205 · The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle

• Our Hero Bugs Bunny needs your help on a daring quest to rescue his main squeeze, Honey Bunny
• NES Longplay
• Introductions
  • THE
  • Honey Bunny on the back of the box (bugs in a dress)
• Overview
  • Platforming Puzzle Game where you play as Bugs Bunny. The goal is to collect all the carrots in each floor (level) of the castle. Enemies such as Slyvester, Daffy Duck, and Yosemite Sam stand in your way!
• Gameplay
  • Bugs Bunny
  • The concept of the puzzles
    • Items
    • Design
    • Enemies
  • Repetitiveness
    • Later levels do make you think about timing and when to use your items, but I don’t know it doesn’t feel like puzzles it feels about being precise
  • Lack of roster
    • Why is Slyvester after Bugs gf, but not Elmer?
  • Not very cartoonish
    • So many more pranks or props could’ve been implemented
  • That’s all folks reads like game over and even gives you the password
• Sequels and Spinoffs
  • the first game in Kemco's Crazy Castle series and the only one that was released for a home console; the four subsequent games in the series were released on handheld devices.
  • The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2
    • Game Boy Sequel
  • Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 3
  • Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle 4
  • spin-off game Woody Woodpecker in Crazy Castle 5.
• EGL
  • One of the earliest instances of using a popular franchise outside of video games to try and sell your video game. Very little feels like Looney Tunes and the game actually sucks. It was probably designed for kids, but I don’t think it was putting them to work much either.
• Next week - Dragon Warrior

Auto-generated transcript. Each paragraph starts with its timestamp. Speakers are not identified.

00:00 The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle! Our hero, Bugs Bunny, needs your help on a daring quest to rescue his main squeeze, Honey Bunny! Nostalgia! And welcome to NEStalgia! A chronological exploration of every NES game released in North America. I'm Mike. I'm Sean. And I'm Joe. And I know I just made this comment last week, but we have to talk about this all over again for people who don't listen to the end of the episodes, because I just, I can't figure it out.

00:42 It's obviously some kind of translation error, but the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle. Well, who, what is that for? What is the the there for? It's, it's not Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle. He doesn't have any ownership over the castle. It's not like Bugs Bunny, you know, is in a crazy castle. It's the Bugs Bunny crazy castle. So the whole thing is like one entity.

01:07 Yeah, I mean, it's sort of like, uh, um, the, the Hollywood Hilton, you know, it's, it's specifically the crazy castle for Bugs Bunny, but it's not his. Yeah, it could also just be so we don't get him confused with any other Bugs Bunnies. Like, no, this is, this is the one you're thinking of. This is the Bugs Bunny. Right. I did think that one. I thought that one too, Joe, but there's just something about, uh, like not having like any, any emphasis or, or anything. Just, just having the almost like, it's almost like they could have taken it off the box. Cause it's, it's in the upper corner. It's not even like big splashing text with the rest of it. So they didn't even need it, but they decided to throw it on anyway. Maybe as a last minute decision.

01:48 Hmm. Could be, could be. Yeah. They were like, well, people aren't going to get, people aren't going to get it without the, the, the, Hey, here's an idea. Drop the, the, wow. I mean, you know, if Facebook knew how to hit Bugs Bunny.

02:04 Anyway, uh, we're talking about the Bugs Bunny crazy castle in which you play as the Bugs Bunny and you have to rescue Honey Bunny. I've never heard of this character before. If you look at the back of the box, it's just like Bugs Bunny in a dress, which is like something he does in many episodes. He always like dresses and drag and stuff like that. It's also the only name, uh, described in the manual that doesn't have a trademark next to it. So I think it was just made up for this. Yes. Well, no, so I looked it up and it looks like she appeared in comics in the sixties.

02:34 Oh, just according to the wiki. But I thought the same thing when I first saw it too. I was like, are we, is it such a video game trope of like the hero saving, like the princess slash girlfriend that like they needed to like dig up this comic book character from the sixties and be like, Oh yeah, of course. That's the thing that Bugs Bunny never does, which is like, go rescue the princess is what he has to do because of the video game.

