Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. I’ve talked about a lot of cartoon based video games so far during the 40+ Playing With Power articles. Everyone from Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Felix the Cat, and even Snoopy. So, with that list of retro legends, it’s time to add perhaps the most beloved of them all to the mix, everyone’s favourite “wascally wabbit” Bugs Bunny with his first of two NES outings. But does this Crazy Castle offer some silly fun, or leave you wanting to find the exit pronto? Let’s get reviewing.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1989
PUBLISHER: Kemco
GENRE: Action Puzzle
It’s safe to assume that by now everyone is at least familiar with Bugs Bunny. Perhaps one of the beloved animated characters of all time, and with a 70+ year career, it’s not hard to see why. Bugs began his career in the 40’s (despite some unofficial early appearances in the late 30’s), and for decades since has gone on many looney adventures, all the while being the comedic foil for long time foes Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, and so on. Bugs would see his way into television shows, movies, and all sorts of major media. So naturally, video games would soon be no stranger for this heroic hare.
Surprisingly, Bugs wouldn’t see any video games released with his likeness during any major era, until the NES era. which is strange, since other characters like the Tazmanian Devil would see at least an Atari game. So, Bugs got his debut on the great grey box known as the Nintendo Entertainment System. His first game on the NES, The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, was released by Kemco in 1989. But interestingly enough, this originally wasn’t going to be a game based on Bugs, but instead another rabbit that had earned massive popularity at the time thanks to a rather successful movie (that Bugs had actually been featured in if you can believe it). That being Roger Rabbit.
Originally holding the rights from Disney to produce a video game based on the hit movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Kemco would release a rather unique action puzzle game for the Famicom Disk System, in which Roger would have to avoid weasels, while collecting hearts, and finally rescuing that luscious piece of 8-Bit ace, Jessica Rabbit. The game was set for a release outside of Japan, but however, similar to the situation I mentioned previously in the Snoopy’s Silly Sports Spectacular review, they hit another snag. This time, they were in a quagmire because the rights to an NES Roger Rabbit game were given to American game company LJN, and they would release a game based on the character around the same time the Roger Rabbit Famicom game was relesed in Japan. So, similar to Donald Duck, Kemco’s chances of releasing this game seemed slim to nil.
However, they would manage to snag the exclusive rights to make games based on the Looney Tunes. And their first endeavor with this new license was to remake the Roger Rabbit game, and replace him with Bugs Bunny. And with that done, the game would see a release in 1989 to North America under the new name The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, where it did decent sales. The game’s success would soon see several other Crazy Castle titles, mainly for the Game Boy and GBA. Many would feature Bugs Bunny, while others would feature Mickey Mouse (in Japan, almost all ports for the GB would feature Mickey), Garfield, Woody Woodpecker, and even Peter Venkmin of The Real Ghostbusters. So, this franchise definitely has a long history, but does the first outing hold any real quality?
COVER STORY
Not too much to get into on this one. Some good official art featuring Bugs and the gang, and it’s definitely an eye catcher for any Looney Tune fan who is also a Nintendo player. My main gripes are too much pointless white on the cover, and the lack of a real “castle” feel to the cover. Those issues aside though, it does look okay at best.
STORY
Several of Bug Bunny’s most notorious enemies, Yosemite Sam, Wile E Coyote, Daffy Duck and Sylvester have captured Bugs’ girlfriend Honey Bunny, and locked her in a castle. It’s up to Bugs to scale every level in the castle to rescue her once and for all.
For those curious about who Honey Bunny is, prior to Lola’s creation in Space Jam, Bugs was given a girlfriend in the name of Honey Bunny. She was never featured in any actual cartoons, but rather in advertisements, and other media such as comic books, and lasted up until 1996, right around the time of Space Jam, and was permanently replaced with Lola.
I for one, am fine with that decision, since Honey Bunny looked too much like a female Bugs, and considering how often he dresses in drag, that seems a little redundant.
