After playing Mario is Missing last week, it got me thinking about other educational games. It’s hard to make an educational game that is actually still fun, but there are a few games that have elevated themselves above the rest. Games like the Carmen Sandiego series still have a decent following, even if in reputation only. Then the Mavis Beacon typing games I think taught me typing better than the teacher did. And who doesn’t love a game of Oregon Trail. Though that last one is more of a “how will my friends die?” game than a learning game. While those games are all great, I thought I’d play one that seemed to be pre-installed on all the computers at my school, Math Blaster.

I have always loved the Math Blaster series, partly because it is so much more action oriented than many other educational games. You typically play as Blasternaut, a green alien astronaut with a blaster gun and a jet pack. Each game has you going on an adventure flying around space and shooting up bad guys using math usually to identify your targets. But before I start rambling on about the series, why don’t we just jump into it and start learning some math!

Gameplay

The game starts with Blasternaut behind the controls of his ship. All the repairs have been made, but it seems we’re still out of fuel. Luckily, the Trash Alien’s ship left behind a whole load of garbage and that just so happens to be what our ship runs on. But we need to pick the right fuel for the job. To do this, a math problem is displayed on the dashboard. Solve the math problem, and then blast the corresponding piece of garbage to convert it into fuel.

The garbage isn’t the only thing floating around out there in space. It seems that Trash Alien wasn’t working alone, and some of his friends might just come by to make Blasternaut’s life difficult. Whenever you see one of their ships in front of you, it would be best to blast them into space dust before they start shooting at you themselves.

Fill up the fuel tank, and we can take off after that Trash Alien, but not before one last bonus round. Now, instead of blasting garbage, you seem to be flying directly through an asteroid field blasting away as many space rocks as you can. Thankfully, there’s no danger to your ship since this is only a bonus round.

Don’t take too long in the asteroid field, we still have to rescue Spot, remember. Now that this ship is fully fueled, we managed to track the Yellow Three Eyed Trash Alien right back to his home planet. Lucky us, we were even close enough behind him to fly right into his secret base before the door closed behind him.

Inside, Blasternaut finds himself trapped in a weird cave full of electrical defense grids. On either side of the openings there is a label with either a number or an equation. If you want to get through the defenses, you’ll have to become a number which falls between the two numbers shown on the labels.

But how do you change your number? Well, Blasternaut has to collect drops of water that drip down from the stalactites in the ceiling. Each drop has a number in it that will either be added or subtracted from Blasternaut’s current number. Be careful, because sometimes lava will be dripping down from the ceiling instead of water, and no one wants a face full of lava when they’re expecting some nice refreshing water.

The cave is also full of a handful of wild beasts just waiting to tear into our hero. Use your trusty blaster gun to quickly dispose of them before they can cause you any damage. Keep climbing up and up and eventually you’ll make it to the planet’s surface, just in time to catch the Trash Alien.

With Blasternaut hot on his tail, the Trash Alien jumps into his ship and tries to escape with Spot. You’ll have to fly right up into the ship to get him back. But how will you know which of the four tubes actually leads into the ship? Simple, just solve the math problem and you’ll know which one leads to saving spot!

Knowing which tube is the right one is only half the problem. There’s so much trash flying around on the planet’s surface that you’ll have a tough time even reaching the ship. It’s a good thing you have your trusty blaster to clear some of it away. But the trash isn’t the only thing to worry about as you make your way up into the ship. The Trash Alien will be raining fire down on top of you in a desperate attempt to slow you down.

But it will take more than that to stop Blasternaut from rescuing Spot. We’re already traveled all this way and we’re not leaving without him. So with one final push, Blasternaut forces the Yellow Three Eyed Trash Alien to leave his ship and fly off in defeat. Spot is once again safe, and the Trash Alien’s Ship will serve as some lovely celebratory pyrotechnics!

Verdict

Gameplay – 8 / 10

I actually really like the gameplay in the Math Blaster Series. It is constantly mixing it up, but always keeps things much more action oriented than most other educational games. It’s not without its flaws though. The first stage in particular becomes slightly frustrating with a controller because it was so obviously meant to be played on the computer with a mouse. This leaves the cross hairs just a little too slow for what you’re trying to do, but just slightly. They actually did a good job programming both the speed and responsiveness of the crosshairs to make it work as best they could with the D-pad. The only other complaint is that Blasternaut is somewhat difficult to control when using his jetpack, he just doesn’t have the right weight to him you would expect.

Graphics – 8 / 10

It’s not a very graphically intense game, but everything was handled very well I think. The first stage in particular has a lot of little details that I picked up on. Things like Blasternaut turning the controls alone with you when you’re moving the cross hairs, and his thumb pressing the button every time you fire. Then those asteroids looked almost three dimensional.

Audio – 8 / 10

I’m giving this one a lot of credit simply for that fully voiced introduction. Such a thing on the SNES is practically unheard of. Beyond that, the music and sound effects were quite enjoyable. It did lose a point though because the sound of the score tallying after the stage is rather loud and annoying.

Story – 7 / 10

It’s a very simple story, your buddy was randomly kidnapped and it’s up to you to save them. However, every section reinforced the idea that you are hot on the trail of the kidnapper. You were actually chasing him the whole way rather than him just sitting at the end waiting for you.

Total Playtime – 0h 30m

It’s a very short game, they knew you couldn’t get kids to sit still much longer than a half hour at a time. But with all the different difficulty settings as well as the fact that so many things are randomly generated, it actually has a lot of replay value.

Total Deaths – 4 Deaths

Yes, I died a few times, but this game handles it so wonderfully. You’re not punished and sent all the way back to the beginning like in so many other games. Instead, you just get right back up from where you landed and continue on your adventure as if nothing happened. It’s enough for you to stay aware of what you’re doing, but it’s gentle enough to keep you playing a game you would never tolerate any back tracking from.

