedly on the forehead as many times as
I had to do so in finishing my race and then ask them how effective this
method of propulsion was. When seasoned players have hand cramps after
one race, its time to rethink your design strategy. Grannys Canyon is
the best of the three, but when you have only one real playable course,
it gets old really quickly. Destruction mode and time trials are limited
in their scope and imagination, and tournament is merely a mix of the
above types, and is just as frustrating and inane.
Finally, the
worst sin of this game is in its inability to compete in a genre that
has really pushed the boundaries. If I had never played such gems as
Banjo Kazooie or Mario, I would probably be much more impressed by this
title. But I have seen games with huge levels and seemingly infinite
places to explore which have smooth controls and a great cameras. Just
getting a popular franchise may be enough to lure kids into begging
their parents to buy this game, but that is a cheap ploy when you dont
take the time to make games that are of a competitive quality and scope.
The PS2 is lagging a bit in the childrens games arena, but if it wants
to compete, its going to have to do better than this. Asking people to
buy your mediocre game just because there doesnt happen to be much else
on the market for this system is rubbish. Rent this game if you must,
but I would think twice before paying full price.