"Inane Side Scrolling Action"

Tail spin is one of those cool side scrolling shooters for Nintendo, like R Type and Gradius. Except instead of all that neato sci-fi and monster stuff, you have to fight stupid Disney creatures like sky pirates that are various animals and flying sharks. You also play as Baloo from The Jungle Book. The game is a takeoff on the cartoon show of the early nineties where Baloo has apparently left the jungle and now runs cargo with his plane with his preteen kid friend, Kit Cloudkicker and some girl. Odd.

Gameplay: 7/10
Gameplay is pretty neat. It's side scrolling, with a few vertical parts thrown in for good measure. You're actually bringing packages around, but that's just to explain why you're flying around. The real point of the game is just to shoot down enemies and stay alive. The only detractions from the gameplay are the difficulty in some places, and the stupidity of it all. Sometimes it's really frustrating to get killed repeatedly in the same spot until your continues are exhausted and you have to go all the way back to the beginning. The game is just incredibly stupid, and this can be distracting if you sit and think about it. You're a bear flying a plane that looks like a demented tugboat with wings and you're being assaulted by flying sharks and balloons. If you're a very small child, this may seem logical, but if you're not the absolute inanity of it can give you a headache.

Story: 3/10
The story is not only dumb (I explained it above) but it also doesn't make any sense. When did Baloo leave the jungle, start wearing clothes, and get a PILOT'S LICENSE? Why is it that in the jungle book Baloo was an animal and there were humans, but in Tail Spin it's only animals. It's as if humans don't actually exist, it's just a bunch of animals acting like humans. And if every time Baloo went out to deliever packages he was attacked by all these things, maybe it wasn't such a good career? Maybe he should call the military and tell them about the deadly balloons and flying sharks. Oh well, as I said it's best to just try not to think about it.

Graphics/sound: 7/10
The graphics are okay. Imagine Gradius, except more Disney-ish and cartoony with cheesy enemies. It does the job, obviously a lot of work was put into the graphics and they are very good for the time this game was made. The sound is stuff from the show, as well as "exciting" and "boss" themes done in MIDI style. They're not bad. The sounds you make when you shoot your gun and make explosions are really stupid sounding by today's standards, but okay for back then. Besides, it is a cartoon, so expect it to sound a little cartoony.

Replayability: 4/10
You're not going to want to play this too often once you finish it. Initially you'll be like "Yes, no more starting over from the beginning, no more sky sharks and animal pirates, and Kit Cloudkicker... ohhhh, I need a nap!" but every now and again you might take it out and go a few rounds with those animals and sharks in spite of yourself. There is two player mode, but it isn't at once so you and your friend will just be taking turns. It isn't really much fun, and there are way better games to play with your friends, like River City Ransom, plug plug. There isn't much left to do, but keep it handy as opposed to using it around the house as a door stop or some such like you would do with other stupid games like Deadly Towers and Where's Waldo?

Overall: 6/10
The only real problem with this game is house stupid it is, which is what you'd expect from anything connected with Disney. It's occasionally frustrating, but the gameplay is slick and full of action. If you can put the idiocy of the characters and story out of your head then you should have a great time with this if you are a fan of side scrolling shooters. If you're like me and you can't do that, well, too bad. Check this game out, espescially if you see it for cheap.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99