02:57 So like, was, like, was Lola not a thing yet or did that? No, Lola's for space jam. It was exclusive to space jam. And which version of Lola too? I mean, you know, there's two different Lolas now. There's Lola Bunny, the, uh, the space jam character. And then there's Lola Bunny, the, the Looney Tunes show character, which is a fantastic show on Cartoon Network. I think it's streaming everywhere on HBO max. If you haven't watched it, you'll love old Looney Tunes. And show it's fantastic.

03:25 All that to say that I'm a huge Looney Tunes fan. I love Looney Tunes. So I'm, I was excited to, to see what was going to happen here in the Bugs Bunny's crazy castle. However, uh, you know, and Joe, I think you said something similar last week. I'm familiar with the, the series of crazy castle games because I had, uh, on Game Boy Bugs Bunny's crazy castle too, where I'm pretty sure they dropped the, the, but maybe they didn't.

03:47 And so I know, like I knew what these, what this game was going into it, but I thought, Oh, well I played it on the Game Boy. That's like, you know, not as good on hardware as the NES is. So maybe there's some new stuff here, but it's mostly the same kind of game as any of the other crazy castle games. It's a whole, it's a whole line of games with usually different characters too. It's not just a Bugs Bunny.

04:05 It's whatever, whoever they can license winds up getting a crazy castle game. These crazy castle games of course are puzzle platforming games where, uh, in this one you're playing as Bugs Bunny. And the goal is to collect all of the carrots, uh, in each floor, uh, which is technically like a level, but you're climbing up the castle. So you're on like floor one, then floor two.

04:24 Once you collect all the carrots though, you move on to the next stage. There's no keys, no hidden doors or anything like that, but there are enemies. Uh, Sylvester, the cat, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam all stand in your way. And, uh, sometimes in different colors too. Uh, you thought Sylvester was bad in black. Wait till you see him in green. He's way more devious.

04:44 I did find it odd that like what they, they kept saying that they had all these characters and I did see them, but it seemed that most of them were just green and orange Sylvester. Um, I'm not sure what that was about. I saw a lot of Yosemite Sams and a couple of, uh, Wile E. Coyotes. Yes, there is Wild Coyote as well. I forgot to mention him. And there are some episodes, Wild Coyote doesn't just go up against Roadrunner. There are some episodes where he goes up against, uh, uh, Bugs. Daffy obviously always in, like anti-hero to Bugs, but. Well, that's when we're starting to go more MCU.

05:17 Yeah, yeah. But he, but he does go up against, wait, I'm sorry. Did you say that he doesn't go up against Bugs Bunny? No, he does. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I'm saying often he did. Uh, it's not, he's not just a Roadrunner guy, but, you know, Sylvester, the cat? I don't think so. Let alone three different versions of him. Where is Elmer Fudd in this game? Like that is Bugs Bunny's number one enemy, right? Is Elmer Fudd and he's not even in the game. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't even think of that.

05:42 Um. There's just a lack of roster altogether though, right, Joe? Like if you're thinking of Looney Tunes villains, I wouldn't even start with Daffy Duck. Yeah, well also, I mean I guess because for like, for like, recognizability Daffy Duck makes sense. But it's just, yeah, you're right. They have, there's such a huge roster of Looney Tunes characters to draw from.

06:02 And it's weird that like they, they, they went to Green Sylvester before they went to a new character. Because another thing I was going to ask, you mentioned like, you mentioned the Green Sylvester and how he's coming to get you. Is that, now was that a serious comment where are you confirming my suspicion that the Green characters are more dangerous or have better AI than the other characters? Oh wow, I wouldn't even thought that. I thought that like, okay, that's how you know like all the Green, the Green enemies are harder than the regular enemies.

06:35 Which I don't know if that's true or not, but if that's the case, I think it's silly to do that rather than just make each enemy have different behavior. You know, make Sylvester behave differently than Daffy. I want to say that it's not the case and that we're like sort of, yeah, we're projecting onto them. Overactive imagination. Yeah. But I want to say that my main theory as to why we only have this many licensed enemies is because I imagine maybe the company that owns the licenses, I don't remember, Warner Brothers, is it? I don't know. Yep, Warner Brothers. They're probably doing that like a la carte.

