The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

"Not for the casual gamer...."

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends is a cartoon from the 1960's that can best be described as a cartoon children will like but only adults can understand. I remember watching it with my dad when I was little and not getting any of the jokes. Now that I am older I look back at it and I can see the humor. For some reason, the folks at TH*Q decided that a video game based on the cartoon would be perfect as an early title for the SNES as well as some other systems. The game is targeted towards children but keeps some of the adult humor from the show. Mind you, this is not adult themed humor like Family Guy but rather puns and just bad jokes that only ones who can appreciate the worlds events will understand. I'll write this review as if you already know the show and the jokes within.

The game starts out in Frostbite Falls Minnesota where the dedication of the new Rocky and Bullwinkle museum is just about to begin. Both R&B are there themselves touring the museum with the narrator's text being shown at the bottom. Amongst the security guards we see Boris Badinov and Natasha Fatale. They take off and steal everything in the museum and R&B make a joke that their Game Boy Game starts the same way (which it does) but the narrator assures you that if you just play the game, you will see it is totally different.

Game Play
While the level design may be different from their previous adventure on the Game Boy, the style is exactly the same. You have the choice between the main game and a few mini games. I'll take care of the mini games first.

The mini games can only be played before the main story. One stars Mr. Peabody and his Boy, Sherman. The other stars Dudley Doo Right. They are actually quite hard to beat (like the main game) and really aren't worth it unless you want some serious frustration and cheap AI. You only get three attempts between the two games, and after failing three times, the main game automatically starts.

In the Main game we find Rocky and Bullwinkle trekking through the mountains, cities, mines, and other areas in search of the items Boris and Natasha stole. This is your basic 2D platforming game, Bullwinkle is tall, bulky and moves slow. He has two attacks, one which he uses his head to bash things like rocks and the other which is throwing Moose Berries that you collect along the route. Every time you lose a life, you go back to the beginning of the level and loose all those Moose Berries you collected. As a kid I remember this gaming being one of the hardest I owned and I would say that still lives up to this day. Taking it slow will get you through each level, but you will have to use all your continues and restart the game many times. Some of the most frustrating parts come in the third level where Bullwinkle is riding in a mine cart and it falls off a cliff. There is another mine cart waiting some distance down but if you don't time your jump exactly you cannot reach it If you jump to early you will die before you get there. That's right, if you fall a certain distance you will die, no matter how close you are to a ledge.

Another frustrating aspect is the life meter. Up in the top left corner there are portraits of Rocky and Bullwinkle along with 5 flowers, the number of Moose Berries you have and a 6th flower with a number in it indicating lives. On the right side is your score. This takes up roughly three fourths of the screen and makes it difficult in the very first level to see enemies coming from behind and above as you are scaling mountains. I think they should have just used the portrait and not the flowers.

While the game play stays true to the show, keeping The Metal Munching Moon Mice as well as the Moon Men Gidney and Clyde, The level design is just so hard that you will have a hard time actually finishing the game. It takes three Moose Berries to kill Boris and the Mice and even more to kill Gidney and Clyde, and they are in short supply. Also, along the way you collect flags for some reason that I cannot determine. They also reset to zero every time you die.

The game tries to be humorous in between levels by sayings things like "we should have made that level more difficult" but if it were any more difficult, no one in their right mind would have tried to finish. Had the game been kept horizontal instead of both horizontal and vertical, this would be a better conversation.

Score 4

Controls
The controls are alright... probably the best aspect of the game. The jump button is responsive for the most part but can be over done easily. Nothing like trying to jump a pit and smashing into a Metal Munching Moon Mouse. Bullwinkle's head attack is ineffective unless you are directly up against a rock, and then it had better be a stationary rock or else you are likely to get hit. The Moose Berry hurl is responsive but doesn't really come from where you would expect it to. A lack of being able to use L and R to see in front and behind you as well as no way to look up or down really bring the score down.

Score 6

Sounds and Music
The music is nothing spectacular. It does its job, sitting in the back ground. It isn't too repetitive and isn't annoying. Nothing to write home about though. I feel as though the sound engineers could have tried harder, but the fact that they didn't is no skin off my nose. As for the sounds, they are annoying. For every time you jump, get hit, collect a pickup, or use an attack, there is a loud, obnoxious sound effect that makes you cringe. It isn't bad starting out bet gets terrible as the game goes on. Best to listen to something else other than the game music. I suggest the Rockey and Bullwinkle DVD's.

Score 4

Graphics
While the graphics certainly aren't the best the SNES has to offer, they are far from the worst. The colors aren't the best, and the effects aren't the greatest, but it could be worse. It isn't bright but isn't dark either. Rocky and Bullwinkle look like their cartoon selves but slightly more cartoony, if that is even possible. Boris and Natasha also look like themselves as do the rest of the characters. The animated intro with flowers is there, but less animated. There are small cut scenes between each level showing the silhouettes of our heroes going into different places like mountains, towns and even the mouth of a whale. These are pretty well animated. Nothing really sticks out at you but at the same time, everything can be seen and nothing makes you think "what is THAT?"

Score 6

Overall, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends is an alright game, if you can get past the difficulty. It certainly turned my off 12 years ago and now does not make me want to play the game very much. If you get past the difficulty, there is a decent game underneath. Nothing great, but funny and true to the show. Any hard core R&B fan or those who love platformers will enjoy this game to an extent. Those who have not seen or do not like R&B will not appreciate the subtle humor or toughness of the game. Stick with it, you may like it. If not, try the Game Boy Game of the same title. It is slightly easier.

Pros:
1. Subtle Humor that long time Rocky and Bullwinkle fans can enjoy

Cons:
1. Difficult
2. Sound Effects are annoying

Overall Score 5 / 10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/15/07