Taz in Escape From Mars (Game Gear)

Prediction

Ok, so our last attempt at a Looney Tunes game didn’t go so well. But as I mentioned there, Taz is my favorite Looney Tunes character, so I have to at least give him a chance. It’s a Game Gear game, so I know it’s going to be a bit lower on quality anyways. Maybe it will be fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, it looks like Marvin is at it again. Apparently he got the brilliant idea to capture Taz and throw him into a Martian zoo. Obviously, Taz quickly escapes and sets off to find his way home. A simple enough plot, I just hope it’s not as bad as The Marvin Missions was.

Gameplay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honestly, I don’t know where to start criticizing this game first, so let’s just start with the controls. I spent about 10 minutes in the first 3 screens lengths of the game because I simply couldn’t figure out what to do. There’s a giant wall I can’t jump over and pipes I can’t jump high enough to jump through. If I had the manual, it probably would have explained what to do. But without it I’m completely lost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, it took me 10 minutes before I figured out that if I make Taz jump, then hit the walls while spinning, he’ll bounce up and back, allowing him to climb walls he can’t jump over. I’ve played a lot of games, and things like that are usually exploits or glitches, not main features. Already we’re off to a rough start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taz admittedly does feel near invincible when he’s spinning, one of the games only good features. But he can still be hurt by projectile attacks. That’s fine, you just jump over them… except you can’t when seemingly half the level is a maze just barely big enough to move through. There’s no way to dodge in these areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another kind of good feature is that there are a variety of things to pick up that Taz will eat. Things like the chicken will restore his health, while things like the bomb with hurt him. But there’s also an annoying cupcake with a stick of dynamite in it. The graphics on the game gear aren’t good enough to know it’s dynamite! I thought it was a regular candle and I couldn’t figure out why I was getting hurt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s also a few power ups. If Taz eats a canister of gasoline, he can shoot fireballs. Or there’s the helicopter hat to help him reach high places. These are fun and add variety to the game, but they override his spin attack until they’re depleted, which I found more annoying than fun. I want to attack but instead he helicopters away with his stupid hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow I managed to make it to the first boss, Marvin’s pet dog. Just like in The Marvin Missions, it doesn’t have a health bar or anything to indicate damage. I couldn’t figure out what to do. The game up to this part was pretty easy, I hadn’t died a single time, but I lost all but my last life before I figured out what to do to fight him. “Figure out” here meaning I looked it up online. I actually managed to hit him properly before looking at the guide, but I didn’t know it because the animation was too similar to his normal animations. Why can’t they figure out how to make a good boss fight?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next area is some kind of cloud land. I didn’t see much of it before my game over, but I saw enough to know this. Floating platforms over an instant death pit. No thank you. In a way I’m glad I ran out of lives already.

how about no!

 

Verdict

Why must they ruin my favorite things? I love Taz, but they had to make this horrible game with him that I don’t even want to look at. Just make a good game with Taz in it. Is that so much to ask? I mean really, they couldn’t even manage to keep the health bar on the top layer of graphics. How do you screw up the health bar?

Price – $6.00

Most game gear games are cheap, simply no love for the game gear. But in this case I think I overpaid

Fun Rating – 3 / 10

I want so much to like it, I really so. But I can’t. Maybe the genesis version was better, but this one isn’t great.

Play Again? – Maybe, but probably not

Because it’s Taz, I might give it another try at some point. But for any other character this would be a definite no, never play again.

Total Deaths – 3 Deaths

Other than the boss, Taz felt near invincible, and there are a lot of healing items scattered around. It’s one of the only things it felt they did right. But that boss fight was unfair and confusing.

we’ll be with you soon in heaven…

 

I hope you enjoyed this 30 Minute Review of Taz in Escape from Mars. If you did, like and follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Also leave your comments, suggestions, and recommendations. If you’re feeling real generous, you can even Donate to help me keep the site going. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next time.