Released: August 1994
Developer: HeadGames
Also Available For: Game Gear and Master System

The Background:
Following his debut in “Devil May Hare” (McKimson, 1954) as a dim-witted and voracious foil to Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc), my absolute favourite Looney Tunes (1930 to present) character, the Tasmanian Devil (or simply “Taz”), became a recurring character in subsequent Looney Tunes cartoons before graduating to his very own show, Taz-Mania (1991 to 1995), as part of the Looney Tunes renaissance of the nineties. Although technically not tied into that cartoon or a sequel to Taz-Mania (Recreational Brainware/Various, 1992), and a fundamentally very different game altogether, Taz in Escape from Mars is emblematic of the character’s enduring popularity. Unlike the previous title, which I was inspired to play after enjoying the Master System version, Taz in Escape from Mars has always been a daunting prospect for me; the game’s reputation is somewhat mixed and I remember it being a tough experience the few times I borrowed it as a kid. However, given my love for the character, I was looking forward to sitting down and actually putting some real time into the game and seeing if I could overcome it after all these years.

The Plot:
Having amassed a collection of strange and wondrous alien creatures, Marvin the Martian comes to Earth to kidnap the insatiable Taz and cage him in a special zoo on Mars. Unimpressed at his predicament, Taz breaks free and goes on a rampage in a desperate attempt to return home.

Gameplay:
Like its predecessor, Taz in Escape from Mars (or Escape from Mars Starring Taz, as the title screen states) is a 2D, sidescrolling action/platformer which places you in the role of Taz, the ravenous Tasmanian Devil of Looney Tunes fame. Despite sharing many of the same sprites and fundamental mechanics as that game, however, Escape from Mars is a much bigger and more entertaining adventure with more interesting and varied mechanics, a faster pace, and much more freedom of movement (you can now freely move the screen’s camera up and down, for example).

As before Taz can pick up and use objects and use levers and other mechanisms with A, spin like a tornado with B, and jump with C. Unlike in the last game, Taz cannot defeat enemies or damage bosses by jumping on them but his spin attack is much faster and more useful this time around as you can use it to bounce Taz up narrow walls to reach higher areas. You can also hold down the B button to race across certain surfaces, including walls and ceilings, and to break through certain walls to avoid attacks and progress further.

Taz, though still lacking in jumping and walking frames, also moves much faster and the controls, in general, are much tighter and more responsive. Best of all, Escape from Mars appears to be completely free of bottomless pits and instant death traps and has far more variety in the presence of teleporters, grow rays, and shrinking potions. When temporarily super-sized, Taz loses his spin attack but is invulnerable and can stomp his enemies into dust and, while shrunk, he can fit through smaller passageways (though he cannot attack or pick up items of food). Taz can also use his spin attack to tunnel through the dirt in Moleworld and you’ll notice that the game’s worlds and enemies are much more vivid, wacky, and memorable this time around.

Not only is there more depth to the game’s environments, there are more interesting gimmicks in place, such as moving and temporary platforms, floating platforms, using mushrooms to ascend around spiked mazes, and jumping from cow to cow in the Mexican desert to say nothing of encountering more Looney Tunes characters, such as the Roadrunner and Yosemite Sam. You can also use Taz’s spin to go up and down spiral staircases in the Haunted Castle, traverse environments on floating cubes, and there are even some gravity-based mechanics at work in Marvin’s House. Taz can even enter an alien device and be duplicated a few times in this level and you’ll need to hop onto the doppelgänger’s head to reach higher areas. Having said that, though, the game manages to balance out all the improvements it makes on its predecessor with some annoying enemy and hazard placements (there are now two types of bombs, for example, that Taz will happily gobble down and get blown up for his troubles); some enemies, like the aforementioned Yosemite Sam, can’t be defeated and will attack you relentlessly. It can also be frustrating to enter the background through doorways only to instantly get stuck or become lost as you either can’t see where you need to go or there is nowhere to go, making the mechanic a bit pointless. By far the most annoying gimmick in the game are the lasers that instantly turn you to ash in Marvin’s House; you’ll have to desperately float and flail about using the gravity mechanics and attacking the laser generators from precariously small platforms in the hopes of reaching (and eating) the coveted exit sign.

