Animaniacs (Sega Genesis/Game Boy)

If you're looking for the Super NES version of "Animaniacs", go here.

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Animaniacs (Sega Genesis/Game Boy)
Overview
Developer(s)	Konami, Factor 5 (Game Boy)
Publisher(s)	Konami
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Boy
Release Date	Genesis/Mega Drive NA: May 14, 1994 PAL: 1994 Game Boy NA: July 1995 EU: 1995 JP: 1995
Genre(s)	Platformer

Animaniacs is a platforming game that was released on May 14th, 1994, made for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive in other countries), developed and published by Konami. Based on the TV series of the same name, it is the first commercially released Animaniacs video game. In this game, the Warner trio (Yakko, Wakko and Dot) go the search of several movie props for a hip-pop culture shop.

A degraded port for the Nintendo Game Boy was created by Factor 5 and was released in July 1995.

Plot

Yakko, Wakko and Dot, escaping the water tower once again begin plans to open a hip pop-culture shop by collecting props from movies scattered throughout Warner Bros. Studios. They embark to obtain 5 different items found in the studios, including Dirk's Hat from The Adventures of Dirk Rugged VII, Dume Rayder's helmet from Space Wars, Jethro Anderson's sherrif badge from Swing 'em Low, Hang 'em High, Janus' Mask from Bloodmask: Part 32, and an Oscar-like figure shaped like Dr. Scratchensniff called a "Felix".

After acquiring all the props for their hip pop-culture shop, Pinky and The Brain begin their next plan for world domination. Pinky and The Brain steal the Warners' memorabilia in order to use the props to brainwash the people that they worship, which prompts the Warners to fight Pinky and The Brain's mech, with the Warners emerging victorious in the end.

The end shows Brain mumbling of their defeat, but before Brain drags Pinky to prepare for their next evil plan, Yakko suggests them to buy their own store. Pinky and the Brain open their own store in effort to earn enough money for world domination, but however turns out to be a fake ending, with Yakko, Wakko and Dot questioning if they would appear in another video game. Regardless, they are happy and say "Good Night Everybody" to the player. The game ends as the cast of characters and credits roll.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot of the second stage, showing Yakko attacking Ralph with his paddle pong

Animaniacs is a 2D platformer game where the Warners must obtain 5 movie props across 5 different movie lots (4 in the Game Boy version), while avoiding enemies such as Ralph the Guard, Pinky and the Brain, stage hazards and etc.

To complete most stages, the Warners must defeat Ralph and then retrieve the favored item, and work together by switching through the siblings to use their special abilities to help with platforming, getting past enemies, outwitting the level bosses, etc. Stars are scattered throughout the game, and an extra life is awarded for every 100 stars collected.

The player cycles between Yakko, Wakko and Dot to progress throughout the levels. Each of the Warners have unique actions:

• Yakko can push or pull crates and can attack with his paddle pong to keep enemies like Ralph away from him.
• Wakko uses his mallet to break fragile objects, activate switches/buttons and light fuses.
• Dot can emit heart projectiles that affect certain characters so they can move in or out of specific areas to allow the player to progress.

The Warners can withstand up to 8 hit points, with their health being represented by their facial expression, which changes depending on how much health they have left. If they are in fit shape, their expression is excited, if they have 6-5 hit points left, their expression is calm, 4-3 is terrified, and 2-1 is tired, with the expression flashing if they are on their last hit point. Each Warner shares the same health state. Finding apples will restore the Warners' health. If the Warners get hurt until their health is zero, the player will lose a life. If the player runs out of lives by the time he/she has no lives remaining, the game is over, and the Warners will be ejected from the sound stage they are currently in, walking towards the Water Tower in pain. The player is given the option to continue their game, as Ralph is about to close the door to the Water Tower. If the player continues, they will escape, and start back at the beginning of the level he/she was currently on. If the player decides not to continue, or if a few seconds pass without any decision, Ralph will lock the Warners in the Water Tower, giving the player a Game Over.

Lives can be obtained by collecting 100 stars, or by collecting golden Warner faces (which alternates depending on which Warner the player is controlling) found in the levels. The amount of lives the player starts with differs between difficulty settings (4 lives on Easy, 2 lives on Normal and none on Hard).

The levels are timed, starting at 300 seconds, and there is a warning in the form of different, faster and tense music once there is only 29 seconds left, but time can be increased by collecting clocks scattered around that add 100 more seconds to the timer. Running out of time also costs a life.

