Title: BUGS BUNNY & TAZ TIME BUSTERS
Genre: Platform
Strap: This game has got Bugs in it. Ha ha shootmenow ha ha ha.

Platform games always have been, are, and shall forever be, an absolute nightmare for the consummate PC journalist to review. Long the domain of established consoles, running, jumping, and bouncing on character’s heads until they change into a token has never found a niche in the realm of the mouse-operated. With the exception of the sophisticated Tomb Raider, no platform game has ever caused the purchase of a new machine. (How many of us bought new graphic’s cards just to be able to play Unreal etc?).

And it’s not really about to change today. Heavily influenced by Gex 3D, and to a greater extent Mario 64, Time Busters puts you in control of Warner stalwarts Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil (Taz). Naughty old Daffy Duck has broken Granny’s time machine, scattering cogs throughout various periods of history. Bugs is roped in to work alongside Granny’s pet Taz to find these cogs, and catch Daffy and the missing Time Crystal.

The twist here is the necessity to control both characters in order to be able to solve puzzles and complete levels. Bugs can jump high, roll through holes, and burrow underground, while Taz can pick up heavy objects, smash obstacles and scare enemies. Switching back and forth between each character immediately becomes natural, and as levels progress you learn ‘combo’ moves which require using the two together, without things becoming too awkward.

Levels are very much like the N64’s Mario 64 – wide open villages built out of lavishly 3D structures, filled with passageways and entrances to numerous subquests. These include some challenges that are good enough to have been released games in their own right – hockey, sledding, basketball – which provide prizes in the form of the various tokens needed to progress.

Sadly there are a lot of glitches throughout which either cause controls to become near impossible, or worse, the computer to lock up. When you haven’t saved for a while, this can cause some very impressive swearing to spill from your mouth.