Graphics and Sound:
Taz in Escape from Mars takes the charming, cartoony aesthetic from the previous game and expands upon it in every way. Taz’s sprite remains mostly the same except for a new coat of paint, which is a little disappointing as his jump is still lacking in frames and the developers didn’t even program him a new idle animation. They seem to have tried to make up for this by expanding and shrinking him, which is pretty neat, but these mechanics aren’t seen very often (I only grew big once in the entire game) so it would have been nice to see Taz’s sprites and range of motion expanded a bit more alongside his speed and abilities.

Taking Taz off-world, though, vastly improves the appeal of the game’s environments; big, colourful, and full of wacky enemies and elements, Escape from Mars’ levels are far more unique and appealing as Taz hops from planet to planet in an effort to get home. Taz’s journey takes him from Marvin’s zoo on Mars, to the purple sands of Moleworld, where he’ll be pursued by a giant drilling machine in a desperate auto-scrolling chase that is easily one of the more frustrating and nerve-wracking parts of the game. Planet X is one of the game’s more distinct locations; an alien, mushroom-filled world that features spiked walls and more than a few of those never-ending water slides that require you to jump off at the right moment to progress further. Eventually, Taz makes it back to Earth, specifically Mexico, where he has to jump across a stampede and then navigate through the maze-like city while bandits shoot at him, before ending up in what initially appears to be a quite out of place castle but soon transforms into a mad scientist’s dungeon.

Unlike the previous game, Escape from Mars skips using dialogue and awkwardly-drawn panels for its story and, instead, relies far more on in-game graphics and pantomime, which is all of great benefit as everything has a more cohesive and appealing aesthetic as a result. The music and sound effects are also much improved but, while you’re no longer bombarded with annoying sounds and weirdly-composed tunes, neither are anything particularly catchy or memorable, which is a bit of a shame as that was another area that needed much improvement.

Enemies and Bosses:
Another area where Escape from Mars out-does Taz-Mania is in the variety and appeal of its enemies; while no characters from Taz’s cartoon appear apart from Taz himself, the game makes up for this by swapping out bats and weird rock monsters for a handful of crazy alien foes who explode in a swirl of smoke when hit with Taz’s spin.

Marvin’s zoo and house, especially, are populated by weird alien frog-like creatures, robots, and his oft-seen minions, the Instant Martians, and his dog, K-9. You’ll also battle a variety of bandits, weird alien snails, raging bulls, and come across Yosemite Sam both in a gun-firing rage and protected by suits of armour. Witch Hazel even makes an appearance in the Haunted Castle, and what appear to be semi-cybernetic moles will blast at you with electrical bolts on Moleworld, and even Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote will damage you if you slip off your stampeding convoy.

It’s all very surreal and this is reflected in the game’s bosses, which are much bigger and require a bit more that just spinning into (and jumping on to) them this time around. The first boss is a massive alien elephant thing that swings its trunk at you in a clockwise and anti-clockwise motion and spits spiked balls into the arena. Thankfully, as I mentioned, Taz’s spin will now carry him along walls and ceilings, which allows you to avoid damage and ricochet into the creature’s antenna-like eyes when they briefly appear in order to damage it. The second boss is a giant drilling machine which attacks you in free fall. Using small and otherwise precarious platforms, you must dodge its laser-like whip and missile attacks and spin into the pilot when he pops out from the cockpit. Thankfully, if you fall from your platform, the battle simply continues and I strongly recommend landing on a bigger platform to give yourself more freedom of movement.

On Planet X, you’ll battle a gigantic worm-like creature than bursts out from the walls of the arena but sports a big, flashing weak spot on its rear end. Spin into this and you’ll destroy each segment of the worm, making it faster and more aggressive as the fight goes on until only the head remains for the final blow. Things take a bit of a turn for the worst in Mexico, however, where you’ll battle the posturing Toro the Bull; Toro charges at you in a rage and will send you flying into the air with its horns before stopping and posing but don’t think that this is your window to attack! Instead, you have to stand in place while Toro charges his attack and then dash away from him and jump over him right at the last minute so that he runs head-first into the walls of the arena, which can be really difficult to do as he moves very quickly and tends to simply stop right before the wall.

Easily the most confusing and annoying boss comes at the end of the Haunted Castle, however. Here, you are charged at and punched by the big red furry monster Gossamer while a mad scientist blasts at you with laser bolts. Gossamer is completely invulnerable except for in the eyes; you must spin into its eyes a few times until it’s stunned and, hopefully, get it to collapse into one of the seats in the background. Once it’s sat down, dash over to the other seat and pull the lever and you’ll swap bodies with Gossamer, which will allow you to destroy the laser device and end this perplexing boss battle.

