Taz Express

Another famous screen cartoon hero makes a move onto the N64 and this time it's the one and only psychotic Tasmanian Devil. Rather unsurprisingly developer Zed Two has chosen to turn this licence into yet another platform game but unlike the big screen conversions of Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life this game actually throws in a few original ideas.

The objective in Taz Express is for you to deliver a crate across to the other side of your home island. You see apparently your equally spin-happy better half Mrs Taz has gone out and got you a job at the ACME postal service! God knows who the other candidates were but if they chose Taz to deliver a package safely then we probably don't want to know! Anyway this is where the originality comes in because instead of a set amount of health for Taz you have limited lives for the box. What this means is that in true 'toon style Taz cannot die but damage the crate and he's in serious trouble!

Puzzle-Taz-Tic!

This actually makes for some really addictive puzzle-filled gameplay as you cannot do half the things like jumping or spinning when you have the crate. So instead you need to work out a route through each of the themed levels without leaving the crate open to attack from the many dangers set there to annoy you. On one of the levels you have to line up several catapults before dropping the crate onto them and then you can only wait and watch to see if all your work was in vain!

There are loads of puzzles in the game like this which don't exactly tax the old grey matter that much but which do provide a challenge. Just because you know how to do something in this game doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to actually do it! As well as all the normal stages in Taz Express you also get various bonus levels dotted around the game. These basically consist of a race against the clock to a finish line but as you might expect nothing's ever quite as simple as that. The mad ball of hair that is Taz gets to skate, fly and swim against the clock!

Go Gadget Go!

Depending on which of the three doors you choose to go through at the start of the game, at the end of the game you are awarded a bonus item. Now if you go through the game again you can use this item to access new areas of each level. This is a great way of getting some much needed replay value because you will have to go through the game more than a few times before you can finish it completely which is most definitely a good thing considering the lack of any multiplayer modes in Taz Express.

The animation in the game itself is very amusing. Whether it's Taz eating a giant pizza or him waving goodbye as he drowns, Taz Express looks like it could've come straight out of a Warner Brothers cartoon. This does suit the game extremely well but it can be a little too plain in places and you can't help but feel that the game needs to push the cartoon quality a little further. The levels luckily never become too monotonous and the colours are vibrant but the whole thing still needs just that little bit more easier. All of the controls for our furry friend are accessed through the control stick and the A and B buttons. There's no memorising complex button combinations or special moves in this game – the emphasis instead is purely on enjoying yourself. The only thing which can be difficult to do is getting up enough speed to go into a spin but once you get the hang of this there's loads of fun to be had.

Comical Fogging

Thankfully you also get the option of being able to spin the camera around you on most of the levels. This is a God-send in some areas where the perspective is constantly changing and moments arise where you just can't see what's going on. For the most part Taz Express uses quite a high camera angle to show the action but when you do get the privilege of a low camera you can see why! Basically the game has quite bad pop-up and fogging. In some areas of the game all you get is a huge uninspiring plain white open space with a couple of platforms to jump across! Fortunately the high camera angle does hide this for the most part but when it doesn't, it really can spoil an otherwise colourful game. Taz Express is a fun platform puzzler which would benefit from a few refinements here and there but is otherwise very playable. Definitely a good one for the kids but with enough of a challenge to keep the older gamers infuriated!

Chaotic Spinning

Another feature which suits the game well but still feels a little too weak is the sound. The noises that come out of Taz as he careens around the levels are superb. It's amazing how much character a few grunts, screams and groans can give to an on-screen animal! What do let this game down though, are the other sound effects which can seem a tad dull next to the main character's ranting and raving. Having said that the main focus of the game is on Taz and he does make enough noise for everyone as he wreaks havoc in each level. The idea in Taz Express may be to protect the crate but there's also a lot of fun to be had just destroying all that you come across in the levels! Laying to waste each area as you go through it and controlling Taz himself couldn't be…

Infogrames have a deal with Warner Brothers and are making good use of their licensing agreement. Cartoon favourite Taz is getting his own game on the N64 and it's as wild and wacky as you can imagine. Mrs Taz, fed up with her hubby sitting around on the couch all day, takes it upon herself to register Taz with a recruitment agency and thus finds him a job as a delivery boy. Hence Taz has to carry a crate over the colourful 3-D landscapes, making sure that the package arrives unharmed. This sounds easy, but if you're a Tazmanian Devil who twists like Chubby Checker after a heavy dose of Red Bull – well, we can assure you that it's not!

