Taz-Mania (video game)

Taz Mania is the name of several video games based on the Taz-Mania cartoon series. A 2D side-scrolling platform/adventure video game developed by Recreational Brainware and published by Sega on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1992. Different games were also developed by NuFX and released on the Game Gear and by Technical Wave on the Master System. Other different Taz-Mania games were also published by Sunsoft and released on the SNES and 2 games on the Game Boy were made too. One from David A. Palmer Productions and published by Sunsoft and another from Beam Software and published by THQ.

Taz-Mania
North American Sega Genesis box art
Developer(s)Recreational Brainware (MD)
NuFX (GG)
Technical Wave (MS)
Visual Concepts (SNES)
David A. Palmer Productions (GB)
Beam Software (GB)
Publisher(s)Sega (MD, GG, MS)
Sunsoft (SNES, GB)
THQ (GB)
Platform(s)Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
ReleaseMega Drive
Master System
Game Gear
Super Nintendo
  • NA: May 1993
  • EU: 1993
Game Boy
  • NA: September 1994[7] (Taz-Mania), January 1997[7] (Taz-Mania 2)
  • EU: 1993 (Taz-Mania 2), 1994 (Taz-Mania)
Genre(s)Action, Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot

The plot of the game was actually a twist on the usual "Save the World" story setting for many platform/adventure games. One evening, Hugh Tazmanian Devil was telling his three children (Taz, his sister Molly and his brother Jake) an intriguing tale: Once there were huge giant seabirds that laid giant eggs which could feed a family of Tazmanian devils for over a year. There are also legends that somewhere along the island of Tasmania, there is a Lost Valley, where the giant seabirds still nest. Taz becomes fascinated by the prospect of the potentially large omelet and leaves in search for one of those giant eggs. Thus, the player must direct Taz across various stages in search for the Lost Valley and its Giant Bird.

Gameplay

Players control Taz as he searches for the giant egg. Taz is able to jump, spin into a tornado and eat various objects. Spinning into a tornado allows Taz to defeat most enemies, as well as gain extra jump distance, knock away items and get past certain obstacles unharmed. Taz has the ability to eat most, if not all items throughout the level, such as health recovering food items, extra lives and continues. Eating some chilli peppers allows Taz to breathe fire in order to defeat stronger enemies, while eating a star grants Taz temporary invincibility. Other items, such as bombs and weed killer can be thrown at enemies, but will damage Taz if he eats them.

Development

Recreational Brainware was led by 2 programmers – Burt Sloane and Jonathan Miller and was based in San Francisco. A semi-sequel to this game in design and concept but unrelated to the Taz-Mania cartoon series was also developed and released by Sega on the same platforms in between 1994 and 1996, entitled Taz in Escape from Mars. An official sequel titled Taz-Mania 2 was planned with an isometric viewpoint, but was never put into development.[8]

Reception

The Mega Drive version was a bestseller in the UK for 2 months.[14] Mega placed the game at #19 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time.[15] Mean Machines magazines gave the game an overall score of 81 out of 100 praising the graphics as “visually one of the most stunning megadrive games yet”, also praising the game animation although there was criticism on the game difficulty as being too easy concluding “An enjoyable and visually exciting platform game which may not be tough enough for hardened platform veterans, but is still worth a look.”[16]

Entertainment Weekly gave the game a B.[17]

References
  1. "File:GamePro US 037.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. "File:GamePro US 035.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. "File:SegaPro UK 10.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. "File:SegaPro DE 06.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. "File:GamePro US 038.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  6. "File:SegaForce UK 12.pdf - Sega Retro". segaretro.org. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  7. "Game Boy (original) Games" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  8. "DHNN Sunsoft". GameFan. Vol. 2 no. 3. February 1994. p. 26.
  9. "Taz-Mania Genesis Review".
  10. "Taz-Mania SNES Review Score".
  11. "Megatech review". MegaTech. No. 5. EMAP. May 1992. p. 78.
  12. "Sega Power - Power Review". Sega Power. No. 33. Future plc. August 1992. p. 29.
  13. "Mega Play - Mega Reviews". Mega Play. No. 11. Future Publishing. August 1992. p. 63.
  14. Official Gallup UK Mega Drive sales chart, October 1992, published in Mega (magazine) issue 1, p. 23
  15. Mega magazine issue 1, Top Mega Drive Games of All Time, page 76, Future Publishing, Oct 1992
  16. Taz-Mania Review. United Kingdom: EMAP. June 1992. pp. 52–54.
  17. Strauss, Bob (August 7, 1992). "The Latest Videogames Reviewed". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
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