DURING THE NINETIES, IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY CUTE CHARACTER HOPPED INTO A PLATFORM GAME. POPULAR CARTOONS PROVIDED A RICH SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR DEVELOPERS LOOKING TO LEAP ONTO THE NEXT BIG THING AND IN 1993, THE TINY TOONS SPRANG INTO ACTION WITH AN EXCELLENT MEGA DRIVE PLATFORMER

WORD BY FAITH JOHNSON

BUSTER BUNNY

GOGO DODO

» [Mega Drive] Stop moving and Buster becomes so bored that he falls asleep.

» [Mega Drive] Buster takes some damage from a snapping crocodile in the lake area.

Tiny Toon Adventures was a Warner Bros cartoon that started in 1990 and ran for several seasons. During its run, Konami held the licence to make games based on the series and one of its better offerings was Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure for Sega’s Mega Drive. Many of the enemies, locations and additional characters are based on actual episodes or scenes from the series and there are several Easter eggs for fans of the cartoon to spot.

The story surrounds the search for secret treasure described on an old map discovered while the Toons are cleaning ACME University. The show’s villain, Max Montana, steals the map and hunts the treasure for himself. Buster decides to go after Max and heads to the strange island. In the meantime, Max has also kidnapped Buster’s friends and uses mind control to turn them into his henchmen. To round out the classic platforming story, once Buster rescues each friend and takes the treasure for himself Max kidnaps Buster’s girlfriend Babs Bunny. He then holds her ransom which sets up the final showdown in his lair.

RODERICK RAT

PLUCKY DUCK

Buster navigates the treasure island via a world map with stars representing each stage. He starts on a beach, then heads into a woodland before entering a volcano. Towards the end, players visit a pirate ship, a snowtopped mountain and Max’s industrial factory. There are 39 stages in total including eight boss battles, six secret stages and six bonus rounds. To finish the game, only the main 27 stages and boss battles need to be beaten. However, there are many extra lives to be found in the secret stages and bonus rounds that are needed for the difficult final stage where extra continues can no longer be used.

The overall gameplay is what any gamer familiar with Nineties platformers would expect. Enemies come in several shapes and sizes with each one requiring a single hit to defeat. Some fly in the air, others throw projectiles, but all take one hit point from Buster’s life gauge on contact. Smaller spikes and lava pits also deal one damage to Buster, while the larger spike pits cause instant death. Most stages have moving platforms, springs and conveyor belts in some form or another. Some of the stages have a water theme that requires Buster to swim against a current and the snow on later levels becomes slippery as he picks up speed.