This review contains spoilers
Taz Mania for the game gear has given me much to think about. It has given me more to chew on than a thanksgiving feast, or even 3 packs of bubble gum.
There are many a gamer out there who believe that video games should be nothing more than just that, games. Simple level to level gameplay is all that matters, after all, right? However, this line of thinking, while not wrong in its own right, doesn't acknowledge how video games can be unique from other story telling mediums. It has been said all too many times by various deep thinking people of play, but the thing that sets video games apart from something like a novel or movie is the interactivity.
While it is full of potential for unique, interesting stories, most games are either not interested in pursuing such heights, or try, but ultimately fail at doing so. Many modern games attempt at taking advantage of the medium usually ends at "walk forward while a character talks to you" (examples include any playstation exlcusive released in the past 5 years), or when it comes to interactivity, you can make your own choices to experience a wholly mediocre narrative differently than your buddies (example: any david cage game).
When not using those techniques, story based games often use methods such as dumping so much text that I can tell my mom that I actually haven't stopped reading because I played a visual novel, or the meta narrative. Meta narratives are often a bit shallow, however, as their ideas usually go only as far as "killing people is wrong and gamers are bad???" (which is wrong, killing people that disagree with you is awesome and correct).
With that tangent aside, what does this have to do with Taz-Mania? How does it serve this review for me to shit on a bunch of unnamed games using unspecific examples? What is the point of it all???
I believe it was important to highlight the shortcomings of modern games in order to appreciate how Taz-Mania nigh perfected blending gameplay and story all the way back in the distant age of 1992.
On the surface, the story is very basic, almost non existent. The premise is that Taz' father Hugh recounts to him a tale of the giant seabirds, whos eggs could feed the Tasmanian devils for a whole year. Consumed by gluttony, Taz embarks on a quest to locate the seabird, and feed on his unborn.taz is a lib confirmed?
At just a glance, yes, it is nothing of note. Hell, playing the game without the manual nowadays, you probably won't even know the story (this actually enhances the game, but let's put a pin in that for now). Once you look deeper inside, however, you will find one of the greatest studies on psychological warfare out there (which I know a lot about btw, I had to do a report on the chocolate war in 8th grade).
Within moments of booting the game, the player will be met with a Taz in a frenzy. What does he feel? Confusion? Anger? Sadness? Is this whole journey a coping mechanism, and to what does he direct these emotions towards? Unfortunately for the wild devil and the player, there is naught the time to reflect on such things, because without immediate action, a boulder will tumble over Taz, and kill him instantly. Confusion. What the fuck just happened? Why is B the jump button? Why is he so slow? I hope Taz dies (he did).
The player is once again thrust into a second chance at life, where they will probably realize that A is to spin, and that is the method to outrun the boulder.
Like a shot of some drug (idk), the feeling of spinning makes Taz and the player feel invincible. Despite the nature of the action, there is control. Yet, just like the high of a substance, it cannot last. Spinning drains your health, it is painful to move forward. Without knowing that you can hit down to eat rocks and tanks (for some fucking reason), the boulder will catch you and fell Taz once more. Anger. Who makes this game? I hope they are locked up forever. I wish to see the developers sealed within the earth.
After many failed attempts, I (and I suspect many others playing this ultra popular game gear hit) found myself facing a large gap. For some reason, I thought I had to just fall into it to clear the level, because my previous attempts of jumping had been nothing short of pathetic. Predictably, Taz sunk to the bottom of the earth, as did my heart. Sadness. I had to do the whole level all over again. I want to quit. I want to cry. This game sucks. This game is not fun. This is one of the worst games I've ever played. You have surely heard the various critiques. The music can hardly be counted as such. The visuals are painful to look at. The game is bullshit and the average person would probably take eating a buffalo's shit pissed on by a giraffe and covered in some other unpleasant animal substance over playing Taz-Mania to completion.
And yet, despite what we say, we persevere. Our mind tells us to stop. Our senses are being assaulted. We're not having fun. Yet we feel in urge to continue. Our body and mind are at odds. But we must have the inherit urge to conquer Taz-Mania. To what end?
The reason Taz-Mania is so compelling is because it reflects the human existence. It is not the first, and was certainly not the last, but I believe it pulls it off with the most aplomb.
Think of "good acting compilations". What are the emotions you see displayed most often in them? Confusion, anger, and sadness. It is how Taz feels, and by extension, how the player feels. He is the perfect player vessel. You and Taz work together to push through the pain and frustration together, and I did. We reached the end of the line, just like last time. I press and hold the jump button. The follows events had me in awe and nearly brought me to tears. Despite previously not being able to clear small springs of water moments before, the Tasmanian Devil makes a miraculous leap that would make Michael Jordan in space jam blush, escaping the boulder, and by extension, clearing the level.
Taz-Mania ultimately represents the indomitable human spirit in the face of the indifferent cruelty of the universe. Nature does not care for our suffering. There are more levels in the game, each somehow more painful than the last. Yet despite it all, the player and Taz push on, before inevitably reaching the Sea Bird's treasure.
Life will always be messy. There will be ups, but there will also be many, many downs. Playing this game could be considered a big down honestly. Even if you conquer one obstacle in life, another could be waiting right around the corner. The cruelty of the universe becomes almost comical at a point. But what do we as a species have in common? We push on. No matter the odds, be it the Ice Age, the Black Plague, or Taz-Mania for the game gear, humanity always finds a way.
