Krusty’s Super Fun House (1993) Review

May 14, 2018 ragglefragglereviewsLeave a comment

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Originally named Krusty World in Japan Krusty’s Super Fun House was a puzzle/platformer developed and produced by Fox Williams and Acclaim Entertainment, the game was released on a whole array of systems including Commodore Amiga, NES, DOS, Master system, Megadrive, Game Boy and SNES.

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Krusty the Clown has had a rat infestation at his playhouse and with the help of various Simpsons characters he has to exterminate them.

In the game you play as Krusty, the game plays as a 2D platformer for the most part but the main aspect of the game is puzzles, during the puzzles Krusty must find and direct rats to their doom using different items such as blocks and buckets, if you place an item down on the ground the rats can climb on top of it to reach higher platforms and you need to keep doing this until they enter a machine which kills them.

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Krusty can obtain various weapons in the game which can destroy walls and enemies, my favourite weapon is the bog standard custard pie as it has a nice range and is fairly easy to hit your target.

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Graphically the game is ok no matter which version you play, the Gameboy version is black and white and the 8 bit versions are slightly less pixelated than the 16 versions of the game, the visuals are quite bland and do get a bit boring later on, the big issue is that a lot of sprite work had been copied and pasted making some of the later levels very difficult to navigate, the game play also varies from each version, they all follow the same formula but some systems ran the game substantially better than others, I played the SNES version of the game which was fine however I have heard that the PC versions such as DOS and Commodore Amiga suffered from a lot of slowdown.

All in all Krustys Fun House is boring, it was a drag having to play through the entire thing and the whole experience was just plain, dull and not very exciting, it has decent controls and ok graphics but its lame game play and looped soundtrack does not help the game shine in the slightest.

3.8/10

Thank you for reading my review of Krusty’s Super Fun House

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

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Taz Mania (Genesis/Mega Drive) (1992) Review

March 14, 2015 ragglefragglereviews1 Comment

Cool a game based on Taz Mania, this is gonna be great………right?

Taz Mania was a popular cartoon series based on the Tazmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes shorts, the show was about Taz and his family and the crazy antics they would get up too, I watched this show as a kid but I wasn’t a huge fan of it and unlike some other shows such as Ducktales and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers I dont have many fond memories of watching Taz Mania.

Taz Mania was fairly popular and just like many other cartoons of its era, video game developers started to create Taz Mania video games to make a quick buck but unlike Ducktales and Rescue Rangers whose games stayed on one system Taz Mania had a video game on a whole bunch of different systems including the Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Super Nintendo and the Nintendo Game Boy, unfortunately I haven’t yet gotten around to playing most of these but as a kid I used to play the Genesis version a lot and I remember really enjoying it, but was it good as I remember?

The games plot is simple and straight to the point, Taz and his siblings are told a story about giant sea birds that used to rule over Taz Mania, the birds were so big that if someone was to steal one of their eggs it would feed that thief and his entire family for one whole year, talk of these giant eggs make Taz hungry and he soon leaves on an adventure across Taz Mania to find one, like I said the plot is very simple and straight to the point I don’t mind this because firstly I was not expecting some epic storyline for a video game based on the Tazmanian Devil and secondly this honestly seems like something that Taz would do because at the end of the day he’s a wild animal who loves to eat so the thought of a giant egg is immediately going to get his attention.

The game looks pretty good for a licensed Sega Genesis game, the graphics are not very realistic looking which isn’t a problem because they actually look a bit like the cartoon which is a nice touch from the game developers, it shows that they did research of the original cartoon and as a result both the genesis game and the show have a similar art style which is an aspect that many fans of the show will appreciate.

Graphically the game is very impressive but the level design is awful, the biggest problem is the plat-forming because a lot of the platforms you need to jump to are off screen meaning that you need to takes risky jumps and leaps of faith hoping that you don’t fall to your death, another problem is that sometimes its very difficult to figure out what objects you are able to jump on, this gets very confusing because sometimes you are able to jump on platforms that are either in the background or the foreground while at other times you cant so its not easy to identify what is an actual platform and what is just there for scenery, speaking of scenery there really isn’t a lot of it and because of this all of the levels are very bare with just a few things pasted into the backgrounds, its really not that interesting to look at and its a shame considering all of the effort that went into the games art style.