Overall Score – 8 / 10

Making an educational game and having it still be fun is a difficult balancing act, but Math Blaster manages to pull it off. Honestly, it gets so many things right that I can’t even knock it for also being educational. The fast paced, action oriented gameplay keeps you on your toes the whole time. Pair that with good graphics as well as some impressive audio for the time and you are left with a genuinely fun game. The short length is really the only thing I can fault the game on, but with 12 difficulty settings ranging from simple addition right up to double digit multiplication, there is a lot of replay value for a wide range of ages. So if for some reason you’ve never played Math Blaster, why don’t you look past those educational warning labels for once and give it a try.

This counts as a high school diploma, right?

I hope you enjoyed Math Blaster: Episode One. 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.

I can’t believe it’s been a year already since I started the site. I’ve put a lot more work into it than I thought I ever would, and I’m actually quite happy with how everything is evolving. I know I’m not the greatest writer, but I hope it comes across at least as entertaining to read. Beyond the site itself, I’m happy to finally be able to dedicate time to games I missed or just never finished as a child. With that in mind, I thought I should go big for the site’s one year anniversary and play a true classic, Super Mario World for the SNES.

The game itself really needs no introduction. It is the game that practically defined the entire Super Nintendo Generation, as well as being the template that most future Mario games have been based on. It’s amazing to me that I’ve gone this long in my life without playing this game to completion. However, if you’ve been following closely, you’ll already know it’s because I never had a SNES growing up. My parents bought me the Genesis instead. Even without owning the game, I wasn’t completely unaware of how ground breaking a title it really was. On rare occasion I managed to play it at a friend’s house while we hung out together, which left a lasting impression on me to this day. But you can never complete the whole game that way, only get enough of a taste to know you want more. Those are exactly the games I started this site to play, the ones that got away.  So to commemorate the site’s one year anniversary, I hope to do the game justice as I play and review Super Mario World for the SNES! Let’s-a Go!!

Gameplay

Welcome to Dinosaur Island, home of the Yoshis and setting for our grand adventure in Super Mario World. It might not technically be the mushroom kingdom, but that doesn’t seem to stop Princess Peach from being kidnapped by Bowser. Not only that, but Bowser managed to kidnap the entire Yoshi population as well. It looks like a lot of people are counting on Mario to once again save the day.

Before even starting a level, you just have to take in the world map. While technically just a hub for the rest of the levels, there is still a lot of detail and fun thrown into the map itself. I have always especially loved how the landscape breaths and changes as you clear levels. Mountains will change in size, bridges will be built, and even whole new branching paths form if you manage to find secret exits to stages.

Speaking of secrets and branching paths, following the left path from the start of the game will bring you up to the Yellow Switch Palace, which contains one of several colored switches hidden throughout Dinosaur Island. What does it do exactly? Well, scattered throughout the levels are multi colored outlines of blocks. Activating the corresponding switch will fill those blocks in, providing helpful platforms, or even access to more hidden areas. So do your best to find all of them.

Finally getting into the gameplay itself and you’ll see it is a huge improvement over previous Mario titles. As would be expected of Mario’s arrival on the Super Nintendo, the graphics have been vastly improved, elevating Mario to his now iconic look. That’s not all that has improved, Mario managed to learn a few new tricks along the way. In addition to his usual running and jumping, he also learned a spinning jump which allows him to finally break bricks below himself as well as above. You’ll also notice that he now has the ability to hold onto an additional power-up item for use at a later time, adding a bit of convenience and strategy to collecting power-ups.

The enemies have evolved quite a bit after the conversion as well. The Koopas for example now walk upright instead of on all fours like in previous games, a trait that will stay with them for the rest of the series. Bullet Bill is also more than eager to greet you in the first stages and show off how much he has grown between games, now filling up half the screen on his own and adopting the new name of Banzai Bill.

Death Count: 1

There are also some newcomers to the series such as the purple dinosaurs name Rex. These guys take 2 hits each to kill, and for the life of me I can’t manage to play the game without them killing me at least once. I know they’re there and I know how to kill them, but still they kill me at least once. They’re just like that first goomba in the original Mario for me.

Dinosaur Island is also home to a rather large family of Monty Moles. These furry little moles will burrow up out of the ground all around Mario and try to overpower him with their sheer numbers. Dispite the infestation, it would seem the whole Chargin’ Chucks football team is also on the island for some off season training, and they see Mario are the perfect training partner. These guys are really tough to kill thanks to all their padding, and it doesn’t help that, as their name suggests, they will regularly charge straight at you. Curiously though, they have a tendency to throw baseballs at you, despite very clearly being football players.

Then of course, there is my favorite addition to the whole series, Yoshi. This adorable green dinosaur is the tank of Mario’s arsenal, offering up a deadly offensive attack as well as a substantial strategic defense. For an attack, Yoshi is capable of grabbing most enemies with his long tongue and swallowing them whole, clearing a safe passage for your journey. Should any enemies actually manage to attack Yoshi, he is thankfully indestructible. The damage will still dismount Mario, and with no rider Yoshi will run blindly forward, often into bottomless pits. However, Mario himself takes no damage from the attack, and you’re fully capable of remounting Yoshi if you get to him before he runs away. All of these combined make Yoshi an indispensable companion for your adventure.

Unfortunately, Yoshi is not allowed to assist you inside the castles, so you’ll have to leave him at the door. It’s a shame, but Yoshi wouldn’t be much help inside the castles anyway. Not with all the new traps Bowser has thought up. It would seem the Koopas have gone through some intense training between games, because they’ll now climb around on chain link fences as they try to stop Mario. Mario will have to use their own defenses against them as he too climbs across the fences over the lava.

That’s not all that’s in store for Mario. If you thought the Thwomps were bad, you just have to wait for the giant wooden columns coming from the ceiling this time around. You wouldn’t want to be flattened under one of those when they finally come down!

Survive the challenges of the castle, and it’s time to face off against the first Koopaling, Iggy Koopa. Unlike previous titles, where a few attacks were enough to kill the boss, this time around you have to actually knock Iggy into the lava pits to kill him. With the platform rocking back and forth, that’s easier said than done. He’s also not going to just stand there and take the abuse either. No, Iggy will regularly be throwing giant fire balls at our hero. Don’t give up Mario, so many people depend on you!