The finale sees you taking on Marvin the Martian in a giant mech made in his image. The mech stamps around the arena and tries to kick at you but it also likes to stop and dance about with one of its massive feet. This is one of the trickier bosses as you must quickly jump up the platforms on its feet and legs and then launch a spin attack at the yellow plume on the “head” of the mech in order to damage it. Do this enough times and Marvin’s mech will collapse in a heap and Taz will finally be able to return to his peaceful life back in Tasmania.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
As in Taz-Mania, Taz will automatically eat any items he comes across and you can blast them away with his spin attack. This means that he will explode if he eats bombs but will regain health if he eats junk food or first-aid kits and earn an extra life by chomping down on Taz icons. This time around, there seems to be a lot less health and far more bombs so, while there are a lot more opportunities to go blasting ahead, be sure to be mindful of your surroundings or you might miss some health when you need it the most. Also, don’t eat the cakes as they contain sticks of dynamite!

Taz can still breathe fire but, this time around, he has to gobble a can of gasoline rather than eating chili peppers. He can also eat boxes of rocks and spit a limited number of rocks at enemies as well, which is useful for taking out goofy aliens from afar and these projectile-based attacks are the only way of defeating some enemies, though there is no longer an invincibility star this time around.

Additional Features:
Unlike Taz-Mania, there are no difficulty options in Escape from Mars; what you see is what you get and you’ll just have to deal with it. However, like the last game, you can take advantage of a few cheats by holding A and B on controller one and B and C on controller two when on the SEGA logo screen. If you did it right, you’ll hear a bark and, when you pause the game and press A, a debug menu will appear that allows you to refill your health, skip to any level in the game, and activate “XY” mode that lets you move Taz around the level freely.

The Summary:
Taz in Escape from Mars is an improvement on its predecessor in almost every way; the core mechanics remain the same but expands upon them in just enough ways to make it a far more enjoyable experience. It’s funny because I distinctly remember this game being incredibly difficult back in the day but it was actually a lot more accessible than Taz-Mania, affording Taz a few new abilities and a greater range of movement and dramatically improving upon the level and enemy variety. Best of all, the game features no cheap deaths, bottomless pits, or instant death traps but it is populated by far more enemies and hazards. Sadly, a lot of the issues of the last game are still present and even made worse; sure, Taz is faster and more capable but he’s still a big, lumbering goof and levels might be more vibrant and interesting but they can still be frustrating and the music is still a let-down. Ultimately, Escape from Mars is a decent enough cartoony platformer to waste an hour or so on but it’s still a step behind other 16-bit games of the same genre and ends up being, in my opinion, about as enjoyable as its predecessor even with all the much-appreciated improvements.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Were you a fan of Taz in Escape from Mars? How do you think it compared to Taz-Mania and other 16-bit platformers? Were you a fan of Taz’s expanded moveset and the wackier levels and enemies of the game or were you disappointed to see the concept veer away from the Taz-Mania cartoon? Which Looney Tunes character and which of the old Looney Tunes videogames is your favourite? No matter what you think, leave a comment down below and let me know.

Released: July 1992
Developer: Recreational Brainware
Also Available For: Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

The Background:
My absolute favourite Looney Tunes (1930 to present) character, the Tasmanian Devil (or simply “Taz”) first debuted in “Devil May Hare” (McKimson, 1954) as a dim-witted and voracious foil to Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc). In the early- to mid-nineties, the Warner Bros. cartoons were undergoing something of a renaissance thanks to shows like Tiny Toon Adventures (1990 to 1992) and Animaniacs (1995 to 1998) and Taz became part of this resurgence in popularity when he graduated to his very own cartoon, Taz-Mania (1991 to 1995). To tie into this, several videogame adaptations of the show were produced; while the SNES version, which was more of a pseudo-3D endless runner, was unfavourably received, the Mega Drive title (which, like the others, was a traditional 2D sidescroller) was received very well. Since the Master System version (Technical Wave, 1992) was one of the first videogame cartridges I ever owned and one of my favourite action/platformers, I decided to pick up the Mega Drive version and see how the technically superior title holds up against others of its genre.

The Plot:
After being told a tale of a giant seabird that laid massive eggs capable of feeding an entire family for over a year, the ravenous and greedy Taz sets out in search of the Lost Valley and its legendary giant bird in hopes of satisfying his endless appetite.