GAMEPLAY
The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle is a one player action/puzzle game. You control Bugs Bunny, as he has to go from level to level collecting carrots, while avoiding the several Looney Tunes enemies that are out to put a stop to him. You move Bugs iwth the D-Pad, and attack with the B-Button.
The game is broken into 60 levels. The levels have three different designs. One is a castle esthetic, with cobblestone walls. Another is a pipeland style area, with green pipes to travel through, and the third is a warehouse-style level with wood walls. For 60 levels, and a real lack of any variety in stage design, they can get pretty boring to look at really quick.
The object of each level as mentioned previously, is to collect all of the carrots within the specific level. They’re all scattered about, and sometimes may be guarded by a different Looney Tune. Once you grab every carrot in the stage, you earn an extra life, and can move on to the next level. Lather, rinse, repeat for 60 stages.
Bugs has no jumping abilities, nor any physical attacks on the fly, but can use a few different tactics to deal with his enemies. He can drop weights, safes, or crates from a high area onto the enemy below. He can also grab a boxing glove he can shoot at his opponent with the A button. You’ll also find magic carrot juice, which will make you invincible for a very brief amount of time. It’s best to know when to use these items, as you can easily find yourself trapped by several enemies in later levels, leading to quick deaths.
The only real dangerous item in the game is the No-Carrot sign. Touching this sends you to a special stage. If you collect all the carrots, you will be given a 3-Up for a job well done. Die once, and you get sent back three stages. These don’t appear too often, and you can give them a shot if you feel lucky, but for the most part, they’re best left avoided.
For the most part, if you touch an enemy, you die instantly, but there are a couple strategies to avoid them in tight spots. If one comes through a doorway or pipe, go through it at the same time, you won’t be touched surprisingly, and it gives you ample time to continue searching for carrots. There’s also no time limit to worry about, so you can take however long you feel is best to strategize on how to go after a carrot that may be guarded.
There are only four Looney Tunes enemies. Sylvester, who has three different varieties, grey, green, and red. All mainly work the same, as they chase after you, and will often go through doors and pipes. The other three, Daffy Duck, Wile E Coyote, and Yosemite Sam, just walk back and forth, usually guarding a carrot, or a good item. Surprisingly there’s no Elmer Fudd, or any other major villain that Bugs has faced off with in the past. There’s no boss fights, nor anything that really changes the gameplay throughout. The levels are all short, but really have no variety to them at all.
You start with 5 lives, and completion of a level will earn you one more. You do get continues, which bring you right back to the stage you died on, as well as passwords. The passwords are given at the end of each stage, and are simple four character codes. They’re very simple to remember, and unlike a lot of games that were using codes at the time are definite pluses. The game has decent controls, though one gripe is if you drop Bugs from an area, he’ll often step forward in one direction after falling, which can sometimes get you caught in an enemy trap. That aside, everything handles well.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are decent at best. A real bland mix of browns, greens, reds, and greys really don’t give much of a cheery feel, and also feel like a real poor use of the color palette on the NES. That aside, the sprites are decent, despite being very small. Each character looks like their cartoon counterpart, so that definitely helps. There were far better looking games by 1989, and this doesn’t hold up too well in that department, but are still as mentioned before decent at best.
MUSIC
The music is also decent at best. The few songs used in the game give off a soothing, and sometimes peppy feel, and can be memorable, especially the first stage song, but you probably won’t care for them too much. There are far better soundtracks on the NES, but this one is just okay.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
A lot of people seem to hate this game, and I can personally see why. While it has an interesting idea, it’s just tedious and boring, lacking any major variety in gameplay throughout the 60 levels of play. It’s just very boring. But, I didn’t hate it as much as others did. Replaying and beating it, I found it to be kinda fun. The kind of game that you’d likely only play to the end once, but not feel like you wasted too much time with it. it’s the feeling I had for it as a kid, and the same feeling I have now. Like everything else, it’s really just an okay experience. I’d say give it a shot, but don’t expect a masterpiece.
RATING: Thumbs in the Middle