The Animaniacs have been off the air for several years now, but that didn’t stop Ignition and Warner Brothers from teaming up to bring Yakko, Wakko, and Dot to a new generation. Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt begins with the evil Cyril Coupe Deville stealing the coveted Edgar Awards (the Animaniacs equivalent of the Oscars) and holding them for ransom. Fortunately, he bungles the theft and crashes his blimp into the Warner Bros. tower, unleashing the Animaniac siblings. The game begins with Yakko, who must find his now-lost siblings and the coveted Edgar awards.

Ignition got full rights to use the Animaniacs universe so the game is full of little nods to the cartoon series. Many characters make appearances; besides Yakko, Wakko, and Dot the player also encounters Dr. Scratchandsniff, various incarnations of the nurse, as well as the infamous Pinky and Brain. The game takes place inside the Warner Bros. lot, and the levels are actually sets of various movies that are in production. There’s a classic Wild West film set, a fairy tale land set and others throughout the game that are full of Edgar Awards and other goodies for the player to discover.

The characters in the game are all modeled extremely well and feature an acceptable level of detail. The character animations are smooth, and look like they could have been taken from an episode of the cartoon. The various levels are colorful and contain several different types of enemies, each of which is appropriate for the type of film set that forms the level. The entire game is 3D and uses an engine heavy on cell-shading, which enhances the cartoon atmosphere of the game.

The game also has a few nice touches that make playing it more enjoyable. The same actors that voiced the cartoon character in the 1990s voice the characters in the game, which brings back a lot of nostalgia for all the old-timers out there who remember the show. The gameplay is very simple, which is a plus in a game designed for youngsters. The main joystick controls the movement of the player, while other buttons enable the player to jump, attack with a mallet or frying pan, or activate items like doors which are scattered throughout the levels. Another handy addition is the ability to warp among different areas of the levels, drastically reducing travel time.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot to be said here. For starters, the game drastically needs some kind of a help system to provide direction to the player. Often I was unsure of what to do next after accomplishing an objective and ended up wandering around for up to an hour before figuring out how to move on to the next goal. That’s frustrating, to say the least.

While I mentioned that the character’s animations are well rendered, the remainder of the game’s graphics are sub par. Although the game is in 3D, many of the textures used in seem flat and two-dimensional. The game world, while colorful, is not very detailed and feels very homogenous.

The sound department is also a little on the weak side. I give Ignition kudos for using the actual voiceactors who originally voiced the cartoon series, but the dialogue needs some work. The cutscenes are well done, but during gameplay the characters say the same two lines every time they pick up an apple which leaves the game feeling like a broken record. The Animaniacs theme music is present throughout the game, but the actual theme song with lyrics is strangely absent. Hearing the Animaniacs theme song from the opening of the cartoon show on the main menu would have been a welcome addition.

The gameplay is extremely repetitive. Basically, the player runs around and picks up items, all while trying to get somewhere else to pick up even more items. Along the way the player encounters a slew of enemies who act as an obstacle for the player. These enemies must be “confused” before they can be killed, which often results in the player getting injured before actually dispatching them. Every once and a while the action is broken up by minigames, some of which feature Pinky and the Brain, which is a welcome change from the game’s usual grind.

The camera can also be frustrating. The left trigger button locks the camera in place or allows it to roam free, but its implementation is lackluster. Often the camera will get stuck on an object instead of zooming in to avoid it, which can make executing certain jumps very difficult. At times the camera will get stuck between two objects, making it extremely difficult to see the area around the player.

There are no multiplayer modes, so once the game is complete it’s over. There is no real incentive to go back and play through it again, making the replay value of this title very low.

 Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt is a decent game if you are between the ages of five and ten and enjoy the cartoon series. Older gamers will find it to be far too simplistic and often frustrating since it can be difficult to know what to do or where to go next. The use of the Animaniacs license is refreshing, especially after so many years, but the game needed some more fine-tuning before being released, especially on the camera and integrating a help system. I would recommend this game for young players who are fans of the television show; however there are better children’s games out there that provide more entertainment for your dollar.

Very repetitive and the goals are not clearly established.

Low level of detail, but the bright color pallet does redeem it somewhat.

Actual voiceactors from the TV show reprise their roles and perform well.

Fun, if you can figure out where to go or what to do.