Gameplay:
Taz-Mania is a 2D, sidescrolling action/platformer which has you guiding Taz across a number of locations (though, primarily, through jungles and Aztec ruins). While a variety of enemies populate Taz-Mania’s levels, your biggest enemies will be the controls and the numerous bottomless pits and instant death traps. Taz, though big and colourful and occasionally full of life, is a slow and clumsy character to play as; his jump is awkward, he can’t crouch or look up or down, and his hit box is ridiculously large at times.

Thankfully, you can get Taz to move his big, useless butt by sending him into his trademark tornado spin; however, while this is great for blasting away most enemies, it also knocks away health and other power-ups when they’re onscreen. You can use the spin in mid-air for a boost but it’s a bit finicky and the game is structured less around letting you blast ahead at full speed and more around awkwardly jumping to platforms, working your way up or across, and making blind jumps across bottomless pits. Taz also has an “Action” button that will let you carry certain items to reach higher areas, activate switches, and breathe fire after eating chilli pepeprs, and can also defeat some enemies and damage bosses by jumping on their heads. Unfortunately, you’ll be spending most of your time struggling with the game’s sluggish controls and annoying platforming elements; in the Badlands, for example, you have to jump from jets of water to reach the exit but, if your jump is a little off (which happens more often than not thanks to Taz’s jumping being a bit stilted and floaty), you’ll get damaged by the water and the knockback will most likely send you falling to your death. Similarly, when you reach the Jungle, you’ll have to make blind jumps to platforms you can’t even see in order to progress and either fall to your death or jump right onto an enemy for your trouble.

Taz-Mania is much more of a thinking game than the Master System version, which I remember being more of a standard, cutesy platformer; in the Acme Factory, you have to jump up conveyor belts and dodge lasers to pull a series of switches and keep a deadly robot from being assembled. Pull the wrong switches, though, and you’ll be chargrilled as punishment, which is a pretty fast way to burn through your lives. Later, in the Mines, you’ll need to use similar levers to activate lifts to reach new areas; unfortunately, some of these are booby trapped and will send you falling to your death while others are suspended precariously over a bed of instant death spikes or missing entirely (which will also cause you to die immediately). In the Ruins level, you’ll have to make some very tricky and awkward jumps between platforms and if you’re not absolutely pixel-perfect, you’ll simply pass right through your intended target as though it were intangible!

More than once, you’ll be tasked with jumping from log to log to cross some rapids; thankfully, you won’t instantly die if you fall or land in the water but you will be bounced out at the cost of some health. These aren’t particularly difficult sections but they become more troublesome when you have to move Taz up and down to the foreground and background, which makes positioning his exact landing point difficult to judge, and when you have to struggle upstream and avoid flying over the edge of a waterfall. By far the most frustrating and unfair section of the game, though, is when you must jump into a runaway mine cart; you can speed up and slow down by pressing left or right and press A to raise the cart up and avoid crashing headfirst into a bumper, but you also have to be careful not to collide with the ceiling, enemies, or to fall off the broken tracks. One mistake and you instantly lose a life, which is ridiculously unreasonable and makes the presence of a life bar almost completely redundant.

Graphics and Sound:
If there’s one thing Taz-Mania has going for it, it’s the graphics; sprites are big, cartoony, and colourful and the entire game evokes the look and feel of the cartoon. While the music and sound effects are extremely grating and poorly realised, it’s fun seeing Taz fly into an impatient rage when left idle and the little quirks he has here and there, such as eating the “S” in the opening SEGA logo.

Sadly, this doesn’t really shine through all of the time and, for the most part, Taz is a very static and awkward character sprite. Similarly, the game’s backgrounds and levels aren’t all that interesting to look at; this game released almost a year after Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Team, 1991) and in the same year as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SEGA Technical Institute, 1992) so there’s really no excuse for the environments being so bland and basic. Occasionally, you’ll see some foreground effects and have to pass through certain walls to reach new or secret areas but, for the most part, there’s not really a lot on offer in terms of variety as the game spends way too much time in barren wastelands and jungles.

By far the most visually interesting levels are the Acme Warehouse and the Iceland, a stage you only visit once yet you’re forced to endure the drab, dark mine and confusing mess of the Jungle for what feels like an eternity. Taz-Mania employs some very simple motion comic-like cutscenes and text to tell its story that, while featuring bigger sprites and including a handful of cameos from the show, featured extremely limited animation and it feels like they could have been swapped out for in-game graphics and sprites like the game’s ending.