07:15 So each specific enemy that you want, they probably had to pay more money to get. But would I be wrong to just say like Bugs Bunny can support his own video game where you don't need other recognizable characters then at that point? Like if you're going to just like why not just put him in like a new part of the Looney Tunes world where like it's a whole new land that he's unfamiliar with and he inherited this castle. Only if he can make it through all 60 floors or something like that. And they're unfamiliar enemies rather than like a bunch of Sylvester the cats walking around. Like that's an IP nightmare.

07:50 I don't disagree that that's a weird – it was a weird decision for them to have several of the same character and rather than going to a bunch of different characters. But I feel like if they had done that and put him in like this new world where it was like Bugs Bunny faces all these new enemies, new stuff, we probably would be here like complaining about like it looks like they just took another game and slapped Bugs Bunny onto it. Whereas like at least this way, yeah, it's got other stuff.

08:16 I'm not going to be satisfied with this game regardless because being Bugs Bunny is like one thing and how many characters from Looney Tunes is another thing. But Looney Tunes is a very slapstick style of comedy that this game doesn't bring outside of like some boxes falling on people's heads. It's not a very cartoonish game. There should have been more pranks or props implemented like you pick up a boxing glove and then you shoot it as like a projectile.

08:49 These are all ideas, right? They're starting points, but that's all the game ever goes, right? It's like they got a 10-ton weight and you drop it from a platform and it hits somebody in the head. Those are funny things. But even the world itself, like the crazy castle, is mostly just like, you know, these empty bare rooms that have like no fun settings to them or anything like that. They don't feel familiar. There's so much to pull from here for Looney Tunes that I'm a little surprised that they didn't, you know, up the ante more and make the objective of killing your enemies or finishing levels be more puzzle-based around silly pranks. I see that too.

09:27 I feel like I don't want to say that the game is like very cerebral because it's not like the puzzles get like super, super difficult or you have to think super hard about them or anything. But it's like the fact that you can't, the fact that it's not a game where you jump or where it's where you really just think about like where do I go next? How do I get from here to here? You're right. It doesn't feel cartoony. It doesn't feel, it doesn't feel bouncy and it doesn't feel like, I don't know. It doesn't feel silly and fun.

09:52 And I'm using fun in, you know, as like a term to be like actiony, exciting fun. I'm not necessarily saying that there's nothing enjoyable or fun about this game. But yeah, it doesn't immediately scream like, it doesn't give me any of the same feelings I would get if I was watching a Looney Tunes cartoon where everything is colorful and bright and happening really fast and coming at you.

10:12 Well, this game is, you said that it's more than just a Bugs Bunny thing. Is this the first of the Crazy Castles? This is the first of the Crazy Castles. Although I think even this one has some problems where like in Japan, it's actually Mickey Mouse and then here it's Bugs Bunny. And then in Europe, sometimes it's Ghostbusters or sometimes it's, I know this is crazy. We did this on the Mickey Mouse episode a long time ago.

10:38 We broke down like which one for each game. But yeah, this is the very first entry in it. Well, that sounds like it was never going to take any actual like thematic input on whatever IP they're using because it's just a, it's just a reskin. Like it's never going to feel like Looney Tunes just because it's got carrots and a couple enemies that look like the characters in the show because it didn't matter.

11:08 Yeah. This might be one of the earliest instances of just using a popular franchise from outside of a video game, putting it in a video game and just using that to sell your game. Because like, yeah, you recognize Bugs Bunny and Sylvester and Yosemite Sam and stuff. But like otherwise, none of this feels like a Looney Tunes game or anything. Yeah. Ironically, it sounds like this actually is what I said we'd be complaining about if it was Bugs Bunny in a new world where, yeah, they just slapped Bugs Bunny into an existing video game.

11:41 So let's go, let's rewind a little bit and let's go back to just the idea of the game, which is collecting these carrots, you know, from floor to floor. The platforming in this game, it's interesting to call this a platforming game because there is no jumping. There is no ability to jump. Bugs Bunny can only walk and collect power-ups that he can, you know, like store temporarily. Yeah, I wouldn't call it a platforming game.

