Gaming Memories: Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland

Haven't done one of these in a while. I probably could have done one last week. Oh well!

I recall mentioning before that when I got my NES, long ago, it was at a garage sale with many games included, at a steal of a price. I have a somewhat decent memory of which games came with it, but some I'm not quite as sure about. Like today's game. Was it part of the package? Did I purchase it later because I recognized those faces on the cartridge? I can't quite remember.

And to their credit, the Tiny Toons are very recognizable. I usually hear more about Animaniacs when it comes to WB's cartoons of that era, but the show is definitely up there in terms of nostalgia. It was just fun to see kid Toons inspired by the more famous, adult Tunes, going through the same slapstick, with personality tweaks. The franchise, of course, had its own video games.

Developed by Konami and released in April 1993 in North America, Tiny Toon Adventures 2: Trouble in Wackyland is set in an amusement park that just opened. Every ride is a stage, and you play a different character in each one of them. Plucky Duck is in the bumper car ride, being attacked by bullies; Hampton is on a train; Babs Bunny is on a dangerous rollercoaster; and Furrball is riding the log flume, while he is being attacked by frogs and birds. Classic parkgoing experience, really.

Each ride costs a number of regular tickets to be entered; in turn, you can collect regular tickets while going through each stage. Clearing a stage grants the team a Golden Ticket; you must collect all four in order to unlock the fifth and final stage, the Funhouse, a creepy castle with gravity-defying features visited by Buster Bunny. Alternately, if you keep failing to collect the Golden Tickets, you can keep playing the stages to collect points then trade them for regular tickets, since collecting 50 tickets also opens the Funhouse.

I have fond memories of this one because, although it was short, it was fairly challenging. There was just enough variety in its gameplay to stay fresh; the bumper cars are a non-platformer level. Other stages have their own quirks, like the roller coaster ride having a mechanic where you can "flip" the platform Babs in on, making her hang from it in order to avoid certain hazards. I do not actually recall beating the final boss, Montana Max, but I do remember beating every other stage at least once and getting there. Itt's enjoyable, it's sweet, and also, the sprites are just so damn cute­.