Overall 8.8 Graphics 8.5 Sound 8 Addictive 8.5 Story 8.5 Depth 7 Difficulty 7
8.3
SNES version gives much needed energy back into Animaniacs 1sam234
Now let's get to the main attraction of the 90s era: Animaniacs on the SNES. This game is drastically different from the Genesis version, and was made by the same company, Konami, and people have said that it's a vast improvement, but let's take a look and see.
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The title screen pops up and immediately looks way better than the Genesis, due to the much wider color palette in the 10,000s, and bigger resolution of the Super Nintendo, allowing more detail through. Despite there being no intro this time by the Warners before the title screen, the Animaniacs theme is there again in this version like you'd expect, proudly playing, which is a nice bonus as it's sounds like a better 16-bit rendition.
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As the game starts, it goes to a tutorial level like the last game, this time in the Studio HQ, which seems more complicated and longer. Immediately noticeable is the fact that they tried to make the movement on a three-dimensional field than just a simple one-lane side-scrolling game. You can move to different lanes up and down with the D-Pad to avoid different obstacles and go to more places, which is nice, and the game DOES take advantage of that with putting in jumping puzzles that involve it, but you can only jump one lane across and if you're in the air, it can get confusing at what lane you're in before you land, either landing on a platform or looking like you fall right through it. Also, the movement's been improved a lot over the Genesis version. You can move a lot faster, jump higher, there's a dash function that serves as an attack, and you can stack up the Warners to reach higher places.
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The goal of this game is to find pieces of a movie script Pinky and the Brain stole to make their own movie, 24 in all in the form of books. You need to get them in secret areas or completing levels and boss stages, among other ways like collecting chains of coins without even missing one of them. The graphics are very colorful, more detailed and have a lot more energy to them like in the show compared to the Genesis version, which is sad, because again, didn't the Genesis have "blast processing" to its name?
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The music's very catchy, especially the songs they brought from the show; the control is for the most part responsive and smooth, and switching characters is instant rather than taking a second of doing nothing. There's a slot machine at the bottom of the screen when you collect coins that either reward or take away, such as more/doubling your coins, invincibility, taking away/halving your coins and so on if you get three in a row or a specific combination of results. The slots can continue to spin even outside of stages if you have more than 1 in "HOLD", and you get one with every five coins you get.
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However, there's plenty of drawbacks to this game as well. Like the Genesis version, there's only 4 levels, 5 if you count the boss rush and final fight with Pinky and the Brain, and not counting the Water Tower rescue level and the tutorial at the Studio HQ. I don't know why they do this, don't the 16 bit consoles have more room than this? The levels are again huge, but once again, it's the same problem. What's different is also sort of bad. First off, the Warners no longer have special abilities of their own. All three play exactly the same, they're no longer unique other than that if you lose one or more, you can't form the stack. They can all dash, jump high, but have no abilities of their own to use.
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Also, finding every script page needs you to go out of your way from the path to get all 24 to get the good ending. If you fail to get them all, if you miss even one, you get a rather short, subpar and sad ending, but you can go back to previous stages and get them, thankfully. The time limit isn't a problem anymore cause there is none, but there's a few more flaws that work together to hinder the experience.
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One of them is for the dash, you need to press the A button twice to do it. Pressing it once "prepares" you to dash, and you can't move until some seconds pass or you press it again. I really have no idea why it's programmed to do that, but if you forget, you'll end up standing still and open to attack. Another is that Ralph can sometimes run too fast at you if you just keep running away, even outdoing your dash, so you either have to jump around or on him to stop him, or use that three dimensional movement field to your advantage to get around him. Luckily he's only able to capture the Warner you're controlling.
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This game's fatal con isn't its platforming cause the mechanics are improved here for the most part, it's not the layout of the levels cause it offers a decent challenge to navigate; it's the fact that you have NO CONTINUES! Well, technically not. You start with none, but you can get continues from the slot machine or by collecting 100 coins, but ONE hit or getting captured by Ralph the Guard in the field or in a level makes you lose a Warner and restart from a checkpoint or level segment since there's more than one in each stage to go through. Lose all three within the level and it's either game over and you use up a stored continue.
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But even how the continue system works feels off. If you do use a continue, you restart the level you were at with the last Warner you had that was captured(e.g.: Yakko was the last one captured, you continue with only him) until you rescue the others in the slots or from the Water Tower. If you lose them with no continues left, you get a password, then it's back to the title screen. The three Warners on screen are the closest things to lives you'll get, and depending on the hit, you'll either fly back, get captured entirely, or you'll fall down a pit which is also an instant capture. There's a slot combo that can bring them all back, but it's luck based. So in short: Three lives, one hit each, and you have to earn your continues, kind of like with "Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge" on the PlayStation 1 with its slot machine to earn continues, but here at least you can earn continues more easily than in that game.
