Remember that scene in the movie "Stand By Me" where
the boys sit around a campfire pondering the mysteries of the ages and Teddy asks:
"If Pluto's a dog, then what the **** is Goofy?" The dopey pudge Vern replies
for all of us when he responds: "Yeah
that's weird. What is
Goofy?!" It's a compelling question, one that continues to resonate for us. One could
ask, for instance, the same of the Warner Brothers, Wakko and Yakko, and the Warner
Sister, Dot. What in the heck are the Animaniacs? Monkeys? Dogs? Mice?In the end, it
probably doesn't matter how you choose to describe these animated urchins in current
zoological parlance because no matter what you conclude, the fact remains that they have
done a lot to enrich our appreciation for what animation can do. And in the Animaniacs
television series, animation can do everything, especially make fun of all the things we
are often tempted to take too seriously: politics, media, food, art, literature, and even
classic movies and cartoons. All of this irreverent lampooning, coupled with rapid, witty
patter and paced with musical scores that aspire to Carl Stalling's best work for Warner
Bros., makes for great cartoons that appeal to a wide audience, but is it possible to
translate the Warners' energy to a PC game? Maybe, but Southpeak hasn't really pulled it
off with their "ANIMANIACS: A Gigantic Adventure" game.
Admittedly,
as far as side-scrolling adventure games for kids go, "ANIMANIACS: A Gigantic
Adventure" does the job. The gameplay is seamless and solid and the graphics are
pretty good, although the only graphics that are truly 3D are the power-ups and health
tokens in the shapes of slabs of birthday cake, ice-cream sundaes and hearts. Players get
to maneuver as all three Warners, each of whom spends plenty of time jumping around in
levels that increase in difficulty as players proceed through the game. Unfortunately, the
kids don't interact with one another and say very little, so the continuous, wry prattle
that makes the television series stand out is sorely missed here. Still, there's a slew of
pesky minions to squash, including Ralph the Security Guard and lots of snarling rats, yet
no one dies. A symphony of sound effects--bonks, whistles, and squeaks--accompanies the
action, but there is no musical score to complement it. In this sense, Southpeak has come
up with an entertainment that will probably engage kids for a while, but one that may be
too repetitious and quiet to keep their interest long enough to finish the game. A
six-year-old kid, for example, enjoyed watching his nine-year-old brother play the game,
but wasn't at all upset when his big brother tired of it and decided to load another title
to play. Neither did the younger lad seem too interested in playing the game himself once
it was his turn to man the terminal. Maybe these play-testers would've found the game more
engaging if they'd tried the local two-player or online multi-player options, both of
which add some surprises to the game and make it a little more dynamic.
In the end, I
was more interested in playing the game than my young cohorts because I wanted to see what
kind of story unfolded as the game progressed. Unfortunately, the only story in the game
is a familiar tale from the series repeated in the opening movie: Thaddeus J. Plotz tries
to send the Warners away. Crafty as these three are, they escape and end up on an ocean
liner throughout which Plotz has scattered their movies and awards. The game follows the
Warners as they try to retrieve their gewgaws from various rooms on the ship. Nothing else
really develops from this premise. Southpeak seems to have attempted some sort of tie-in
with "Titanic" by subtitling it "A side splitting scroller of titanic
proportions!" and creating a logo that incorporates the rivets-and-steel look of the
doomed ship itself. While perhaps an attempt to indulge the same kind of ironic resonance
that characterizes the animated series, Southpeak only succeeds in offering the game in
dated theme and packaging. Adding to the dated feel of the game is the fact that Animaniacs
has been out of production and in syndication for a couple of years now. While these
cartoons are still funny, they are so in nostalgic way. So even though "ANIMANIACS: A
Gigantic Adventure" is a dependable, working side-scrolling adventure game, Southpeak
has missed the boat in terms of creating an innovative and compelling gaming experience
with what could be a great subject.
--Greg Matthews