But first some rules! Firstly: Only games where you play as Bugs Bunny was considered. Secondly: We didn't include sports games... Obviously that would need a list of it's own (sorry Space Jam!). Thirdly: I considered series as a whole, so no individual games will be found on this list. On to the list!
10. Rabbit Transit (Atari 2600)
Alright... So apparently this rabbit is Bugs... Uh huh okay. This game is supposedly based on the very funny Rabbit Transit short but really it's just a frogger rip off. You jump over eggs or onto platforms and light them up and once you reach the end you move on to the next level. Except there is only 2 levels, the eggs level and the platform level you just keep bouncing between with the difficulty going up each time... It was very repetitive and didn't take long to get boring and if I hear London Bridge one more time I'm gonna kill somebody. But hey at least it beat Acme Arsenal!
9. Looney Tunes: Back In Action (GBA)
This is where, as far as I'm concerned, the Looney Tunes games started going downhill. Back In Action was released on several platforms but since I played all these games on emulators it was just easier to do the GBA version and the first thing I noticed was how rough the controls were. It's reminiscent of an NES game where you could only move up, down, left or right and very choppy at that. But this game came out a decade after the NES died! The storyline was decent enough and the game looks pretty good for a handheld but it's hard to get past those horrendous controls.
8. Loons: The Fight For Fame (X-Box)
I was probably most excited to play Loons when researching this list. The premise hooked me, it's a fighting game that pits Daffy, Taz, Sylvester and of course Bugs against each other for the role of a lifetime in a film, they don't realize they are trying to tank the studio so that they can buy all the stock for cheap. They tried to make a "looney" fighting game but it moves far too slowly to be engaging. And what kind of fighting game only has 4 playable characters? Insanity I tell you. The game is fun in spurts but it gets old quick. Maybe worth a garage sale pick-up though.
7. Looney Tunes: Collector Alert! (GBC)
Apparently back in the day every game tried to be Pokemon and Looney Tunes had their own "collect them all" game. Marvin The Martian is trying to destroy earth and Bugs must stop him with the help of the characters he collects. The game even spawned a sequel which was basically this game from Marvin's point of view, unfortunetly Bugs isn't really playable so that wasn't considered. This game is fun enough and has decent graphics for the game boy color era. The music could be better but it handles quite well and isn't as long in the tooth as collecting 150 pocket monsters but there's lots of replay value trying to complete your roster of Looney Tunes.
6. Bugs Bunny: Lost In Time/Bugs Bunny & Taz: Timebusters (PS1)
This was Bugs first foray into 3D design and I guess it probably looked good at the time but it was far too polygonal for my liking and the graphics were pretty choppy. The camera also has a lot of issues which surprised me right off the bat since there wasn't a whole lot of obstacles on the first stage of the original game which sees Bugs lost in time before joining Taz in the sequel on the hunt for several objects that were lost in time. They add enough obstacles and abilities for both characters to keep the games interesting and the developpers really made great use of the license. It also is the 2nd best game on the list for using the humour and storylines from the cartoons.
5. The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout (NES)
This game is perhaps most worthy of this list seeing as though it was put out about 25 years ago to celebrate Bugs's 50th birthday back before the Nintendo was "super". Birthday Blowout follows Bugs as he tries to get to his birthday party. A lot of the gameplay resembles Super Mario Bros but it's slightly different since Bugs is armed with a mallet and picks up carrot blocks instead of coins, but it is very much a Mario-clone in the side-scrolling adventure game genre. NES games are usually known to be challenging but Birthday Blowout is not since I made it over halfway through the game in less than an hour of gameplay but it never felt repetitive which was a challenge for games back then.
4. Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble (Genesis)
Although Lost In Time was the 2nd best game at paying homage to it's cartoon counterpart it can not touch Bugs adventure on the Sega Genesis. Double Trouble has Bugs trapped in a TV and reliving some of his classics cartoons including "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" and "Knighty Knight Bugs". It was a lot of fun to relive these moments appropriately so in great graphic form on the Genesis.
3. Looney Tunes: Carrot Crazy (GBC)
Birthday Blowout may have set the standard for what a Looney Tunes jump and run side scroller should play, but Carrot Crazy on the game boy color perfected it. This game gave Bugs all kinds of fun abilities that set the stage for his adventures on the Playstation. Sure it's really nothing that Mario and Sonic didn't do already, but that's really the only thing that held it back. Surprisingly this game, unlike most game boy games, has a good soundtrack and is really a staple of MOST Looney Tunes games on the hand held system, the previously mentioned Collector Alert included.
2. Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage (SNES)
Going into this list, this game was the only one I remembered from my childhood, and I remembered it fondly. All those days in my basement playing the copy I rented from my local rental store, Video Capers in case you were wondering. I'm proud to report it holds up amazingly. Great gameplay, great graphics, great sound and tons of replay value. I had a hard time moving on to the next game since I was having so much fun. If you own a Super Nintendo you'd be crazy to not own this game or at the very least have played it!
1. Crazy Castle Series
Bugs Bunny was the star of the first 4 Crazy Castle games in North America before giving way to Woody Woodpecker for the fifth installment. These insanely fun puzzle games spanned 3 systems. The original on the NES was great fun if you're a fan of puzzle games. This, like Rabbit Rampage, I had a hard time putting down. The sequel on the Game Boy kept it's predecessors gameplay but it was hard to listen to that god awful music. The third installment now on the Game Boy Color proved to be the high water mark of the series and made me forget all about the original NES game. The fourth was a step back as they tried to do too much instead of sticking with what works. I can tell you that I enjoyed this game so much that I'll be looking out for Crazy Castle 3 at used video game stores to play on my Game Boy player for my Nintendo GameCube.
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