The game has very tight controls which are easy to remember, you control Taz with the D-Pad while the three other buttons are used to perform the games actions, such as Jumping, Spinning and breathing fire when its available.

The most important ability in the game is spinning, Taz can spin really fast allowing him to knock enemies off of the screen but you must be careful because you are also able to get rid of special items such as lives and health if you accidentally spin into them.

Taz will eat everything in his path and this can be very useful as he can eat enemies, lives and food but you must not eat any of the bombs, if Taz eats a bomb it will explode inside of him causing a considerable amount of damage, these bombs can be very annoying especially when they have been placed unfairly, for example a lot of the time the bombs are placed at the bottom of small ledges and you cant see them until you jump off the ledge and sometimes the bombs are placed behind foreground objects so they are impossible to see which makes it very unfair on the player.

This entire game relies on the player memorising which platforms are safe and where the bombs are located, if the game had unlimited continues this wouldn’t be as big of an issue but unfortunately the game does have very few continues (not including the ones you can find) making the entire experience of playing the game very stressful and annoying.

The levels are very difficult due to bad game design but ironically the boss fights are really easy, this is because when Taz is spinning any enemy that hits him is immediately damaged and this is the same for the boss fights, if you keep spinning into the bosses you are going to defeat them very quickly and very easily, there is one boss fight near the end of the game that is so easy too beat that you can defeat him while taking no damage by just spinning in one spot until he dies.

The music is not memorable at all most of the songs are just loops of very short tunes and the biggest problem is that you can hardly hear the music over the games terrible sound effects, the sound effects literally sound like they came from a cheap collection of Royalty Free sounds and nothing about them or the music is very creative at all, the most unusual sound choice the developers made was that every time Taz takes a step a music note plays as if the entire game is a piano, this sound choice makes very little sense and it gets annoying very fast.

Taz Mania was a very disappointing game, I used to love this game as a child and I remember having a great time playing it, the game has tight controls and sticks to its source material with its very simple plot and and its art style which represents the original show quite nicely but unfortunately bad game design, terrible sound and music choices and for the most part awful game play makes Taz Mania for Sega Genesis a very bad experience and honestly I am relieved that I never have to play it again.

3.4/10

Thank you for reading my review of Taz Mania for the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) (Genesis/Megadrive) Review

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 ragglefragglereviews2 Comments

The blue blur is back and this time he’s brought a friend

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is very similar to the first game and there is a high possibility that it’s a direct sequel.

Doctor Robotnik (Egg man) has again turned the wildlife inhabitants of South Island into to robot’s and it’s up to Sonic and his friend Miles (Tails) Prowler to adventure across some new areas of South Island in order to find and Defeat Dr Robotnik and to save the Island from his Evil Antics.

the only really big change in game play is the introduction of Tails, a two tailed fox who has the ability to fly which makes up for his lack in speed.

Tails is a very useful mechanic in the game not only because he can fly but also because he can defeat enemies, collect rings and he can even help by dealing damage during boss fights.

Tails biggest downfall is his lack in speed, the problem is that because Sonic is so fast Tails will often get left behind leaving Sonic to get through the the majority of the stages alone, this isn’t as much of an issue during single player because as much as Tails can help with rings and boss fights it is possible to beat the game without him, but on the other hand if you want to play the single player with a friend, Player 2 (Tails) wont be able to keep up with Player 1 (Sonic), this makes playing the single player with a friend pointless which is a shame because they could have fixed this by making single player split screen when a second player joins.

On the bright side Sonic 2 does have another Multiplayer mode, if you select 2 players from the main menu, you will be able to select specific levels from the game which Player 1 (sonic) and Player 2 (Tails) will be able to race each other to the goal and the best part is that this mode does use split screen which makes the game fair for both players to have a good time.

The games visuals are stunning, again everything is animated amazingly well the environments and backgrounds scroll with the player and some background objects such as clouds, lava and water move by themselves. The only complaint I have regarding the level design is that sometimes its really difficult to tell what is in the background and what will hurt you.

For example it may seem that the flames here can hurt you but they are actually harmless.

Every zone in the game has its own unique theme, level design and enemies for Sonic and Tails to defeat.

Sonic 2 has 11 zones and provides a total of 22 levels

Emerald Hill Zone

Very similar to Green Hill Zone, Emerald Hill Zone has a tropical theme and provides plenty of loops, slopes and multiple pathways for Sonic and Tails to run through. This zone is super fun and super easy so you shouldn’t have much trouble with it.