Knock Iggy into the Lava and you’ve won, as well as managed to rescue a yellow Yoshi. He’s still trapped in an egg, but I’m sure we can fix that. But first, we need to destroy this castle of evil. Set some dynamite, press the plunger, and just like that Mario has yet another new occupation in demolition. With that, we’re done here on Yoshi’s Island and we’re off to Donut Land!

It is here in the first stages of Donut Land that you are finally introduced to perhaps Super Mario World’s most iconic power-up, the Cape Feather which transforms Mario into Cape Mario. With this power up, Mario is capable of jumping high up into the air like a super hero after getting a good running start. Not just that, but he can use the cape to glide through the air with ease. In fact, with practice, it’s possible to stay in the air for entire stages without ever touching the ground again.

Donut Land also happens to contain my favorite secret area of the game. There is a secret exit to the Ghost House in the top left area of Donut Land. To access it, you need to start the level as Cape Mario, pick up some speed, and super jump to a secret area directly above your starting position. This will bring you to the secret exit and unlock the Top Secret Area.

What’s so special about the Top Secret Area? Only everything! This area is a simple single screen with five ?-Blocks in it. Two of them have fire flowers, the other two have cape feathers, and there is a Yoshi egg in the center. This lets you prep yourself however you want for any of the upcoming levels. Just take a quick trip back and get the power-ups you need. But more importantly, it offers you infinite lives thanks to the Yoshi egg. Any time you find a Yoshi egg while already riding a Yoshi, the egg will produce a 1-Up mushroom instead. With this area, you can just keep hatching 1-Ups for as long as you want without any enemy threat. It takes a little time to fill up your lives, but it’s worth it. I might be on a pretty good streak so far, but I know I’ll need as many lives as I can get for the levels ahead.

Of course, getting to 99 lives might seems unnecessary with how overpowered the Cape Feather really is. The stage Donut Plains 3 for example is supposed to be a platforming challenge with its lack of stable ground to stand on. But thanks to the cape, you can literally fly right over the entire level. After the first good running start, I honestly didn’t even see most of the level. I didn’t even see the goal line I was flying so high. It really does feel like cheating, but it’s just so easy to do.

Thankfully, the Castles don’t allow such blatant cheating. This time around, it’s all about timing as you avoid being flattened into a Mario pancake. While I’m not sure how much the little baby Thwomps would actually hurt in real life, their grown counterparts are just waiting around the corner. If you can make it past all the Ball ‘n’ Chains that is.

Death Count: 3

The Thwomps aren’t the only thing you’ll have to worry about in this Castle though. You’ll also have to avoid whole sections of the walls shifting in an attempt to flatten you. As much as you’d like to simply avoid them, these shifting walls also provide your only footing as you try to climb to the top of the Castle. Of course, you also can’t forget the ever present Dry Bones wandering around.

Death Count: 4

If you can manage to make it through the castle, you’ll now have to face off against Morton Koopa Jr. Morton puts up a rather interesting fight. You’ll have to jump on his head several times to defeat him, but he makes that hard to do when he insists on standing on the ceiling. His strategy is actually the same as your own, he wants to jump on your head. So watch out for falling Koopas and attack before he can run away. While you might not be able to attack him on the ceiling, his attack pattern is very easy to predict, simply run under him to make him drop, which makes him a rather easy target once he’s back on the ground.

With another Castle cleared, we’ve managed to rescue another Yoshi, but still no sign of Princess Peach. We’ll have to press on forward into the Vanilla Dome in search of her. But before that, it’s once again time to destroy the castle. We wouldn’t want the Koopalings to use it to plan a counter attack. Unfortunately Mario used up all his dynamite back on the first Castle. He’ll just have to stomp this one into dust himself.

Death Count: 8

Now deep underground, Mario can no longer abuse the power of the Cape Feather. The vibrant green open landscapes of the previous levels have been temporarily replaced with confining, maze like caves. You would think that would make this area better suited for the Fire Flower, but you would be wrong. The Fire Flower may be powerful against most enemies, but it proves useless against the numerous Buzzy Beetles and their Red Spike variant.

Death Count: 13

The confined spaces also make Chargin’ Chuck more deadly than ever. You’ll have to remain ever vigilant if you don’t want them to trample right over you. It’s not all bad though. The Vanilla Dome also features some amazing crystal blue lakes full of adorable fish. Just remember that these fish don’t like it when you try to pet them. We learned that the hard way.

Death Count: 15

With me controlling Mario, it’s really no surprise to see so many ghosts filling the only house in the area. I’m just not very good at keeping Mario alive. At least all the Boos seem to be having fun together as they play follow the leader. Or maybe it’s ring around the rosie. The Big Boos however seem less than happy at Mario’s arrival, I have no idea why. I also have no idea what the heck these green blobs are supposed to be. Whatever they are, they don’t like me either.

Death Count: 17

In fact, it feels like no one want to be friends with Mario as even the boiling lava gains consciousness with the sole purpose of murdering our hero plumber. Though I have a feeling it is somehow my fault and I just don’t know it. I mean, just look at Mario’s raft. It’s clearly made from the skulls of the fallen. Whether they be fallen enemies or one of the many Mario clones to already die on this journey is unclear. But either case would give them ample reason to want revenge.

Death Count: 25

With so much death already haunting Mario, I’m somewhat frightened to even enter the next castle. Those fears prove to be well founded as the death count quickly rises with the introduction of the Magikoopa. Armed with powerful magic as well as the ability to teleport around the castle, they prove almost too much for Mario.

Death Count: 38

Even when Mario does manages to rush past these new foes, the legions of undead Dry Bones still block the path. Combined with the moving stone slabs, I quickly lose my cool and make the same stupid mistakes over and over again, for which Mario ends up suffering. It’s sad really, all those Mario clones gone in an instant.

Death Count: 42

Pressing forward over the bodies of the fallen, we finally manage to make it to Lemmy Koopa’s Lair. Having gained wisdom from the previous Koopalings, Lemmy goes for a much more defensive approach to defeating Mario. He’ll hide in a row of warp pipes, only occasionally emerging to attack. As an added precaution, Lemmy has also created two decoys to pop up with him to distract Mario. But such tactics won’t work forever, and before long Lemmy is launched clear through the pipes into the lava below.

