I didn't like my previous review so I'm going to rewrite it with a more serious tone.
Taz-Mania made for the Game Gear in 1992 is easily one of the best character studies in all of fiction. The game places you in the role of Taz the Tazmanian Devil, a being who knows no more than the fury of his spins and the constant agony that is his existence. The game shows you how rough life for Taz is by the very first second of the very first level when from the moment Taz is finally controllable, he is immediately chased by a giant fucking boulder and is required to spin to escape, all while making good timing to eat the various pieces of food in order to restore his stamina. To summarize, the instant you have control of Taz you are immediately put in a sink or swim situation. You will die, that's not a possibility that's just a fact. The only other game I've played that I can compare its opening to is Drakengard, a game that throws you in medias res with no coherent understanding of what's happening or really how to play it.
If you somehow manage to not get filtered by the first garbage level of this game, you will definitely get filtered by the second level which takes control away from the player as Taz is forced to drive through a mineshaft. This entire part of the game is trial and error. If it weren't for my friend giving me exact instructions on which route to take, I would never have gotten past this point.
I don't mind Trial and Error when its done well, take the Classic Sonic games for example. When you're first playing through a game, you won't know what obstacles lie ahead of you. However, because those games have good movement capabilities and give you a variety of routes and freedom of choice, that trial and error gameplay only helps to accentuate the experience and provides the joy of exploration.
Not in Taz-Mania though, it is an absolute do or die, and all you can do is press up on the D-pad while pressing the A button at the right time. And if that wasn't bad enough, this level is just one of many levels that flat out refuses to give the player control of Taz outside of jumps. If there is anything I hate in video games, it is a lack of control. In a sense though, this goes back to this game being the perfect example of its titular character, Taz lacks control, and so it makes sense that a game starring him would also seize control away from the player. Unfortunately, good game design this does not make.
I could go on and on about the levels, like the one where Taz is frozen in ice and blown by a comically large standup fan and you have to perfectly time your jumps on other blocks of ice or risk an immediate game over, or the second to last level that just has you jumping through a complete nothing level which gave me Knuckles' Chaotix flashbacks while I learned that Taz can just fly if you time the spin jump right, but it would just be redundant.
The one thing that confirms this games quality (or rather lack thereof) is the fact that it was developed and produced by the same man, Mac Senour. He was a producer at Sega, and was the game designer for Taz-Mania. His history of credited games starts with this game, and ends within only a year in regards to his Sega related work. The games he produced were all Game Gear exclusive, meaning that this version of Taz-Mania was his baby. I don't know if there were time constraints, I don't really care honestly, the only thing I'm curious about is if Mr. Senour's vision for Taz was achieved in this game. If nothing else, it left me in a raving, foamed at the mouth state just like the character, which is why I decided to rewrite the review in the first place.
The game is bad, but it's in that range of terrible games where it needs to be seen to be believed and that's why I'm glad this website exists. If it weren't for people reviewing this game on here, and my friends playing the game because of those reviews, I would never have played it myself. Sometimes playing a bad game can give you a further appreciation of the medium in general, as good games clearly have passion and a vision placed into them, while games like Taz-Mania don't.
Taz-Mania made for the Game Gear in 1992 is easily one of the best character studies in all of fiction. The game places you in the role of Taz the Tazmanian Devil, a being who knows no more than the fury of his spins and the constant agony that is his existence. The game shows you how rough life for Taz is by the very first second of the very first level when from the moment Taz is finally controllable, he is immediately chased by a giant fucking boulder and is required to spin to escape, all while making good timing to eat the various pieces of food in order to restore his stamina. To summarize, the instant you have control of Taz you are immediately put in a sink or swim situation. You will die, that's not a possibility that's just a fact. The only other game I've played that I can compare its opening to is Drakengard, a game that throws you in medias res with no coherent understanding of what's happening or really how to play it.
If you somehow manage to not get filtered by the first garbage level of this game, you will definitely get filtered by the second level which takes control away from the player as Taz is forced to drive through a mineshaft. This entire part of the game is trial and error. If it weren't for my friend giving me exact instructions on which route to take, I would never have gotten past this point.
I don't mind Trial and Error when its done well, take the Classic Sonic games for example. When you're first playing through a game, you won't know what obstacles lie ahead of you. However, because those games have good movement capabilities and give you a variety of routes and freedom of choice, that trial and error gameplay only helps to accentuate the experience and provides the joy of exploration.
Not in Taz-Mania though, it is an absolute do or die, and all you can do is press up on the D-pad while pressing the A button at the right time. And if that wasn't bad enough, this level is just one of many levels that flat out refuses to give the player control of Taz outside of jumps. If there is anything I hate in video games, it is a lack of control. In a sense though, this goes back to this game being the perfect example of its titular character, Taz lacks control, and so it makes sense that a game starring him would also seize control away from the player. Unfortunately, good game design this does not make.
I could go on and on about the levels, like the one where Taz is frozen in ice and blown by a comically large standup fan and you have to perfectly time your jumps on other blocks of ice or risk an immediate game over, or the second to last level that just has you jumping through a complete nothing level which gave me Knuckles' Chaotix flashbacks while I learned that Taz can just fly if you time the spin jump right, but it would just be redundant.
The one thing that confirms this games quality (or rather lack thereof) is the fact that it was developed and produced by the same man, Mac Senour. He was a producer at Sega, and was the game designer for Taz-Mania. His history of credited games starts with this game, and ends within only a year in regards to his Sega related work. The games he produced were all Game Gear exclusive, meaning that this version of Taz-Mania was his baby. I don't know if there were time constraints, I don't really care honestly, the only thing I'm curious about is if Mr. Senour's vision for Taz was achieved in this game. If nothing else, it left me in a raving, foamed at the mouth state just like the character, which is why I decided to rewrite the review in the first place.
The game is bad, but it's in that range of terrible games where it needs to be seen to be believed and that's why I'm glad this website exists. If it weren't for people reviewing this game on here, and my friends playing the game because of those reviews, I would never have played it myself. Sometimes playing a bad game can give you a further appreciation of the medium in general, as good games clearly have passion and a vision placed into them, while games like Taz-Mania don't.