Enemies and Bosses:
Taz’s journey is obstructed by a handful of enemies, such as bats, frogs, crabs, and anthropomorphic stone heads and man-eating plants that try to take a bite out of you. Your most persistent and annoying obstacle (apart from the controls) will be the abundance of instant death traps and hazards such as pistols, fans, jets of flame, and bombs that dog you at every turn. In Iceland, you’ll also want to avoid landing in the freezing water as you’ll be frozen into a block of ice that will slowly drain your health unless you mash buttons to escape.

Fans of the cartoon may be slightly disappointed by how few characters carry over into the videogame and, yet, a handful of them do appear. In many levels, you’ll encounter a number of spear-wielding Bushrats, for example, and the first boss you battle is against Bull Gator and Axl in their trademark jeep. If you’ve played Sonic 2, it’s basically the same thing as the Emerald Hill Zone boss; simply hop over it to avoid being crushed and bounce or spin into the truck a few times and they’ll be done. Similarly, at the end of the Jungle level, you’ll encounter Francis X. Bushlad, a red-headed archer who simply shoots arrows at you in a predictable pattern and is easily bested by hopping on his head or spinning into him after jumping over his projectiles.

You’ll also battle against a giant, man-eating plant that the instruction manual encourages you to throw a bag of “No Weed” at but I’m pretty certain I defeated it by simply spinning into it without much trouble at all. In the Ruins stage, one of the many Taz statues will come to life and you’ll have to fight a stone doppelgänger of Taz, who has all the same moves and abilities as you and is thus ridiculously easy to take out by jumping over his spin attacks and hitting him with your own when he’s standing still.

The finale of the game sees you navigating through a stone maze of sorts and then walking, almost completely unopposed, to the giant egg that is Taz’s goal. The egg is, of course, guarded by a giant seabird that attacks you with its humongous wings and talons, both of which are surprisingly easy to avoid. When the bird’s head pops into frame, simply spin into it a few times and you’ll win the day…only to be denied your dinner as the egg hatches and the hatchling mistakes Taz for its mother and amusingly chases him back home.

Power-Ups and Bonuses:
One thing Taz is known for is his insatiable appetite and, as a result, he’ll automatically pick up and eat objects and enemies that he comes across. This, however, can be detrimental to your health as Taz will swallow bombs if you’re not careful and get blown up in classic Looney Tunes fashion.

However, the rest of the time, Taz will eat all kinds of food, such as roast chicken, fruit, and water bottles but he’ll also eat smaller enemies to refill his health; you can also eat Taz icons for an extra life and a Star for a brief period of invincibility, though I found very few of these in my playthrough. Furthermore, as mentioned, you can eat chilli peppers to spit fire by pressing A for a short time.

Additional Features:
Taz-Mania comes with three different difficulty settings, Practice, Easy, and Hard but you won’t get to experience the full game on Practice and will receive the greatest challenge on Hard. If the game is too easy for you (which, honestly, it probably won’t be given how frustrating and unfair some parts of the game are), you can activate a number of…somewhat useful cheats by holding A, B, and C on both controllers on the title screen and pressing Start. After that, you can pause the game at any time and press A to refill your health, B to become permanently invincible, and A, B, and C to skip to the next level. The invincibility isn’t actually that helpful, though, as you need to activate it every time you die or start a new level and certain hazards (such as ingesting bombs and landing in water) will still damage you and all the invincibility in the world won’t protect you from an instant death trap.

The Summary:
I really enjoyed the Master System version of Taz-Mania; it was bright, simple fun and I was excited to finally get my hands on the Mega Drive version after being won over by screenshots of the game for most of my life. Unfortunately, Taz-Mania definitely looks a lot better than it plays and shines much more in still shots than it does in motion. The sprites, especially Taz, are great, very fitting, and cartoony but are noticeably lacking in animation frames and just a sense of character. Taz is one of animation, and Looney Tunes’, most expressive and bombastic characters but he’s depressingly pedestrian here. The emphasis on platforming, blind jumps, and unfair deaths instead of fast-paced action and adventure in the style of Sonic also seems to have been a mistake and, for all its colourful, cartoony appeal, Taz-Mania was an underwhelming and disappointing experience for me, especially compared to the technically inferior Master System version.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

Were you a fan of Taz-Mania? How do you think it holds up today? Did the game’s controls, difficulty, and more finicky moments turn you off or is it one of your favourite 16-bit titles? Are you a fan of Taz and his cartoon? If not, which Looney Tunes character is your favourite and, by the same token, which Looney Tunes videogame is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Taz-Mania, feel free to leave a comment down below and be sure to check out my review of the follow-up!