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The only real way to get the lost Warners back is when you beat the level you're on or by pausing and pressing
Select to exit it entirely, you go to the water tower in the middle of the map screen, and do a platforming puzzle to the top. When you succeed, you get all of the lost Warners back. The boomerang at the start is ESSENTIAL to completing it, you need it to scare off the buzzards and open the door. The level goes pretty slow and Ralph'll spray you with a hose sometimes to knock you off, and the boomerang doesn't affect him, you have to jump at the right time to avoid it. ANY touch from anything will knock you backwards, off your platform unless you're super lucky, and since the screen scrolls up with you, if you fall to the bottom of the screen, you get kicked out of the stage and you have to try again. Unlike Beetlejuice for the NES however, where the bottom of the screen is death, you do get to continue to try again without punishment until you succeed, but it can take a long, long time if you don't know what to do or when to jump. You can also try to get any combo of Yakko, Wakko and Dot on the slot machine, which gets all of them back right away without having to exit the level.
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The bosses are mostly competent, and you're provided with ways to beat them like the anvil for the fantasy boss, to which that area is basically Anvilania if it was mixed with Wonderland, which is a nice little revisit; and the cannon for the adventure boss who is basically Captain Mel on a big octopus. You need timing and room to use them though, because of the "one hit, lose a Warner" rule. The bosses also constantly attack with little breaks, some you literally have to run in a circle to try and get them vulnerable to attack. The Pinky and the Brain boss however is the most fun out of all of them, it offers a legit challenge and has you dodging lots of things like fire, minions that stun you by jumping on you until you can throw them off, cannonballs that you gotta jump over and alternating directions by making them run at you. You can't jump over the boss itself, but you can use the sides of the screen like Pac-Man to help avoid them. The boss itself does look pretty much exactly the same as it did in the Genesis version though.
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If you got all of the pages of the script, you get the good ending which I won't exactly spoil, but it's definitely funny and something the Animaniacs would do to a movie. The password screen kinda sucks though and it's more confusing than the Genesis version. You use the L and R buttons to switch characters and the D-pad to switch the spot to change, and it's a little bit confusing to follow and more complicated too.
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In conclusion, it IS a very good improvement over the Genesis version, but it has the ability to get more difficult and inconvenient if you don't know how to avoid the obstacles and don't know how the new 3-dimensional movement field works. It's more of a platformer than the last one and it does it well, but the challenge has the potential to get too great if you're not good at dodging things. The one-hit, three life mechanic is the most potent error here, even though it's off-set by you being able to earn a lot of continues if you're lucky, but other than that, it's definitely the one to recommend and play out of all the retro games.
(Next: Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt on the home consoles)
Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 9 Story 9 Depth 8 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 08-22-15
Updated: 08-17-19
Review Replies: 3
9
It's Time For Animainacs! GameBoy1023
I haven't done a review since January, So here Is my March Review.
However, Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Pinky, and The Brain will Haunt/and or Hack This review. LET MY TERRIBLE GUARDING PREVAIL...
So, Let's get to the review, Shall We?
Yakko, Wakko, Dot: Time to play Animaniacs! To be zany to the max. So, just sit back & relax, play this game till you collapse, were Animaniacs!
Me: WOULD YOU KEEP IT DOWN? I'M TRYING TO WRITE A REVIEW HERE!
M'kay. Finally some Peace & Quiet. The game is called Animaniacs, "Animaniacs" Was Originally a Warner Bros. TV Show that ran from 1993-1998, And Is now showing Re-runs on The Hub TV Channel. It also got this Video game, Which I am reviewing now.
Graphics - 9
This game's graphics are Good enough for SNES standards. The characters are also very well drawn for these Graphics.
Sound - 7
The sound didn't really make sense, And what I mean by that Is It didn't fit The area that you were in. But it was nice, Not counting that.
Addictiveness - 8
You Want to go that Extra mile, since it's kinda an easy game in some points in time. So, yeah... Play It.
Story - 8
Me: Hey, What's Going on?
Error: REVIEWTERMANATIEDBY_BRAIN.EXE
PINKY WAS HERE
Brain: What have I told you about writing on the walls, Pinky?
Pinky: Sorry. What do you want to do Tonight, Brain?
Brain: The Same Thing We Do every Night, Pinky. Try To take over the world.
Yakko, Wakko, Dot:
They're Pinky and The Brain
Yes, Pinky and The Brain
One is a genius
The other's INSANE.
To prove their mousey worth
They'll overthrow the Earth
They're Pinky, They're Pinky and The Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain.
Pinky: What's The Plan, Brain?
Brain: First, We Will Steal A new movie Script from Warner Bros. Studios.
Pinky: And, AND??
Brain: Patience, Pinky.
Then, We Will Produce the Movie Ourself, And earn so Much Money, That we will be able to take over the world.
Pinky: Wow, That's a good plan, Brain, But I don't know how to make movies.
Me: ERR... Give me my review back!
Me: So, Out of what you just read Pinky and the Brain Have STOLEN Scenes from A script For a New Movie.
So that's a pretty good and sneaky story.
Depth - 6
This game Doesn't have much Depth, But There are some tricks and Crazy turns throughout this game.
Difficulty - 7
Like I said before, This is a very easy game, But It's not as easy as you think..... Just Try It.
Overall Rating -
I like this TV Series, and this Game, It's has a very good story, and function of gameplay.
The Overall Rating for the game is 9.
Thanks For Reading My Review!
And On the Other Hand, I Think this is my longest Post!
-Gameboy1023- In a Animainacs! Mood.
Up, Up, And Away!
Graphics 9 Sound 7 Addictive 8 Story 8 Depth 6 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 2.8/5
Submitted: 03-04-13
Updated: 05-07-13
Review Replies: 6
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