With Lemmy’s defenses broken, it’s time to destroy his castle. I hate it so much, and apparently so does Mario as he demolishes it with his giant mallet. Our quest is indeed getting much harder. And now I know that hidden somewhere in the previous areas are two of the other switches. Not that it does me much good. I’m pressing forward to save Princess Peach and there’s no time to be sidetracked!

Outside the dome, we find ourselves in one of the shorter areas of the island here on Cheese Bridge. With only two areas to explore before the Castle, this should be a breeze. But I know better than to start thinking that way. The description says bridge, but there’s really no bridge to speak of. Instead you’ll be gliding through the air on the scrolling platforms, all the while avoiding the log cutting Buzz Saws so recklessly placed on the same tracks.

Thankfully, we found a nice pair of magic wings to help Yoshi fly way up into the sky. But flight alone isn’t enough to keep Mario out of danger. For in the Mario universe, floating block technology extends high up into the reaches of space. And where there are floating blocks, there are creatures trying to claim them as their own. In this case a rather large infestation of black Fuzzies. You’ll have your work set out for you just trying to avoid all of them as you navigate the high reaches of space atop your winged Yoshi!

Death Count: 45

I’d like to say the wings guided us to safety on the other side of the bridge, but that would be a lie. While there is once again some solid ground to stand on, that ground just so happens to be erupting into flames thanks to a new enemy, the Sumo Brothers. A variant to the classic Hammer Brothers, this new enemy will stomp the ground with such force that lighting is created which then ignites the ground below them.

By some miracle we manage to make it to Ludwig von Koopa’s castle. After the marathon of deaths experience back at Lemmy’s castle, I’m less than excited to be charging into another one so soon. Thankfully, it’s not quite as hard as the last castle, in my opinion anyway. The castle starts in a narrow passage with a gauntlet of Ball ‘n’ Chains to run past. Then you’ll have to be quick as you make your way over the lava pits. Unless you WANT the spiked ceiling to crush you.

Death Count: 47

Thankfully, there’s a handy toggle switch about half way through that will send it right back up where it came from. Of course, this leaves you as climbing partners with a room full of Koopas as you make your way up the chain link fences. Dodge them or knock them off, either way you have to reach the top if you want to face off against Ludwig!

Death Count: 48

With Lemmy’s ultimate defense having been defeated, Ludwig goes for a full assault offensive approach as he shoots fireball after fireball at Mario. The tactic works at first, making it very difficult to even get near him. However, since he’s otherwise motionless while attacking, he has set himself up as a sitting duck. Well, turtle as the case may be. This motionless, repetitive attack pattern ends up being his undoing as Mario stomps him like the other Koopalings before him.

Ludwig von Koopa will torment us no more, and so it’s time to destroy his castle as well. Unfortunately there seems to have been a miscalculation, or something flammable in the basement that was overlooked. Instead of blowing up and crumbling to the ground, Ludwig’s castle instead shoots into the air like a rocket, eventually crashing into the hill off in the distance. Quite to Mario’s surprise I might add. In either case, the castle is destroyed, and we’re off to the Forest of Illusion, that doesn’t sound good for us!

This forest is a literal maze just waiting to force Mario to lose his way. Simply clearing the stages won’t be enough here, you’ll have to find secret exits if you want to make any real progress. Otherwise you’ll simply be wandering around in circles forever.

Death Count: 53

While the Forest of Illusion may be a death trap to all who enter it. It is also the happy home to the lovable new addition to the Mario series, the Wiggler enemies. Resembling real world caterpillars, the Wigglers are actually quite peaceful creatures. That all changes however if you jump on them, knocking off the flower that grows on their forehead. Without this flower they will become red with rage and viciously attack. Furthermore, they’re nearly indestructible, being immune to nearly all forms of attack other than tossed items or being eaten by Yoshi. Perhaps they’re an enemy better left alone.

But enough with the nature watch, we need to find some secrets here in the forest, and find them we shall. Starting with this not so hidden ?-Block with a P-Balloon hidden inside. Thanks to the power of this odd power-up, Mario himself will swell up like a balloon, allowing him to float through the air with ease. With this power, we can drift along until we happen upon the first lock and key I’ve managed to use so far, and the first secret exit discovered here in the forest.

Death Count: 59

Though if I knew where that secret led, maybe I wouldn’t have been so eager to find it, as now we’ve stumbled upon the Ghost House hidden away in the forest. And what a densely populated Ghost House it is. With how poor of a player I am, I can’t help but feel responsible for filling this house with Boos out for vengeance. Not to mention the literal walls of Eeries, reminding me of all the Yoshi’s I’ve lost or sacrificed during this journey.

Death Count: 61

If it’s any consolation, it’s very likely that Mario will be sleeping with the fishes very soon, and perhaps quite literally. Mario does have an amazingly large lung capacity. He could easily lay down right next to those Rip Van Fish and sleep right next to them. Of course, they don’t like to be disturbed, and Mario isn’t exactly great at stealth. Should Mario wake them from their slumber, they will understandably chase him down and try to kill him. That’s of course assuming the Urchin’s don’t kill him first along the way.

Death Count: 65

Naturally, Mario and I become hopelessly lost within the woods. There has to be a secret exit somewhere, and I have a feeling it’s in the Forest of Illusion 3 stage at the bottom right side of the map. There are quite a few spots where such an exit might be hidden, but I’m convinced it’s somewhere in this mess of ?-Blocks scattered among the trees. Hitting all the different blocks however is easier said than done with all these Galoombas and Bob-ombs swarming around them.

Unfortunately, all those Mario deaths were in vain, because there was no secret hidden in those blocks. But I was at least partially right, there is a secret exit in this level, just not right there. Instead, it’s hidden in one of the warp pipes right before the goal line. Inside is a key and keyhole which will finally open up a path out of this forest and straight to the front gate of Roy Koopa’s castle.