Chemical Plant Zone

Going straight from a nice tropical vacation spot to the dangers of a factory filled with lots of enemies and toxic water which can kill you very quickly, this zone has multiple pathways and high speed game play which makes it very challenging and it shows that Sonic Team isn’t messing around.

Aquatic Ruins Zone

A fun little zone based around some ancient ruins surrounded by a lake, this zone is one of my favorites because you are able to change how to traverse through the zone every time you play it, for example if you stay near the top of the level you will have to adventure across the top of the ruins to reach the goal, but if you head downwards you will have to adventure across the bottom of the ruins and through the lake in order to reach the goal.

Casino Night Zone

A definite upgrade to Spring Yard Zone from the first game, Casino Night is awesome Sonic and Tails will need to run, fling themselves, shoot themselves and gamble in order to survive this crazy stage, Casino Nights is loads of fun.

Hill Top Zone

Sonic and Tails will be running above the clouds in this zone, Hill top zone requires you to take your time as you will have hills to climb, lava to avoid and lots of caves to explore, this zone is definitely for the explorative types.

Mystic Cave Zone

Sonic and Tails will need to explore some dark caves filled with old abandoned mine cart tracks, but don’t relax just yet because it is also filled with lots of traps, spikes and switches, this zone will definitely keep you on your toes.

Oil Ocean Zone

Literally an Ocean of Oil, this zone is very difficult as it has a lot of environmental hazards and obstacles, players will need to try to avoid falling off of oily slides and will need to use Green furnace flames to help propel themselves onto small platforms in order for them to traverse further through the zone.

Metropolis Zone

In my opinion the most difficult zone in the game, this Giant factory is filled to the brim with enemies, environmental hazards, large pits of boiling chemicals and the worst part is that the entire zone is like one big maze, this is one maze that I never want to get lost in again

Sky Chase Zone

During a short plane ride Sonic and Tails need to chase down Dr Robotnik while he retreats to his air ship, during this stage players will need to avoid robotic flying turtles and collect rings, at the end of the stage Sonic needs to jump out of the plane to take on the air ship solo.

Wing Fortress Zone

Based in Dr Robotnik’s air ship there are plenty of opportunities for you to fall to your doom due to the many platforms and thin ledges. While avoiding Dr Robotnik’s most dangerous robots yet players will need lots of patience and good timing in order to survive.

Death Egg Zone

Again similar to Sonic 1 this is just the final boss and get ready for one tough final boss battle because unlike the first game now you have to face two bosses in a row. You will need to defeat Metal Sonic and once you beat him you then need to beat Dr Robotnik in his giant space armour, but if you die you will need to take on Metal Sonic again and you will need to keep repeating this pattern until you can defeat both bosses in a row without dying.

Players have the ability to choose to play the single player mode as Sonic with Tails, Sonic alone or Tails Alone.

Beating the game with different characters does very slightly change the ending of the game but it so slight that it does not really count as an alternative ending as the final outcome is the same.

Bonus Stages are back but with a big difference, this time Sonic and Tails will need to collect 50 rings and once they reach a checkpoint they need to jump into the sparkly portal that appears above.

Once they enter the Bonus Stage the player will see Sonic and Tails looking slightly 3D, they will be running through a tunnel filled with rings that they need to collect, if they collect enough rings they will be rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. This may sound easy but it can be very difficult because this time Sonic and Tails are running forward with the camera following behind, also there are many obstacles such as bombs and spikes that if Sonic or Tails hit they will lose some rings.

Warning: If you enter a Bonus stage when you leave your ring count will be Zero.

Getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds will allow Sonic to transform into Super Sonic once he collects 50 rings in a stage you transform by jumping , Super Sonic is invincible, the only downfall is that you lose a ring for every second super sonic is on screen and once you run out of rings you will lose the super sonic ability until you collect some more.

Sonic 2 is an amazing game, it has some really creative levels, the bonus stages are more fun and rewarding, the soundtrack is so good that every time I listen to it I want to dance, the visuals and general game design is beautiful and apart from the pretty bad multiplayer and the fact that sometimes background objects seem dangerous, the game is near perfect.