In the first and third levels, there is a bonus game in the form of a roulette wheel, where the player can earn extra stars. The player can bet up to two stars on each character (Pinky gives x2 the stars the player bets, Brain gives x4, Yakko gives x6, Wakko gives x8, and Dot gives x10). If the roulette lands on any of the characters the player had bet on, the player will receive the betted stars multiplied by the amount next to the character. (Pinky gives a max of 4 stars, Brain 8 stars, Yakko 12, Wakko 16, and Dot 20). The higher the multiplier, the less they appear on the wheel, making it harder to land on them. Landing on a character that the player has not betted stars on will result the betted stars being forfeited.

The Warner Bros. Studio Lot

Stages

Animaniacs features 7 (5 when not counting the tutorial and final boss stages) stages overall. The first stage is part of a tutorial sequence that begins when the player starts the game, and cannot be revisited once completed. When a stage is completed, the player will go to the Studio Map. The remaining four stages can be played in any order. The fifth stage unlocks once all other stages are completed. When the fifth stage is completed, the final boss fight begins.

• Warner Bros. Studio Lot (Tutorial): Tutorial and starting area for the game, which is structured to teach the player how to use the Warners. Cannot be replayed once completed.
• Bungle In the Jungle: Jungle-themed stage. Dirk's Hat from The Adventures of Dirk Rugged VII is found here.
• Space Trucking: A sci-fi themed stage. Dume Rayder's helmet from Space Wars is found here.
• Remember the A La Mode: Western themed stage. Jethro Anderson's sherrif badge from Swing 'em Low, Hang 'em High can be found here.
• To Scream or to Not Scream: Haunted house themed stage. Janus' Mask from Bloodmask: Part 32 can be found here.
• Once There Was A Man Named Oscar: City/Construction themed stage. Begins after all four stages are completed. The "Felix" can be found here.
• ACME Labs (Final Boss): Area where the final boss fight with Pinky and The Brain takes place. Accessed after completing Once There Was A Man Named Oscar.

At the end of a level or a game over, a password is displayed on screen, which allows the player to continue during a a later session by choosing the Password option on the title screen.

Characters

Playable

• Yakko: Yakko uses his paddleball to stun/defeat enemies like Ralph. Yakko also has the ability to push and pull crates.
• Wakko: Wakko uses his mallet for activating buttons, triggering switches, lighting fuses and breaking fragile objects.
• Dot: Dot shoots heart projectiles to stun enemies, characters and bosses, and sometimes make them move somewhere else to progress through the level.

Supporting

• Dr. Sratchansniff: A minor NPC that walks around in the psychiatry clinic.
• The CEO: A minor NPC that walks around aimlessly.
• The Nurse: A minor NPC that walks around aimlessly.
• Squit: A minor NPC that flies around aimlessly.
• Bobby: A minor NPC that flies around aimlessly.
• Pesto: A minor NPC that flies around aimlessly.
• Solley the Godpigeon: A minor NPC that flies around aimlessly.
• Mindy: A minor NPC who happens to make the levels more difficult to her interaction with other objects.
• Buttons: Mindy's pet. Sometimes you need to reunite Mindy with him in order to progress.
• Dennis Hopper: Minor NPC in level four.
• Marita: A minor NPC that walks around aimlessly.
• Flavio: Marita's husband that walks around aimlessly.
• Runt: Minor NPC only featured in the practice stage.
• Rita: Minor NPC standing aimlessly.
• Slappy: Minor NPC only found in level five.
• Skippy: Minor NPC only found in level two.
• Gina Embryo: Minor NPC only found in level three.

Enemies

• Ralph: The studio guard that will do just about anything to catch the Warners and lock them back up in the Water Tower. Is the boss for most of the levels.
• Dracula: Main boss in level four.
• Death: First villain in level four.
• Pinky: Appears with Brain as the final boss.
• Brain: The final boss. A super-smart mouse who wants to take over the world.

Game Boy port

Super Game Boy screenshot

A port of Animaniacs for the Nintendo Game Boy was developed by Factor 5 and published by Konami in 1995.

The Game Boy version of the game is a degraded port with scaled down colors and graphics, with several elements from the Genesis/Mega Drive being either altered or omitted from the Game Boy version, to fit in with the console's limitations and game's cartridge space, such as the game's graphics being degraded and several sections of levels being omitted.

