Animaniacs Splat Ball
This is capture the flag with, as stated on the box, mild animated violence. As I remember, capture the flag was always somewhat violent. The characters are Yakko, Wakko and Dot (the cute one) along with the usual villains. The object of the game is to capture the opponent's balloon and bring it back to your goal. Defense consists of shooting paint balls and disabling your opponents while trying to avoid being covered with paint yourself. Being covered with paint means a time consuming trip back to the showers. The armament choices mimic full scale shooting games with numerous weapon power-ups, ammunition power-ups and general power-ups which increase speed, grant invisibility, provides protection and invulnerability. When hit, opponents squeal as though they have been tickled, and the Animaniacs provide continuous wise cracks. There are 72 different play settings, some of which will seem familiar to viewers of the TV cartoon series. Music tempo supports the fast pace of the game. In fact, in spite of the level adjustments provided, the game is too fast for the eye hand coordination of the young players familiar with these cartoon characters. However, it is a way to experience the shooting activity with no animals or cartoons being hurt. In single play mode, you control one of the Animaniacs but you can make strategic shifts to one of the other two. If you are playing over a LAN you can have up to six players.
Reviewed by: Genevieve 2/00
Ages Everyone