Death Count: 76

As we enter yet another castle, the death toll once again skyrockets. To be clear, Roy’s Castle is not a difficult castle on a technical level, but it has a large emphasis on patience, a quality I simply do not possess. As such, the Snake Blocks providing Mario’s only solid footing may as well have just killed me themselves. Whether I be plunging off the side into the fiery lava, or impaling myself on the spikes, my lack of patience with the slow moving platform caused the death of many a Mario.

Death Count: 79

Even when I can hold it together long enough to make it past the Snake Blocks, my impatience still gets the better of me. For example, there’s my insistence of jumping on the Switch Block at the start of the bridge. Ignoring the switch would make things easier, because it would prevent one of the Bowser Statues from falling into my path. But I simply can’t resist the allure of the Switch Block.

Death Count: 82

Things just get worse when I’m faced with the series of Stretch Blocks following the bridge. I want so much to rush, but that more often than not just causes me to fall to my death. If I don’t miss the landing entirely, then more than likely my timing is off and I wind up jumping straight into one of the Lava Bubbles or even the fireballs shot from the Bower statues.

Eventually, I do actually make it to Roy Koopa’s lair, and it looks like he’s going to be taking a page out of Morton’s book and go with the whole “Climb up to the ceiling” plan of attack. He does put his own twist on the plan though by forcing the outer walls to close in on you as the fight goes on, reducing the amount of room available to dodge his attacks. Unfortunately for Roy, the lack of room doesn’t make his attack pattern any less predictable. Before long, Roy’s plan falls apart just as Morton’s did before him and we are one step closer to rescuing princess peach.

Before we leave, we better destroy this castle just like all the others. After the fiasco that was the castle rocket last time, we’re going to have to be extra careful this time to makes sure everything goes according to plan. We’re looking for precision demolition here, Mario. Unfortunately, it looks like we either got a wire crossed somewhere, or that bomb was a dud. With a blatant disregard to job site safety, Mario rushes up to the bomb himself to investigate, and predictably it blows up in his face. When will you ever learn? But look at the bright side, we’re heading to the delicious Chocolate Island next.

What more dangers wait ahead for Mario? How many more times can he possibly die? You’ll just have to keep reading in Part 2 to find out!

Total Deaths So Far – 82 Deaths

I’m about ready to give up on Looney Tunes themed games. The ones I’ve tried so far have been terrible. I have a few others, but I know them and they aren’t much better. Maybe the characters are just too old, too out of style. Video games weren’t even around when they came out. No, we need to move on to the younger generation, my generation, the ones that know what games are all about. I speak of course of the amazing Tiny Toon Adventures!

For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, Tiny Toon Adventures (AKA Tiny Toons) was a joint project between Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg’s very own Amblin Entertainment. It first aired in September of 1990, the show followed quite literally a new generation of cartoon characters as they attended school and learned how to be funny. The main characters were mostly analogues for the various famous Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, many of whom actually appeared as the teachers in the school they attended. The show only lasted 3 seasons, which is a huge shame. It was and still is one of my favorite shows. Even with the relatively short life of the show, I consider it to be one of the shows that shaped my childhood.

There were actually quite a few games made with the Tiny Toons license. There were a good handful of games for the Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Genesis. Then another whole handful made for the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and right up to the Gameboy Advance. There were even games made for the Playstation and Playstation 2 long after the show had ended. With so many to choose from, it was hard to pick just one, but I narrowed it down and decided to try Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! for the SNES. It’s an action platformer created by Konami, who were at the top of their game at the time. It would seem every great cartoon game of the time was made by either Konami or Capcom, and I can only imagine this will live up to that high standard. So without any further delay, let’s jump right into this game and see if this new generation can bring some credibility back to the Looney Tunes name.

Gameplay

The game starts with Buster and Babs introducing the game and setting the basic groundwork for the first stage. Just like in most of the cartoons, we start out at their school, Acme Looniversity. Buster has to run because his classes are starting, and Babs warns that some animals have escaped and are causing trouble in the school. It looks like we’ll have to be careful as we make our way to class.

We control Buster as he makes his way through the school, and just as Babs warned, there are a variety of different animals running around loose in the school. Though really, what makes one animal a main character and the other just a wild animal? Anyway, the most common of these animals are rats with remind me of Roderick Rat, a reoccurring character from the rival school of Perfecto Prep. Of course, Buster isn’t helpless in his journey, but his controls are definitely going to take some getting used to. For starters, his attack is, as best I can describe it, a drop kick with a back flip. It’s very effective, but it’s such an awkward attack style that it’s a bit hard to get comfortable with.

Buster’s other ability is his dash, which in full cartoon fashion allows him to run straight up walls. This is another very effective ability, but again one that is so foreign of a concept that I often found myself underutilizing its potential.

Death Count: 1

Halfway through the level, there is a brief mini boss fight against Arnold the Pit Bull, acting as a security guard in what looks like the art department. You’ll need to defeat him to retrieve the keys to the door on the far end if you want to escape. He’s not just going to stand around and take a beating though. Being the meathead that he is, he’ll charge straight at you as soon as he sees you. But after a few drop kicks, he’ll be down for the count and give up his keys.

This brings us to the school’s cafeteria where Hamton warns us of the trouble Dizzy Devil is causing. Always hungry and naturally quite stupid, Dizzy is destroying the entire kitchen in an attempt to get full his belly. Left unchecked, there won’t be any food left for anyone else to eat. It’s up to Buster to stop him.

Death Count: 3

Inside the kitchen is one of the most unique boss battles I think I’ve ever seen. Dizzy isn’t evil, he’s just hungry, and so we don’t want to hurt him. Instead, we just want to help fill him up before he destroys everything. To do this, we need to stand on a platform below him and bump the food from below so it flies up into his hungry mouth. This is easier said than done, as Dizzy has a tendency to get over excided and destructively spin around the whole kitchen, destroying the food, the platforms, and even Buster if he just stuck in Dizzy’s path. Hide inside the doorways until it’s safe, then feed him as quickly as you can.

Once he’s had his fill, Dizzy will promptly fall asleep right there in the middle of the kitchen. But that’s ok, you beat the first stage and get to move on to the bonus rounds. Set up like a game show, you spin the wheel to see which of the 5 minigames you’ll get to play. These games give you the opportunity to win quite a few extra lives each, which you’ll need in the coming stages.

