4.8 KiB
| title | date | score | howlongtobeat_id | howlongtobeat_hrs | game_name | game_genre | game_release_year | game_developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Very) Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break | 2023-03-26T16:47:00+02:00 | 2 | 10372 | 1.3 | Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break | 2D Platformer | 1992 | Konami |
Every cartoon show of the early nineties had to have multiple game conversions, including the 1990 Tiny Toon Adventure series that was supposed to become the next big Looney Tunes thing---except that it didn't. No matter, though, as in the 1992 Game Boy game Babs' Big Break, Babs tries to become a famous actress but ends up being kidnapped (surprise...) by the greedy Montana Max. It's up to Babs' friends to traverse four stages and get her out of there.
The words "four stages" might evoke a ephemeral feeling, and that's because it does: Babs' Big Break is a Yet Another Very Short GB game. This might not come as a big surprise to Game Boy connoisseurs, except that by the time the game was released, it was well in 1992, meaning Kirby's Dreamland and Turtles II were released, and Super Mario Land 2 was about to be released (technically January 1993 for us sad Europeans). That means the standards for short and cheap 2D platformers were increasingly being upped.
The debut of Tiny Toon Adventures on the Game Boy is perhaps best compared with Sunsoft's 1992 game Looney Tunes: both big franchises made by big Japanese license holders where I'm afraid Looney Tunes came out on top, even though this one is a commendable effort. The few stages we're served are varied, the minigames are amusing for as long as they last, the ability to switch characters on the fly isn't strategically employed but fun to fiddle with, and everything is as cheery as it should be.
It's just that I kind of expected a bit more. A ROM dump later, I learned that Konami used a cheap MBC1 chip that houses just 128 KB of game data: as little as Turtles I and Super Mario Land, except that those games were clearly prototype attempts during or not far after the launch of the then new handheld. Can I forgive Turtles I to be (very) rough around the edges? Yes, because II and III improved and improved. Can I forgive Babs' Big Break for being (sure, okay, a little less) rough? Perhaps, but not that easily.
Gameplay-wise, it's a clear Mario rip-off, where you jump on enemies' heads, collect diamonds that act as currency for use in minigames, and jump on bricks that also cough up goodies. The movement and jump mechanics feel very floaty and off, though. I did get used to it, but it felt a bit awkward. Thankfully, as mentioned, the game offers a surprising amount of variety: one minute you're exploring different pipes in a city-like vertically oriented level, the next you're on a scooter jumping over pitfalls, and after that it's time for a spooky wood. Sprite work is excellent, no complaints there.
Strangely enough, this being Babs' break and all, we only see her lecturing us on what to do next (which is done automatically), meaning she's never a playable character. During the stages, you recruit other Toons to help clear obstacles, such as crawling through a thigh space or using the pungent smell of the skunk's tail to get rid of evil trees (?). Yet that's also done automatically. I was first fooled to be in control and started pressing buttons. These sections could have been much more dramatic if the player could effectively do things. What we're instead left with is a ridiculously easy game that's clearly aimed towards younger players, and a repetitive (albeit not as annoying as in other GB games) soundtrack.
Weirdly enough, the game got raving reviews back in the day, such as this scan from the French Joystick, claiming it to be a "sublime game". I guess they were really craving some basic platforming action that month.
If you take the game for what it is---a decent but short early Game Boy platformer with enough variety to keep you occupied for an hour---you might end up even enjoying it. It's hard to recommend given the lifespan, but the cart is very cheap (€13) and the sprites really pop on a modern Analogue Pocket.
I'm torn between a 2 (mediocre) or 3 (good) out of 5, but since Super Mario Land itself isn't much more than a relic nowadays, earning just a 2, I'd have to go with the lower score as well. Tiny Toon fans or folks with fond memories of this game might disagree. It's not bad. But it's not good.