One of the best games that Sonic Team has ever made 9.3/10

Thank you for reading my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2

By Padawan

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

You can find me on Miiverse by searching for draskafer

Ecco the Dolphin (Megadrive) Review

October 6, 2014February 24, 2015 ragglefragglereviews4 Comments

Halloween 2014 is really close now and since it is already October its time for the traditional Raggle fraggle Halloween blogs.

This years theme is games and movies that you would not expect to be scary but in reality they are.

Lets begin with the first game of the season with the adorable Ecco the Dolphin for the Sega Mega Drive

Released in 1993 Ecco the Dolphin is in my opinion Sega’s response to Nintendo’s popular game series Metroid

The plot of Ecco the Dolphin is that your family mysteriously disappears in a storm and Ecco travels through the many dangers of the ocean to reunite with his family, while on on his travels Ecco is told to travel to the Artic to speak to a blue whale called Big Blue. Big Blue explains that these storms appear every 500 years and Ecco is directed to the oldest creature on earth the Asterite.

The Asterite agrees to help Ecco as long as he travels back in time to an ancient atlantian city so he can retrieve one of the Asterite’s globes that is missing (Globes are those multicoloured circles that the Asterite is made of) After receiving the globe Ecco is told that the storm was a harvest of Earths waters and this is a tradition committed every 500 years by an alien species called the Vortex. After learning this, Ecco travels 55 thousands years into the past and finds the Asterite and is forced to battle, after defeating the Asterite, Ecco is granted a power which turns his Sonar into a deadly weapon which he can use against the Vortex, Ecco is then sent foward in time to the hour of the harvest and this time he also gets sucked into the storm and ends up in the Alien space ship, Ecco then fights his way to the queen to save his family.

Thats right Ecco is a time travelling Dolphin who fights Aliens, That is freaking awesome

Ecco the Dolphin has really awesome game play, The game is level based, each level gives the player a new objective to complete but unlike traditional level based games Ecco the Dolphin feels a lot like Metroid, the player is going to get lost at certain points of the game. This is due to all of the different paths you can take to help you find your your objective and sometimes you need to solve puzzles in order to move forward for example you may need to push a rock to block of a strong water current in order to take a new path or you may need to use clever strategy to sneak past an angry octopus.

Ecco the Dolphin is surprisingly a really difficult game, this is due to the fact that just like a real dolphin Ecco can’t fully breath underwater and while playing through the game the player will need to find air holes in order to keep Ecco alive, Personally this was the most difficult aspect of the game for me, because finding air is not easy and Ecco runs out of breath really fast.

Also Ecco can easily take damage from enemies as well as taking damage from bumping in cave walls, luckily eating fish replenishes your health so this aspect of gamplay is not something that people will have too much trouble with.

What is an issue is the games controls, due to Ecco being able to move in a 360 degrees pattern the D-PAD on the Mega Drive controller became a big issue as I found controlling Ecco to be very clunky and awkward. I believe the game could really benefit from the use of an analog controller.

Ecco the Dolphin has a really awesome soundtrack, the music really makes the player feel like they are in ocean and the music changes depending on the scenario of the stage, at first the music feels really relaxing but as the games plot unfolds the soundtrack evolves into something more hardcore and dark. I love this soundtrack, it really helps the player feel the atmosphere of the game.

it is one of my favourite game soundtracks on the Mega Drive and I love every minute of it.

Here is a link to a playlist of every track in the game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXiZpCL0j0&list=PL14114D4A797CC06D

Ecco the Dolphin is a really awesome game, apart from the not so great controls it is definitely a game I reccomend to retro gamers but I do feel that it would not be popular with the modern gamers of today.

I also feel that the game would be a turn off to male demographic simply because you play as a dolphin which is most likely why the game did not do as well as the developers hoped it would back when it released.

I may not have enjoyed Ecco the Dolphin as much as I have enjoyed a lot of other Mega Drive titles but I do feel that is an underrated gem on the system and I recommend it to all retro gamers .

A cute little game which is surprisingly a little bit terrifying 7/10.

I hope you enjoyed this review of Ecco the Dolphin

if you respect my opinion I will respect yours

By Padawan

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Tag: megadrive

Krusty’s Super Fun House (1993) Review

Taz Mania (Genesis/Mega Drive) (1992) Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) (Genesis/Megadrive) Review

Ecco the Dolphin (Megadrive) Review