Once you finish it, it’s over. No multiplayer options.

]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:57:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_animaniacs_lights_camera_action_ds http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_animaniacs_lights_camera_action_ds http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_animaniacs_lights_camera_action_ds# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

If you were a child of the 90s, chances are you caught the wacky adventures of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, the Animaniacs, on your television set every weekday afternoon after school. Now, out from under the rocks is a DS game based on that show called Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action! in which the Warner brothers (and the Warner sister) must pay back the studio one bazillion dollars because of the damages they’ve incurred. To do so, they are responsible for filming three films simultaneously.



Graphically, Warthog did quite a nice job capturing the look and feel of the Animaniacs cartoon in this handheld game. The background colors are bright and vibrant and the though the sprites are a tad pixilated, the characters appear as if lifted straight from an animated cel. The isometric camera view takes a little getting used to, but it’ll feel comfortable in no time, and you can even adjust the control scheme to ease the transition.

They also managed to maintain the same sharp and witty humor the characters used to spew on a daily basis. When you try to perform an action that a certain character cannot do, they’ll mention that they can’t do it though in an indirect way. The best example is Brain, who can’t jump, and when you press the jump button he’ll reply with, “Do you really think I can jump with a cranium of this size?” The writing in the game really makes me wish I had new episodes of Animaniacs to watch.

You can also have up to 4 players together wirelessly with just one cartridge for some nice multiplayer action, but when you see how the game plays, you more than likely won’t be taking advantage of that. And that just about does it for the good.



The biggest irk I have with Animaniacs: Lights! Camera! Action! is that it’s for the DS, but it’s a port of the GBA version, suffering from what I call Star Wars Episode III-syndrome. At least the DS version of Star Wars gave you those extra 3D shooter levels, but this game is a carbon copy of the GBA version, save for the touch screen implementation, which is a half-assed attempt since all it’s useful for is a menu. I even laughed when configuring my buttons because there were no functions listed at all for the X and Y buttons, the two buttons the GBA does not have. You try telling me this was specifically built for the DS after that.

The fact that this is a kid’s game should raise the red flag for “shallow gameplay”. The entire game revolves around a bunch of very short fetch quests – find key, open door, find key, open door, find key, and did I mention open door? And when you finally beat a level, it’s time to do it all over again, just with a different background. Yippie!

The saving grace of these fetch quests is that some do involve some thinking because each of the playable characters – Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Brain, and Pinky – each have unique abilities. Yakko can throw projectiles, Wakko can use his burps for weapons, Dot can use her skirt to glide down gently, Brain can operate machines but can’t jump, and Pinky’s skinny build allows him to enter small holes. Knowing when to use whom adds some strategy, but there definitely isn’t anything head-scratching about it.

However, changing characters isn’t as easy as finding them and then switching. You have to find a special door and enter a small Dance Dance Revolution-like mini-game before you can switch characters. Again, it’s nothing too hard, but I can see some kids having some difficulty with it as some of those commands move quite fast.

One last thing to note is the use of the license. I can’t and won’t deduct points from the score because of this, but it is worth mentioning. I’m confused as to where Ignition Entertainment was going with this. On one hand, we have the Animaniacs license which only people in their early twenties would recognize and gravitate to, while the game itself is for kids, targeted at an audience that has no clue what the Warner brothers and the Warner sister are about. The witty writing I mentioned earlier would sail way over a young child’s head. So what were they trying to accomplish? Were they trying to introduce the motley crew to a new generation? Whatever their intentions may be, I’m still rather confused by this all, and I’m not the only one.



In the end, it looks pretty, but plays like the total opposite. The constant supply of fetch quests gets boring rather quickly, and it’s definitely a game someone over the age of seven probably wouldn’t be playing. I can’t recommend this game for anyone other than a parent looking to keep their kid busy or distracted and this game is the last thing the store has left on the shelf. If your memories of the Animaniacs involve the trio and company popping out of the watch tower on your television screen, then I suggest you keep them that way.

A little pixilated, but captures the cartoon’s feel quite nicely.

Boring simplistic fetch quests won’t hold anyone’s interest for long.

Nothing memorable; the theme song doesn’t even play that often. No voices disappointed me.

Who wants to play a game that has you search for 5 million keys to open 5 million doors?

Multiple difficulties, but no rewards for beating it at each level so why bother.

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