12:05 Yeah, but I think you could argue that, you know, a lot of this game is platforming because it's about how you fall onto the other levels or what, you know, where you are in relation to the enemies, like using that to your advantage. There is, there's the puzzles in this game are understanding like the layout of the particular level so that you avoid the enemies appropriately. Because like, yeah, the first level is not going to give you a tough time. But later on, the enemies are kind of placed in a way where it's like, it causes very frenetic gameplay where the reactions have to be very like on point.

12:39 And I think that's where like this platforming element comes in because if you're on, if you trap yourself on a particular like floor or something and don't have a door available to you or a place to fall to to get to the next platform, that's, that's how you lose. That is the, that is the core of the game here. That is the puzzle that you're trying to solve because you don't get the ability to take out every single enemy on every single stage.

13:05 Sometimes they only give you like one boxing glove for three enemies and you might be quick to use it on the enemy right in front of you and then figure out that the actual puzzle was is that there's a guy later on who like, if you're not being really smart about where you're placing yourself, you might just want to use it on him. Sometimes this way you can collect the carrot behind him or something like that.

13:23 Well, I wouldn't say that that means that it's a, it's definitely a puzzle game for sure. But I think it's more, you're not, you're not platforming so much as it's like a maze with, with enemies walking around and you can't like, it's got gravity. Like I did, I think in terms of, for it to be platforming, I think it would need to be more action based and not like decision based.

13:49 So I don't know. That's just how I see it. Yeah. I feel like I'd have to see like, like the actual definition of a platforming game before I can really weigh in. But yeah, cause my gut is also just like, if it's not, if it's not jumping, I don't immediately see it as a platforming game, but, but I don't know if that's actually what makes it, I don't know if that actually is necessary for it to be a platformer. Well, other than the semantics of, of what the platforming is, what about the concept of these puzzles? The, the, you know, the items, the designs, the enemies throughout the, the core idea of the game. What do you guys think about that stuff?

14:23 I think the concept is, is cool. I think it's a, you know, it's pretty basic, but it's, you know, just, it's just collect everything, collect everything on the screen without getting caught. You gotta, like you said, you gotta find your way around and really think about where the enemies are and, and conserve your weapons for when, when you absolutely have to take out an enemy or, or, you know, you have to be looking ahead a lot. And I think that's a, that's a cool idea for a puzzle. You can make some very interesting puzzles, um, out of that.

14:54 I, I don't know. If in like the first, I think like 25 levels that I, that I did, if I necessarily say that they got super interesting or really particularly complicated. Um, sometimes they get kind of, sometimes you have to think a little differently there. They, they, they add like tubes and they add stairs that they have to think about like how to get to this level. And will this tube, let me skip that level.

15:18 Um, so I, I guess overall it's like, it's an interesting concept. It never, it never got super, super difficult. It really made me like feel like I was solving a complex puzzle at any point. But again, I, I don't know how many levels there are in this game. I did between 20 and 25 of them, which maybe isn't enough for me to make that judgment. So I don't know what you guys thought about that.

15:42 Yeah. I mean, I think that the, the basic gameplay loop is, um, it's entertaining enough to like, I guess if I had this on my phone, I would play a few rounds on my commute or something. Um, but I was also surprised that like, as long as I played it, there wasn't any real jump in difficulty. Like they, they experimented a little bit with like concepts for layouts. Like there's, um, yeah, we've got the tubes, we've got the doors, uh, with the, with the staircases. Um, uh, but they, um, it never really ups the ante really. So I, I can't really see it lasting for all that long of a play session. Yeah. When I think about like, sorry, I just was going to think about something like, like adventures of Lolo.

16:30 Like that had levels in it where I had to like stop and think. And I had to, and I had to be like, okay, well, how can I work this out? This had always felt like I would maybe try to go through this tube and like, oh wait, that didn't take me where I need to go. Let me loop back around and just try the other tube. And like, okay, yep, that's the one. Like it always felt, it never felt like I needed to like really stop and be like, okay, wait a minute. What if I go here first and get this and like go there, this, like I never really needed that. I just kind of ran around avoiding people until I had all the carrots.