For my first bonus round, I landed on the Mystery Weight Challenge. In this, you have 5 characters ranked in weight from 1 to 5. You pick the order in which they will compete, and quite simply, if your character is heavier than your opponent’s character, you win a life. I actually managed to win 3 out of the 5 levels, though honestly it was nothing but luck.

The next stage opens with Buster telling us how important the dash is going to be. It also sets the stage as a western movie, with Montana Max insisting he be the main character. Buster and Plucky are suspicious that Max is up to something, but they let the spoiled brat have his way for now.

The western town is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, you have some thugs throwing tomatoes out the second floor windows at you. On the other, there’s a happy pair of mice that want nothing more than for you to do jump rope with them. In fact you can’t proceed until you successfully jump rope with them, which is kind of odd.

Making it though the town, you eventually find yourself at the Inn. With nowhere else to go, you’ll have to climb up to the highest floors of the building, all the while avoiding rolling barrels and falling chandeliers. When you make it to the attic, you’ll finally see what Montana Max was scheming as he steals all the valuables out of the attic safe.

Death Count: 8

After jumping out the window to catch Montana Max, we find ourselves on a train for what is possibly the most frustrating section of the whole game. In retrospect, it wasn’t hard, it was just very demanding, and required complete mastery of Buster’s dash ability. The screen is auto scrolling as you slowly progress up the train, dodging random nets the whole way just waiting to snatch up Buster. Unfortunately for you, the train enters a tunnel, and Buster is left no other option but to dash over the mountain, jumping over gaps, and busting straight through enemies in the process.

Death Count: 13

There aren’t very many obstacles along the way, but you need to be completely perfect or you’ll never make it. The tiniest hesitation will cause Buster to lag behind and fall off screen, dying and forcing you to start over again. Things like jumping slightly too late will cause Buster to take too much time climbing a wall, and fall off the screen as it scrolls.

Leading up to this point, you’ve never really had a chance to figure out the subtleties of Buster’s dash, and they really come back to bite you in this level. It’s the little things like the fact his dash has no true momentum to it. What I mean by this is that when Buster comes to a ledge, he doesn’t go flying off like you would expect to happen when someone is running as fast as they can towards a ledge. Instead he’ll make a 90 degree turn straight down the side of the cliff, again causing you to fall off the edge of the screen as it scrolls and having to start over.

Death Count: 18

If you manage to make it over the mountain and catch up with the train again, you’ll now be in even greater danger as the tracks fall away out from under the train. Once again, the auto scroll is what makes this so dangerous. In any other situation, you’d be able to stay ahead of the train cars falling. In this game however, you need to ride the falling train car down as it falls until the screen scrolls enough to reveal the next car. Then you’ll have to dash and jump to the next car before you fall into oblivion.

I don’t know what happened to the front of this train, because after one last long jump, we find ourselves on what is clearly a different train. This new train has a ridiculously high roof which would never have fit through that first tiny tunnel. It’s also full of passengers, all of whom seem to have it out for Buster for some reason. I want to believe that they’re thugs, but on closer inspection, they might be some kind of special needs people. The one guy is wearing a Yale sweater and swinging a turkey leg at me. I think I might have just beat up a handicapped person. At least the magician at the end of the train is more clearly attacking me with his extending cane. He also looks like he might be the devil, so double win for killing him.

Death Count: 24

Once again, the engine of this train is nowhere to be found, how has it kept its momentum this long without an engine? At first, it would seem like this is the end of our journey, since there’s nowhere else to go, but just then a collection of wooden beams start flying through the air. If we jump from beam to beam, we might just be able to catch up to the rest of the train. But once again, the lack of experience with Buster’s dash made this harder than it needed to me. Namely the fact that I didn’t realize you could start a dash in midair. Without knowing this fact, the final jump to the back of the train can feel impossible.

It looks like it was Arnold the Pit Bull throwing those wooden beams at us. I don’t know if I should thank him, or be mad at him, so I’m going to drop kick him in the head. Even with his help, we still haven’t reached the engine of the train yet. It’s going to take one super jump to the moon if we want to catch it.

Death Count: 27

Then again, maybe we don’t want to make it to the engine. It seems no one is driving the train, it’s just full speed ahead and hope we don’t all die. We can’t have that, so it’s up to Buster to bring it to a stop. In what is another unconventional boss fight, Buster has to actually fight the train until it stops. As with this whole level so far, the auto scroll still never stops, and makes this battle so much harder than it needs to be. You’ll have to attack the smokestacks as fast as you can while avoiding the shooting flames and steam. If you slow down, you’ll end up falling off screen and have to start the fight over.

Destroying the smoke stacks apparently wasn’t enough to stop the train. This makes sense since the smoke stacks really have nothing to do with propelling the train forward. I don’t know why Buster thought that was the solution to this problem. So the train is still recklessly out of control, and it looks like we’re not the only ones going for a ride here. Montana Max is clinging for dear life to the front of the train begging for help. Thank God for that conveniently placed railcar being pushed along in front of the train. We’ll have to use that to escape. Lucky for us we manage to pump the railcar all the way up to 88 mph and travel back in time. Hooray for back to the future references! Wait, was there plutonium on that cart?

We’ve finally completed another stage, and that means another bonus round. This time I end up landing on Hungry Boy Hamton. In this minigame you have to slide the tiles around to create a path for Hamton to walk on and collect the apples. This mini game is so unbelievably easy. I managed to collect all 6 apples, and with it gained 6 extra lives for the next stage.

I’m going to need every one of those lives as we head into the spooky mansion. It’s raining, and there’s nowhere else to go except for a lone mansion out in the woods. It’s so overdone that even Buster knows it’s cliché. But cliché doesn’t mean bad, let’s see what horrors are in store for us in this spooky mansion.

Death Count: 30

It doesn’t start out promising for me as I’m killed almost instantly by the plethora of ghosts roaming around the mansion. After a few attempts, their patterns start to become more obvious, even when they appear to be coming from everywhere at once. Surviving the ghosts brings us face to face with what appears to be a Two Headed Vampire Frankenstein Monster. And here I thought I’d go my whole life without seeing one of those. What’s more, these monsters are accompanied by what look like evil cake. How on earth could cake be made evil?