Differences from the Genesis version

• As a Game Boy game, the game's graphics overall have been reduced to fit in the limitations of the Game Boy.
• The cutscenes of the game only feature the default headshots of the featured characters.
• The Science Fiction/Space Opera, Space Wars (Space Trucking) and nearly the entirety of Action Movie - Once There Was A Man Named Oscar levels (minus the final boss fight) have been omitted from the Game Boy version.
• The boss theme is omitted and replaced with a faster version of the final boss theme.
• The port is similar to an arcade game, giving the player his and/or her's final score.
• Some sprites have been changed for unknown reasons, like Ralph having no pupils for example.
• Dracula's fireballs are thrown faster than in the Sega version.
  • Several sections from the original levels have also been removed from the Game Boy version.
• Instead of all three Warners being present at once, only the current Warner being used shows up on the screen.
• The player uses the SELECT button to switch between Warners.
• The HUD has been redesigned to be compact:
  • The HUD displays on the top of the screen instead of overlaying on the game screen.
  • The health indicator is now represented by heart icons, instead of showing the face of the current Warner being controlled.
  • The digits on the level timer is reduced to 2 digits, unlike the original version's 4. To balance this, the game's timer counts down slower.

Playing the game on the Super Game Boy accessory grants a few special enhancements to the game:

• The game displays up to 16 colors instead of the 4 default grayscale colors.
• The game features a special frame when played on the accessory. The frame resembles an old-school TV with an ACME label on it, featuring the Animaniacs logo and icons of Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Pinky, The Brain and Ralph.
  • When the game starts up, a static noise screen is shown, as it resembles an old-school TV turning on.
• The game uses a version of the soundtrack that uses the Super NES sound channels instead of the Game Boy sound channels.
  • Several sound effects are also rendered with the Super NES sound channels.

Additionally, the Game Boy version of Animaniacs is one of the few games that disable the Super Game Boy's ability to change colors during gameplay.

Trivia

• This is the first video game based on Animaniacs to be released.
• This is the first and only Animaniacs product to be released on a Sega console.
  • A Pinky and The Brain game would later enter development for the Sega Saturn (and PlayStation), but was eventually cancelled.
• The US version of the game only shows text in English. In the European version, German and French versions of the game are offered through the options menu.

  

  The spaceship's design appears similar to the Vic Viper from Konami's Gradius series.

• The moving spaceship platform in the beginning of Space Trucking features a design very similar to the Vic Viper, the signature spaceship from Konami's Gradius series.
• Sparkster, the short-lived mascot of Konami, from the Rocket Knight Adventures series appears on the back cover of the game's US instruction manual.
  • Animaniacs has also been paired with Sparkster (along with Tiny Toon Adventures: Acme All-Stars and Wacky Sports Challenge) in a European advertisement.
• The official site for Factor 5 features a section dedicated to Animaniacs, which shows cheat/debug codes that can be activated through the password screen.
  • Unlimited Lives, as the label implies, gives the player unlimited lives.
  • Unlimited Energy, as the label also implies, gives the Warners an infinite amount of health.
  • Unlimited Time, as the label implies, disables the time limit.
  • Level Skip gives the ability to skip levels by pausing the game and pressing Select.
  • Negativ Cheat makes the two midbosses of Stage 2 very difficult, increasing its projectiles throw rate half of the minimum threshold used in the normal mode.
• Like other Sega Genesis games, attaching the Animaniacs cartridge to the lock-on slot of a Sonic & Knuckles cartridge will display the "No Way!" screen, but by activating a secret code, a unique "Blue Spheres" level based on the Special Stages of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles can be played, using the cartridge's data.
• The Animaniacs reboot would later reference this game twice:
  • In "WARnerGAMES 2", Dot performs her kissing projectile move from this game.
  • In Episode 36's variable verse.

Gallery

Promotional Material

SNES-Sega Genesis - Animaniacs from Konami (1994)

Genesis/Mega Drive

Box art

North American box art

European box art

Brazilian box art

Cartridge art

North America

Europe

Game Boy

North American box art

European box art

Screenshots

Genesis/Mega Drive

Title screen

Screenshot of the first stage

Screenshot of the third stage

Pre-release screenshot of the studio stage. Note the different background and debug numbers on the top left.

Game Boy

Title screen (Super Game Boy)

Screenshot of the intro stage (Super Game Boy)

Screenshot of the intro stage (Game Boy)

External Links

• Animaniacs (Sega Genesis) at the Looney Tunes Wiki