Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action!

It's time for An-i-man-i-acs
And we're zany to the max
So just sit back and relax
You'll laugh till you collapse
We're An-i-man-i-acs

It is amazing that I remember the beginning verse from the Animaniacs theme song that is written above. I used to watch that show when I got out of school while eating my snack for the afternoon. The show was about three siblings that caused trouble for Warner Brothers, so they locked them in the WB Tower. Every episode was about them escaping and causing general havoc on the set. It had a lot of good episodes that were really funny. What really made this cartoon interesting is that it has skits of other characters in this series, such as Pinky and the Brain. Well that show is now long gone, but hopping to revive it in game form is the developers at Ignition. Have they captured the magic of the show? Read on to find out.

The premise of the game is something that could have been made into an actual episode. The Animaniacs have cost the Warner Brothers studio one zillion dollars by their zany antics and reckless living. To make up for the studio’s loses, and not get locked up in the tower, they have to face their greatest challenge ever - they will have to make three full feature films in one shot. If they can pull it off, they will be able to pay back what they owe, if not it means back to the water tower for all eternity. So there is a lot riding on getting these three films finished and in pristine condition. Are you up to the challenge?

Once players load into the game they will have to find the movie director who will tell you exactly what you will need to do in this scene. Players will need to find keys to open doors, throw fruit at the enemies, push barrels around to get to a high spot in the level. The objectives that players will have to accomplish are very easy to do.

Throughout the course of this game, players will be able to transverse three unique movie genres, that each have five levels. Each level looks different from the rest, and each movie set is completely different from each other. The first movie is set in a Treasure Island setting, next is a sci-fi flick set up in space, and the final setting is a monster movie flick. Each level provides its own unique set of enemies and challenges that players must overcome if they want to continue. The game also lets you play as one of five characters from the TV show, Yakko, Wakko, Dot, Pinky, and The Brain. Each character offers something that the other characters do not, but they each have their own weaknesses as well. If you are trying to relate it to anything think of Super Mario Brothers 2 character set-up and you will have an idea how the characters are played.

The biggest thing that kills this game is the controls. Since the game is played in an isometric point of view, you would think that this would not be that big of a problem - well, it defiinitely is. While it isn’t hard to actually control the characters it is very difficult to line them up to do certain tasks. If you are trying to throw projectiles at an enemy you have to line up perfectly in their line of sight to hit them. Trying to do this is seemingly impossible; you will think you are lined up, but you will soon find out that you are not. Once you do get lined up you are often taken out because the enemy is finally right upon you.

If that wasn’t bad enough, other problems are created when you are trying to stroll throughout the levels. This becomes apparent once more when you are trying to line up your jumps or push boxes around the level to get to another part of the building. You will lose precious film time trying to move those blasted boxes around to climb up someplace to get a key or other precious item.

Another big complaint I have with this game is that it uses something so old that I am amazed it would still be used. As a matter of fact when I first opened up the instruction booklet I thought it was a joke. What I am referring to is that this game uses password saves for each level. That’s right, there is no battery-powered save points. How insane is that? If you manage to get pretty far in the game without losing your sanity due to the faulty control scheme you now have to have a piece of paper and pen handy so you can write down the password to continue your game later. If I can recall correctly this is the year 2005 and not 1992. Get with the times here; this makes this “portable” game a lot less portable since it makes the game a lot less player friendly while on the go.

The graphics for this game are decent but nothing special. It does not push the DS hardware in any sense or even fully utilize the touch screen for some really unique gameplay situation. The sound effects and music for this game fit the game pretty well, but it is nothing out of the ordinary. If you have a couple of friends that have a Nintendo DS, then you can play up to four player arena-battle modes.

Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action! is rated 3+ (which is a European game rating) which I can assume would mean E for everyone over in the United States.

Gameplay: 4.2
If you are into games that are very hard to control, then this game is for you! You will spend the majority of the game trying to line up to do various tasks such as throw projectiles at people and push boxes. Simple tasks are made hard to do thanks to the arduous controls.

Graphics: 5.5
The game looks pretty decent, especially the character models, but it did not take advantage of the Nintendo DS hardware in any sense.

Sound: 5.8
The sound effects are decent and the music in the game doesn’t get annoying …. too quickly.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is pretty easy, but the thing that makes it hard is the stupid control scheme. You will fight it the entire game.

Concept: 6.1
I liked the idea that players are under a continuous time limit, but it is shown by the film reels, which can be gathered throughout the entire game, instead of the normal “timer.” This game also doesn’t even utilize the touch screen for any unique gameplay elements.

Multiplayer: N/A
I was not able to test this feature out at the time of the review.

Overall: 4.8
Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action! has an nice premise, but the execution of this game is not so good. The controls really ruin the entire game because it makes it almost unplayable. If that wasn’t bad enough players have to keep up with passwords to continue their game. I didn’t know that we were still in the early 90’s. If you enjoy having your sanity and your Nintendo DS in one piece, avoid this game.