Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt
Score: 80% ESRB: Early Childhood Publisher: Ignition Entertainment USA Developer: Warthog Media: GCD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Platformer (3D)
Graphics & Sound: Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt comes off bigger, better and grander than previous Animaniacs titles, but still comes up slightly short in the overall experience. The graphics of The Great Edgar Hunt aren't bad per se, they just weren't what I was expecting. Seeing as the developers of this game, Warthog, are the same folks who created Looney Toons: Back in Action, I was hoping for a style very similar to that. But alas, the scenery of the Animaniacs game goes past slightly cartoony (like in Looney Toons) and goes straight to goofy. I know the Warner Brothers (and their sister Dot) are of a somewhat goofier nature than the classic WB cartoons, but even the studio hub world just doesn't sit right. As for the characters, they are very distinct and easily recognizable as their animated counterparts. Everyone from the three Warners to Pinky and The Brain act and look just like I remember them. As for the audio aspect of Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt, the original cast reprises their roles once again for this new, zany adventure. As you progress through the game, you will hear each of the characters' favorite one-liners ... over and over again. This is one of the parts of the game that got a bit annoying, so much so that there were times when I would turn down the volume so I didn't have to hear the same four or five phrases every time I swung my mallet or got hit by an enemy. The music was better though. Each movie-set had five or six different soundtracks and as you changed areas (like moving from the peaceful lagoon to the gold mines in the first movie) the old music would fade out as the new faded in. It almost sounded like the music was coming from the area because as you went away from the location, that area's music would get overpowered by the new area's tunes. It was a nice effect that was much better than just suddenly switching melodies.
Gameplay: Just days before The Edgars (what would be The Oscars in our world), some vile, mad and constantly overlooked director snuck into the WB studio and has stolen all of the Edgar statues. While calling to make his ransom demands, the villain's henchmen accidentally flies the crook's zeppelin into the Warner Brothers tower (naturally alerting the three siblings residing within). Now all 45 of the Edgar Awards have been scattered across the studio and it is up to the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot to get them back before The Edgars. So basically, that means Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt is a game that has you running around the studio and six movie sets (each with their own theme like western, Roman, fairytale, etc.) to complete tasks set by characters and earn or find Edgar trophies. These tasks range from helping the local Indians perform a rain dance (of course you need to find Dot and a grass skirt) to taming a bucking bronco. But once you're done with those feats -- you are one Edgar closer to the end. Though, The Great Edgar Hunt tries to appear open-ended and non-linear, it really isn't. For instance, in order to find Dot, you need to go through a door that requires two Edgars (there's one way they force you to move linearly), and you have to get those two in a specific order, because getting one opens the path to getting the second. Like I said, the game appears at a distance to be very free-roaming, but it keeps you pretty contained until you do whatever it is you are supposed to do in an area. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, as long as I have a clear idea of what I'm supposed to do next. There were many times, just in that first part when looking for Dot, where I knew I needed to get another Edgar, but couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go to find it, or at times even what I was suppose to do. That is a bad thing. Animaniacs also has five mini-games that can be unlocked by finding and releasing everyone's favorite lab mice, Pinky and The Brain (Yes Pinky and The Brain. One is a genius, the other's insane. They're laboratory mice, their genes have been spliced. ... sorry about that). Once unleashed you will be able to play mini-games like Chopper Action, Horse Shoe Shenanigans, Mole Madness, Ball Breaker and Time Bomb Panic. Each mini-game is a dastardly plan by The Brain (Brain Brain Brain Brain). These missions range from having to right the water tower to focusing the sun's rays. These side adventures help to break up the frustration of The Great Edgar Hunt and really help to make the overall experience pleasant, if you can find each instance of the caged duo, that is.
Difficulty: Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt isn't really hard. Well, not if you are thinking in the way of dangerous enemies, mind-blowing puzzles or tricky jumps. The hardest part of The Great Edgar Hunt is typically finding out what you are supposed to do next. I found that about half of my time was spent backtracking and re-talking to characters to either find out what I was supposed to do next or find some piece of equipment I needed to do what I was supposed to do next. This got frustrating after a while, because even though I would play the game for several hours at a time, I rarely felt like I made a lot of progress.
Game Mechanics: Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt's controls seem simple, but there were times when my fingers just started fumbling over themselves. These control issues typically arose when I felt rushed or I had to hit some of the lesser-used buttons, and I couldn't remember exactly what those were at the time. Most of the time you will just run and jump (A button) around and hit enemies (B button). But every now and then, you will have to duck under an enemy's fire (R button) or perform the character's special move (Y button). The last two commands are rarely used, or become rare when you keep hitting the wrong controls and get to where you use them only when you have to. Consequently, if you hit the L button instead of the R, you end up locking the camera at whatever angle you are currently at. Needless to say, you did not duck, you got hit and now you have to tap L again to unlock the camera. And if you hit the X instead of the Y button, most times nothing happens because this is what you tap to talk to people -- so you haven't activated your special move that allows you to dig or limbo under objects or thrown your bombs. This is just one of the little things that adds to the overall frustration that comes from The Great Edgar Hunt. Animaniacs is an okay game that can be lots of fun, but if you get frustrated easily, this is not a game you should pick up.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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