In the game Taz acts just like his cartoon counterpart and so he can run extremely fast, eat various scattered foodstuffs and twist like a mini tornado, demolishing everything in his path. There are six different worlds to get through with bonus stages and lots of hidden surprises to uncover. Along the way you must pit your wits against other famous Warner Brothers characters including Wile E Coyote, Marvin the Martian and Yosemite Sam. The puzzles and challenges change from level to level so you never quite know what to expect next. With a hyper-energetic flurry of teeth you can smash through rocks and other pieces of scenery and discover a whole bunch of secrets. Opening these routes is crucial if you want to find all the excellent mini-games and these are invariably very entertaining. They include racing, rollerskating, jet-packing and many other fun activities which give the intense 3-D cartoon action the variety of game play it needs.

Although the secrets are worthwhile your on-screen enemies are all constantly trying to steal, damage or destroy your precious parcel so care must be taken when leaving it unattended. This can lead to some tricky moments, for instance when leaping over several awkward ledges, but there is help in the form of shield spots. The graphics look vibrant and colourful and the six worlds all have different themes such as 'Wild West' and 'Independence Day'. The gameplay is just plain loony and the loveable grumbling whirlwind is fairly easy to control. A lot of time has been spent trying to make this game an extension of the cartoon and thus on-screen Taz performs superbly.

So it's not Perfect Dark or Resident Evil 2 and there's no blood, guns or guts in the game – but Taz Express still has plenty of appeal. Taz himself has fans of all ages and the game is a delight to play. This could be a big hit this summer and although it faces some tough competition if it is released in June, it could well surprise you. Taz Express looks great, but the gameplay is this title's strong point and if more sound effects are added it could almost be like watching the real thing. The game is nearing completion and we can't wait to get our hands on the finished product!

Not to be outdone by pals Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, the Tasmanian Devil now has his own game. Taz Express finds our ferocious furball working as a delivery boy for an overnight courier service, delivering Acme boxes to recipients all over the Looney Tunes universe. He's beset by weather, obstacles, and all the craziness of his Toon compadres, who make cameo appearances throughout the game. You can look for Taz Express whirling toward ya this fall.

The extremely nice people at Infogrames invited us down to take a look at two new games, and nothing could prepare us for what we saw. Upon arriving, a man was being carried out of the building giggling insanely, carrots tucked into the sleeves on his strait jacket. Something was definitely amiss. Venturing inside, a group of people were found huddled around an ACME TV, watching re-runs of old Warner Brothers cartoons. Glazed looks and eerie fixed smiles confirmed our worst fears - the company famous for their armadillo logo had jumped into bed with the Looney Tunes gang. Don't worry, the doctor told us that after extensive psychiatric help they'd all be back to normal. Let's face it though, who. wouldn't want to work on a game where watching cartoons all day could be considered research?

The first cartoon character to be given the computer game treatment is Taz, the —Tasmanian devil. Regular readers of 64 Magazine will know that Taz Express has been in the pipeline now for quite some time. Now we've finally played it, and it is a delight. The story goes like this: Taz has been told by Mrs Taz to take a job delivering a parcel and it's your job to get it to its destination safely. On your way you'll trawel through five worlds, from the Tasmanian bushland all the way to Mars and back.

Mars? Well, where else would you find Marvin the Martian? That's right; as Well as Taz, you get to meet up with loads other Warner characters who act as bosses, giving you a variety of challenges across the 30 themed levels. One of the most fun things about this game is the differences in styles of play – this can often spell disaster for a game, but here it works really well. As well as the susal puzzle-solving levels, you get bonus stages such as the fast side-on scrolling Wil E Coyote race.