Death Count: 32

This brings us to the most frightening room in all of creation. The dreaded teeter totter and giant mallet room! Oh the humanity, think of the children. Won’t someone please think of the children!! In all seriousness, I’m not sure how this room really fits with the rest of the mansion. There’s only a single enemy in the whole room, which is a bat that turns into a vampire. He is easily dispatched, and the rest of the room is just navigating the teeter totters and avoiding the mallets.

Hiding in fear in the deepest corner of the room is Babs. Apparently she and a friend were playing in the basement when a mad scientist came and captured her friend. He hooked the friend up to some weird machine, and Buster will have to destroy it to save the friend without hurting them. It looks like we’ve made it to our next boss battle.

We enter the scientist’s lab and OH MY GOD IS THAT BABS’ FRIEND?! Babs, after this is all over I think we need to have a serious talk about what the hell you were doing alone in the basement with whatever that thing is. But for now, it looks like we’re going to have to do the hero act and KILL IT WITH FIRE! Sorry, I mean rescue Babs’ friend. We don’t want to hurt…it…so we’re going to have to find a way to destroy the mind control machine instead.

Death Count: 36

Thankfully, Melvin is providing us with just the ammo we need to do that. Oh yeah, the monster’s name is Melvin, Melvin the Monster. Anyway, while trying to destroy us, Melvin will throw giant light bulbs and giant bolts at Buster. The light bulbs are useless, but those giant bolts are heavy enough to do some serious damage to that machine. Just kick them are hard as you can into the machine, and watch as it cracks and breaks. Eventually the machine will become so unstable that it just explodes entirely. Melvin is free of the mind control, Buster is the hero yet again and we all should probably get back to school.

After another bonus round of Hungry Boy Hamton, it’s time to resume our school life. Of course, the school life of a cartoon character can’t be all trains and mansions. Sometimes you have to show a little school spirit! Out at Acme Looniversity Stadium, things aren’t going great for our heroes. With the game almost over, and the rival school Perfecto Prep leading 14 – 10, only a touchdown will win the game. Can we do it? I don’t even know how to football!!!

Death Count: 38

So it looks like we’re playing football now, but thankfully, it’s an incredibly over simplified version of the game. There are no plays to plan out or anything like that. Your only choices are to either run the ball or pass it. If you choose to pass the ball, Plucky will send a long pass down the field for Buster to catch. There’s a convenient X marking the spot it will land, but Buster refuses to ever stop moving. This means you’ll have to try to run back and forth in the landing zone in hopes of catching the ball when it comes. I found this to be nearly impossible, and opted to run the ball more often than not.

Death Count: 40

Running the ball is much easier. Since the game is still played in a side view perspective, running the ball boiled down to jumping over or occasionally sliding under the defensive linesmen as you make your way down the field. It’s slow but steady progress, and it’s worth it in the end when you finally make that touchdown to win the big game for the school.

After such an amazing victory against our rival school, we need to kick back with another fun bonus round. This time we land on Plucky Duck’s Go-Go Bingo. Just like real bingo, you have very little control or strategy for this game. 7 balls are called, filling in character faces on the board and you get an extra life for every bingo you make. By the end, I only managed a single bingo to get a single extra life.

Now that Buster is the big sports star of the school, everyone is going to start asking him for favors. Case in point, here we have Calamity Coyote asking for help. Apparently he hid something up in the sky, but can’t remember where, and wants Buster to help find it. He hid something…in the sky…are there a lot of good hiding places just kind of floating around in the air that I just don’t know about? How did he even get up to the sky to hide anything? He can’t fly.

Death Count: 41

It likes like I might have my answer, giant balloons. I would think Hamton’s idea to use a plane would be the better option, but he doesn’t seem inclined to help us. Instead he just makes bubbles for Buster to jump on. Bubbles don’t make the best platforms, and they will quickly break if you’re not fast enough.

Eventually Buster lands on top of a blimp, which is actually a very bad place to be. The blimp is constantly rocking back and forth, and Buster has no control over it. All he can do is defend himself from the vultures as he hopes for the best. Of course, nothing can ever go right for Buster as the blimp suddenly pops.

Death Count: 43

Buster is saved at the last second, and now finds himself trapped in some kind of giant floating pinball machine. Seriously, what is going on anymore? I must have lived a very sheltered life to not know about giant pinball machines in the sky. Anyway, about half way up the machine, there are a variety of colored balls which Buster must collect. It’s not until Buster collects all of them will the other set of flippers appear at the top of the machine, offering Buster the final push he needs to escape.

So we’ve done it, we braved the sky world and found calamity’s lost treasure. What was so important that Calamity felt the best hiding place would be way up in the sky? Well of course it was the script for the rest of the game. No wonder nothing has made sense, everyone was adlibbing until they could find a copy of the script.

Death Count: 44

Someone isn’t too happy about this discovery however, as the structure quickly starts collapsing around you. Buster has to run as fast as he can to escape, but why is he running higher? Do you have some master plan to float back down to the ground once you make it to the top of the building? I guess we’ll never know, because this stage ends once Buster runs off screen at the top of the building.

After yet another round of Hungry Boy Hamton, it’s time for the final stage. This time it’s a Space Opera where Buster must battle an evil empire army all by himself, all to save Princess Babs. Well, once she’s actually ready for the scene and lets herself be captured that is. She looks suspiciously like Princess Leia from Star Wars right now. But I’m sure that’s a coincidence.

Death Count: 48

Contrary to popular gaming convention, this game starts with you traveling to the left. It’s actually surprising how disorienting that little change can be at first. Along the way, you’ll be fighting a whole army of Stormtwoopers, removing any doubt that this is absolutely a Star Wars parody. Also that’s not a typo, in the Tiny Toons universe they’re called Stormtwoopers. But you’ll soon forget all about it when you reach the far right and see one of the most annoying things in all of gaming, a jump to a ladder over a bottomless pit. In all my years, I have never seen such evil.

