Looney Tunes B-Ball

"Looney Tunes B-Ball is essentially an even crazier NBA Jam, and it's a pretty good game, too."

Looney Tunes B-Ball was an attempt by Sunsoft to cash in on the popularity of the NBA Jam games. The game is basically two-on-two basketball starring several marquee cartoon characters from the Warner Bros. stable, such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. I can’t say that I was ever too fond of NBA Jam, a series that has pretty much run its course, yet I still love Looney Tunes B-Ball. It’s a nice little game, one of the last that Sunsoft put out for the SNES.

One of the major hangups I had with the NBA Jam games, not to mention sports games in general, is how quickly they became outdated. Due to the ever-changing world of NBA Basketball, rosters would be behind the times before the game was even released, and they’d also be incomplete because some big-name players couldn’t appear due to contractual obligations with other game companies. That isn’t a problem in Looney Tunes B-Ball, since these characters aren’t ever going to retire or suddenly become the property of Disney. While I suppose it can be cool to relive the glory days of the Chicago Bulls or the Houston Rockets, I prefer the timeless quality of the stars in this game.

There are eight Looney Tunes characters to choose from in this game, each with different strengths and weaknesses, based on five different categories. Really though, you can easily divide them up into two groups based on their height: the tall players who are the better shot-blockers (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, and Sylvester) and the short ones who are the better 3-point shooters (Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, and the Tasmanian Devil). That’s a great selection, without a dud in the bunch, but it would have been cool if Sunsoft had given the game some more characters. I guess it would have been difficult to put Tweety Bird in the game since he’s so small, but where’s Pepe LePew?

The gameplay is just what you’d expect from an NBA Jam-like game. There’s a definite emphasis on offense here, with tons of fancy dunks for each character, and full-court 3-pointers go in a lot more often than you’d think they should. There’s no referee, so smacking the crap out of your opponents is encouraged, and since they’re cartoon characters, you don’t have to worry about injuries or tiring.

There are plenty of options for how you want to hoop it up, from single player games with three computer-controlled characters, to four-player games that will give your multi-tap some purpose. There’s also a tournament mode where one or two players can compete against a bunch of regional teams (such as Walla Walla and Albuquerque, of course).

The biggest thing that differentiates Looney Tunes B-Ball from NBA Jam is the Wacky Meter. From the options screen, you can choose just how wacky you want the game to be, and you can even play the game straight up. When the game is wacky, you have an arsenal of tricks and maneuvers available, which have been pulled right out of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons. Some moves do crazy things such as turning the basketball into a cream pie or a time bomb, while others can help you score big points in a hurry by making long range 3’s a high-percentage play. One of the most interesting moves is Vegas, which turns the scoreboard into a slot-machine, and if you hit a shot, whatever comes up on the slots can make the shot worth more (or even take away points, too).

The catch with playing a wacky game is that the moves cost money to perform. Gems pop up during the course of the game, which you have to run over to collect so you will have enough dough to pull off moves. It can be challenging to manage your money while trying to play basketball at the same time, and you can’t go using Vegas every time down the court, since it costs a whopping 50 gems a spin. If you’ve got the Wacky Meter on its highest setting, then gems will be plentiful, and mayhem will surely ensue.

One other unique thing that Sunsoft threw in the game is the Code Hunter option. Secret codes were one of the biggest pluses with the NBA Jam games, so Sunsoft decided to copy that while they were at it, but you’ve got to do some searching if you want the codes. Most of the stuff you find code hunting are extra moves and options such as turning off goaltending. This was a neat idea, but you’ve got to be pretty bored to sit there are mash buttons all day trying to find some code. Anyway, this game’s been out for years; if you want codes, that’s what www.gamefaqs.com is for.

The graphics in Looney Tunes B-Ball are pretty good, but they don’t really match up to the other games Sunsoft produced with the Looney Tunes license. There’s only one court, and the background, which is supposedly the back of the Warner Bros. studio, is rather drab. The characters themselves look terrific, though, and for the most part they’re well-animated. The game moves at a brisk pace, and there isn’t any slowdown, unless you utilize the replay option, of course.

One aspect of this game that took me a while to get used to is the music, which doesn’t sound like it truly fits the game it’s in. Sunsoft went with an odd blend of jazz and hip hop for the background tunes, and I didn’t care for them at first. After a while, though, some of it grew on me, but that’s hardly high praise. The sound effects, on the other hand, are superb. I’m not sure why, but I absolutely love the sound of hurling a crazy 3-pointer that clanks off the rim. Also helping out are the voices of the cartoon characters, which all sound excellent. Since this is a cartridge, you can’t expect too many phrases, but I didn’t get sick of these classic one-liners (“suffering succotash” is hard to top, you know).

Controlling the on-court action in Looney Tunes B-Ball is a relatively simple matter, but things get complicated when you add in the wacky moves. You have to scroll through a menu with one button until you get to the move you want, and then you have to press another button to execute it. It takes practice to do this and keep your eye on the basketball at the same time.

Looney Tunes B-Ball is one those games that I like perhaps more than I should. It isn’t an extraordinary title, but it’s one of those that I keep coming back to periodically for some mindless fun. That’s good enough for me to give it a high score. If you run across this game, and you haven’t completely sworn off NBA Jam, pick it up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/01, Updated 09/10/01