All of the levels look gorgeous with crisp colourful graphics and virtually no fogging, thanks to the high camera angle. Developer Zed Two created its owm dynamic 3-D engine for this game and the beautifully textured scenery looks all the better for it. On most games the textures are stretched to the model they are pasted onto, but here the textures are all the right size, which gives a nice high resolution effect j without the need for the Expansion Pak. Another great thing about this game is that it has built in memory, so saved games won't be lost on a failing Controller Pak!

Big Haliy Beast

The sound effects in the game are spot on, which probably comes from an unhealthy amount of cartoon consumption. Taz is obviously vocally challenged, but there is no doubt that the thing you're controlling is the big hairy beast himself. Some speech has also been specially recorded, for this title for the other characters. It is really easy to believe that you're taking part in cartoon experience.

This being a cartoon, Taz can't physically die, so your lives in the game are represented by the box that you carry. Damage it too much or lose it and that will be the end of a life. The box can be put down while you kill baddies or solve puzzles, but thankfully there are safe points to protect the precious cargo. Drop the crate onto one of these tiles and a metal force field will erect around it, thus preventihg anyone from stealing or attacking it. This will give you the chance to go off and hit switches or whatever else needs to be done without having to worry about the crate.

On some levels you don't actually start out with the crate but have to find or rescue it. At the beginning of the Coyte chase level, for example, the crate is snatched from your hands and Wil E disappears off the screen. On another level in a city, you are enlarged by Marvin the Martian to the same height as the surrounding skyscrapers! In true Godzilla style you have to make your way around the city, trampling cars and climbing buildings to get the crate back on route.

Bite Me

The main bulk of the game, however, is spent in 3-D platform arenas trying to take the crate off the level in one piece. Of course, there wouldn't be any point to the game if you didn't find out what was in the crate, and at the end of the game you get one of three things. Depending on which door you choose at the end of the first level you get either, skates, a jetpack or some flippers. This is where the game opens up on replay value, because these call be used to explore new sections.

With Taz's acclaimed spin attack you can also open up yet more secret areas by smashing through walls and scenery. Virtually everything is destroyable and with the quick activation of the spin move you can plough through scenery like one of Stephen King's Langoliers. This being a Taz game, you can also feast on most of the objects in the game by throwing them into the bottomless pit that is Taz's stomach!

Dock Dodgers

The other Warner Bros game Infogrames had on show is based on the 1953 Chuck Jones Daffy creation, Duck Dodgers. Developed by Paradigm, the story this time focuses on Marvin the Martian's plan to destroy Earth. He's sent out his minions to collect up all the atoms needed to fuel a new gun and it's up to you to stop them, collect all the atoms and defeat Marvin.

There are five planets in total to play across, each of which is split into a series of rooms; because of this room structure you're pretty much guaranteed a fog-free environment, Like Taz, this has very cartoony graphics and in places is very detailed, not just with the graphics but with what you can do. On a city level, for example, you can play fetch with a dog in the Street, destroy fire hydrants and knok pichers off the wall. Shoot an egg person and they'll literally fry on the floor!

The Martians are coming

This game is primarily played from a third -person viewpoint, but if you want you will be to play through the game in first-person mode with your raygun out in front of you. Alas, this is not included yet for multiplayer, but' there is more than enough to keep one player happy. As well as all the usual lewls you get loads of sub games. Ever wanted to play basketball or boxing with Daffy? Well, now you can! One of the levels also turns you into a variety of C creatures, including a chicken, each with their own moves.

Duck Dodgers himself doesn't exactly have an extensive range of original moves, but one good feature about this game is the tiptoe. Like the rest of the game this is well animated, but it is the game's reactive music which makes it truly comical. Start tiptoeing and the music will change to the stereotypical cartoon creeping piano!