Today may be hard. Tomorrow may be worse. But if one thing is certain, it's that there is always a way. And like how Taz is probably savoring his year long feast with his loved ones as a reward for his efforts, we enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that we were able to overcome it, despite it all.
still giving it one star tho lol
There are many a gamer out there who believe that video games should be nothing more than just that, games. Simple level to level gameplay is all that matters, after all, right? However, this line of thinking, while not wrong in its own right, doesn't acknowledge how video games can be unique from other story telling mediums. It has been said all too many times by various deep thinking people of play, but the thing that sets video games apart from something like a novel or movie is the interactivity.
While it is full of potential for unique, interesting stories, most games are either not interested in pursuing such heights, or try, but ultimately fail at doing so. Many modern games attempt at taking advantage of the medium usually ends at "walk forward while a character talks to you" (examples include any playstation exlcusive released in the past 5 years), or when it comes to interactivity, you can make your own choices to experience a wholly mediocre narrative differently than your buddies (example: any david cage game).
When not using those techniques, story based games often use methods such as dumping so much text that I can tell my mom that I actually haven't stopped reading because I played a visual novel, or the meta narrative. Meta narratives are often a bit shallow, however, as their ideas usually go only as far as "killing people is wrong and gamers are bad???" (which is wrong, killing people that disagree with you is awesome and correct).
With that tangent aside, what does this have to do with Taz-Mania? How does it serve this review for me to shit on a bunch of unnamed games using unspecific examples? What is the point of it all???
I believe it was important to highlight the shortcomings of modern games in order to appreciate how Taz-Mania nigh perfected blending gameplay and story all the way back in the distant age of 1992.
On the surface, the story is very basic, almost non existent. The premise is that Taz' father Hugh recounts to him a tale of the giant seabirds, whos eggs could feed the Tasmanian devils for a whole year. Consumed by gluttony, Taz embarks on a quest to locate the seabird, and feed on his unborn.
At just a glance, yes, it is nothing of note. Hell, playing the game without the manual nowadays, you probably won't even know the story (this actually enhances the game, but let's put a pin in that for now). Once you look deeper inside, however, you will find one of the greatest studies on psychological warfare out there (which I know a lot about btw, I had to do a report on the chocolate war in 8th grade).
Within moments of booting the game, the player will be met with a Taz in a frenzy. What does he feel? Confusion? Anger? Sadness? Is this whole journey a coping mechanism, and to what does he direct these emotions towards? Unfortunately for the wild devil and the player, there is naught the time to reflect on such things, because without immediate action, a boulder will tumble over Taz, and kill him instantly. Confusion. What the fuck just happened? Why is B the jump button? Why is he so slow? I hope Taz dies (he did).
The player is once again thrust into a second chance at life, where they will probably realize that A is to spin, and that is the method to outrun the boulder.
Like a shot of some drug (idk), the feeling of spinning makes Taz and the player feel invincible. Despite the nature of the action, there is control. Yet, just like the high of a substance, it cannot last. Spinning drains your health, it is painful to move forward. Without knowing that you can hit down to eat rocks and tanks (for some fucking reason), the boulder will catch you and fell Taz once more. Anger. Who makes this game? I hope they are locked up forever. I wish to see the developers sealed within the earth.
After many failed attempts, I (and I suspect many others playing this ultra popular game gear hit) found myself facing a large gap. For some reason, I thought I had to just fall into it to clear the level, because my previous attempts of jumping had been nothing short of pathetic. Predictably, Taz sunk to the bottom of the earth, as did my heart. Sadness. I had to do the whole level all over again. I want to quit. I want to cry. This game sucks. This game is not fun. This is one of the worst games I've ever played. You have surely heard the various critiques. The music can hardly be counted as such. The visuals are painful to look at. The game is bullshit and the average person would probably take eating a buffalo's shit pissed on by a giraffe and covered in some other unpleasant animal substance over playing Taz-Mania to completion.
And yet, despite what we say, we persevere. Our mind tells us to stop. Our senses are being assaulted. We're not having fun. Yet we feel in urge to continue. Our body and mind are at odds. But we must have the inherit urge to conquer Taz-Mania. To what end?
The reason Taz-Mania is so compelling is because it reflects the human existence. It is not the first, and was certainly not the last, but I believe it pulls it off with the most aplomb.
Think of "good acting compilations". What are the emotions you see displayed most often in them? Confusion, anger, and sadness. It is how Taz feels, and by extension, how the player feels. He is the perfect player vessel. You and Taz work together to push through the pain and frustration together, and I did. We reached the end of the line, just like last time. I press and hold the jump button. The follows events had me in awe and nearly brought me to tears. Despite previously not being able to clear small springs of water moments before, the Tasmanian Devil makes a miraculous leap that would make Michael Jordan in space jam blush, escaping the boulder, and by extension, clearing the level.
Taz-Mania ultimately represents the indomitable human spirit in the face of the indifferent cruelty of the universe. Nature does not care for our suffering. There are more levels in the game, each somehow more painful than the last. Yet despite it all, the player and Taz push on, before inevitably reaching the Sea Bird's treasure.
Life will always be messy. There will be ups, but there will also be many, many downs. Playing this game could be considered a big down honestly. Even if you conquer one obstacle in life, another could be waiting right around the corner. The cruelty of the universe becomes almost comical at a point. But what do we as a species have in common? We push on. No matter the odds, be it the Ice Age, the Black Plague, or Taz-Mania for the game gear, humanity always finds a way.
Today may be hard. Tomorrow may be worse. But if one thing is certain, it's that there is always a way. And like how Taz is probably savoring his year long feast with his loved ones as a reward for his efforts, we enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that we were able to overcome it, despite it all.
still giving it one star tho lol