This ladder brings you up to one of the space ships, but unfortunately for you it’s locked. If you want access to this amazing space ship, you’ll have to find the key. There aren’t a lot of hiding places for it in this area, so just keep climbing until you finally reach it in the top left corner of the room. Returning this key to the ship will not only allow you inside, but it will also activate some kind of light bridge to leave the area.

Death Count: 53

It looks like we somehow managed to make it to the outside of the ship, and thankfully Buster seems to be able to survive the cold vacuum of space without a space suit. Who knew bunnies were so well suited to space travel. Buster’s amazing abilities don’t save him from the war going on around him. Every so often a large explosion will engulf the whole ship, destroying everything on screen. The only way to protect yourself is to be hiding behind one of these randomly placed barriers. It won’t be easy, but Buster must survive this war! If he fails, who will ever save Princess Babs?

Back inside the ship, those explosions must have messed with the gravity as well as dislodging this giant ball. I’m not sure what the ship would need this random giant ball for, but it serves your needs rather well right now by being a convenient wrecking ball. Just keep messing with the gravity until it finally smashes right through the floor. Then have fun as you play some more pinball with a robot. You could kill him quickly, but why would you want to, every time it hits the bumper it makes it explode with stars to collect.

Death Count: 58

Is this level still going? Anyway, it’s time for the game to give your reflexes their ultimate test. You’ll have to use Buster’s dash ability to climb up a rather tall shaft. Of course, Buster’s dash doesn’t last long enough to get you the whole way to the top. You’ll have to run over the dodo buttons set on the wall to refill you power along the way. The dodo buttons aren’t the only buttons on the wall however. If you aren’t careful and run across one of the “Out” buttons, a metal barrel will fall from the sky, trapping Buster inside for storm troopers to beat on.

Death Count: 65

The level just keeps on going once you make it to the top of the shaft. With plenty of enemies around, Buster will have to stay on his toes to survive. But the real challenge comes from the red hot glowing balls bouncing around. Jump over then, duck under them, whatever you have to do to get past them, just don’t let them hit you.

Death Count: 70

Having persevered through all of that, we finally come face to face with Duck Vader and his giant paralyzer gun. Buster, the Knight of Honor, will have to defeat him in order to finally rescue Princess Babs. I guess expecting an “I am your father” reference was hoping for too much out of this conversation.

Death Count: 73

This is going to be yet another rather unconventional boss battle. The paralyzer gun will pivot around the center of the screen as Duck Vader tries to shoot our hero. You’ll need to kick Duck Vader in the head to detach him from the gun, and then knock the gun around until it shoots him. The problem with this strategy is that you’re just as likely to shoot yourself as you are to shoot him. It’s a challenging battle, but you must rescue Princess Babs.

With Duck Vader defeated, Princess Babs is finally safe again, and Buster is about to get a kiss as a reward. Just them, Plucky jumps back on stage and ruins the whole mood. So forget it, no more Star Wars parody. Strike the set, get it all out of here, we’re done.

In fact, roll credits. We’re done with the whole game. Are you happy now Plucky? Everyone was having a good time, but now we’re just going to end the game super abruptly. Congratulations!

Verdict

Gameplay – 7 / 10

This game is hard for me to review unbiasedly. The game feels very difficult, to the point of being unfair, but in retrospect was actually very easy, just demanding. And that’s the word I’m trying to hold on to, demanding. Nothing about the gameplay was particularly hard. In fact everything was so perfectly patterned that it becomes second nature after a few attempts. But it is very demanding of perfection, with the tiniest of missteps spelling disaster. Looking at basic controls, boss battles, and general game structure, everything was very well implemented, as well as being unique and interesting. Unfortunately, being unique and interesting ultimately made them feel unnatural. However, that’s a failing in the player, not the game itself.

Graphics – 8 / 10

The graphics in the game I thought were very good. Everything was very detailed and true to the original character designs. The animation however is somewhat lacking, with many characters that would probably benefit from a few extra frames of animation. This is particularly noticeable during the football game where the Perfecto Prep team has completely rigid upper bodies. Their arms are just generically outstretched like mannequins the whole time. This oversight leads a lot of characters to appear stiff and almost animatronic.

Audio – 7 / 10

The music is really good, and fits both the feel of the source material as well as setting a good atmosphere for the game. Nothing about the music really stands out as great, but nothing was bad either, which is more important in my opinion. No, my complaint with the audio is more in regard to the sound effects, or rather lack thereof. There weren’t any sound bites from the show, or reactions to damage, or really any of those audio details games of this nature usually have. I know it’s an SNES game, and the options were limited at the time, but this feels like they didn’t even try.

Story – 7 / 10

Again I’m torn. On one hand, each stage was well introduced with its own mini story arc. But on the other hand, there was no over arching story for the game as a whole. Each stage was almost completely self contained, and left the game as a whole feeling rather disjointed.

Total Playtime – 3h 7m

It’s a rather short game, and if I were a better player it would be even shorter. I would guess that a perfect run of the game could be done in roughly an hour.

Total Deaths – 73 Deaths

I’ve said it before, but the game is not hard, it demanding. Once you get the patterns down, you wonder how they ever tricked you in the first place. With that being said, I died quite a few times before I saw those patterns.

Overall Score – 7.5 / 10

It’s been a while since I thought a game should get a half score, but this game deserves it. Every aspect of the game shows that the creators cared about and understood their source material. But at the same time everything was just a hair off being great. The occasional 4th wall quip and the movie parodies perfectly match the show. Even Buster’s controls, specifically his dash, prove that they understood he’s a cartoon and needs to have cartoon physics. But at the same time everything felt slightly stiff, as if we were watching the dress rehearsal rather than the final performance. Going back to Buster’s dash, the cartoon physics of it, while true to the character, feel unnatural for the player. This ultimately makes the experience frustrating rather than charming. Then the level designs, while simple in retrospect, are just a hair too demanding to not feel broken. However, the overall experience was a fun one, frustration and all. Being a hair off great is still a generally good game, and one I would easily recommend to fans of the series.

NO! No more tests! We’re done! Plucky ruined it for everyone!

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