Taz-Mania

for Mega Drive

A cartoon licenced game not made by Ocean… so there is hope that this one turns out to be semi-decent. Until you actually try it and have your hopes let down. No, shattered. And the remains then stomped into the ground, set on fire and then dynamited for good measure.

Set on a highly fictionalised version of the Australian island of Tasmania, in some alternate universe or at least in an unspecified age, a partially clothed family of Tasmanian Devils discusses meal plans. Prehistoric bird eggs sounds nice, so Junior sets out to find some. Not an easy task.

And that's putting it mildly still. The platformer's good graphics are quickly forgotten between the very sluggish movement, the extremely unresponsive controls and the way too strongly articulated inertia. All that combined with a shoddy level design which relies almost exclusively on making exact jumps to avoid ever-present quicksand, spikes or geysers.

The foundation of a decent, albeit unoriginal game would have been there. Keeping in the cartoony theme, special powers can be gained through eating various items. Even enemies can be eaten if the timing is right (though it's not really fun to try because… well, you know). Other objects can be used in other ways to clear the way (and produce funny animations if eaten). Rumor has it that later levels are quite varied in their graphical nature, taking place in different settings reflecting the actual island's varied flora and fauna.

However, you see, none of this matters if it's hardly possible, or at least no fun at all, to try and get there. The Mega Drive's iconic character was Sonic. His specialty was running super fast. Compare that to this yawner trotting across the screen at what cannot even be described as a brisk pace. Avoid, no matter what contemporary reviewers may have said!