16:56 Yeah. I think there's something about, you know, the repetitiveness of the whole game. Like the idea that it never evolves, but be any further than just collecting all the carrots in a particular stage. Just makes the later levels come down to, you know, timing, precision almost, right? It's not about solving puzzles. Like you said, Joe, there's no like stopping and thinking about where you're going. You have plenty of space to get to avoid enemies.

17:20 You know, for the most part, I'd say some levels try to, the best levels even, actually make it a little cramped. So this way you do have to think about your particular enemy that you're dealing with at that moment and how you're going to get around him. I think that's the strongest part of the game. But for the most part, this is just a game that, you know, is almost like an action game in the sense that like your inputs really matter, you know, for what you're going to do next and it comes down to timing for a lot of these enemies.

17:48 Because otherwise, the whole idea of just collecting the carrots is something that you could almost like stall for, right? You can just drag out enemies to chase you around areas that you know that you've already collected carrots for and then fall through a platform and reclimb your way back up. Or my favorite thing, and probably the most cartoonish thing about this game, is trick them into going up or down the stairs while you're going in the opposite direction.

18:13 The idea that you can both pass each other on the stairs and it doesn't kill you is honestly maybe the most Looney Tunes thing that happens in this game. But it has to be part of the actual strategy because a lot of times I feel like that was the saving grace of getting past somebody who otherwise just kind of mirrors your inputs. Like if you're on the right side of the screen, he'll walk towards the right side of the screen. And then if you start heading the other direction, he turns around and comes back to you. There's a lot of like that behavior.

18:42 So, you know, in a game like Pac-Man where the ghosts all behave however they want to, you don't have that problem because you – I mean you don't have that ability because as Pac-Man you always have to be moving. And there are like, you know, narrow passages.

18:56 Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle doesn't really do that because it's such a large level space and there's only like ever three to four enemies on a particular stage. But you get the ability to just walk back a little bit and think about your moment-to-moment gameplay. And that's why I say that the best levels in this game really come down to just precision timing. And I don't know if that's like necessarily a good thing for a puzzle game. Is it really precision though? Because like you said, like there's no timer for this game. And it seems like this is a game more so than others designed for children.

19:31 I think the timer would make it a little bit harder. So I don't know if you really need precision because you can just wait it out. Well, if you – I think what I meant was is like if you look at the later levels, right, the ones that I was talking about like where they're a little more closed in.

19:46 I was referring to those being the better levels because in those levels you actually have to think about how you're dealing with the enemy on your floor. So when you are closed in and you have to be precise with your movements because if you do the wrong – if you go the wrong way, if you can't trick an enemy, if you don't have the item anymore, you're boxed into a corner where they will catch you similar to Pac-Man. Where like you try to trick out one ghost but then there's another ghost in the other direction and now you have that like inevitable feeling of they're going to close in on you from either direction. You've trapped yourself.

20:19 That's what happens in these later levels of the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle that make the game – that's where it shines the best. But still, it's not about solving any puzzles. It's about being fast with your reflexes.

20:31 Okay. Yeah, I ran into a couple towards the end of my playthrough where I would get trapped or where like I made this wrong decision and I got trapped. I did also notice though that that didn't happen to me as much as it should have. Especially like earlier on – it's almost like the AI is not quite like – I don't know, robust enough to really like –

20:56 challenge the player because there were a lot of times where I was like, oh crap, like I went here, this guy's walking this way, now I see like I've trapped myself. But then like the guy would just turn around and like not trap me in the very obvious way he could have trapped me. I noticed that too, yeah. And that happened to be like quite a few times before finally I like would start to get trapped.

21:15 And I only ever got trapped by the green Sylvester, which is what made me think like, does this guy have better AI than the other guys? Might have just been a coincidence. But all the other times it was always just like, oh crap, like they totally have me cornered. Like sometimes it was more than just obvious. Sometimes it was like their only option to not corner me was to just turn and walk away from me now. And then they would just turn and walk away from me.

21:37 So I don't know, I felt like it was a little – either it was trying to go easy on the player or it was just not designed perfectly. Yeah, and I think that's what I'm getting at too, Joe, is that this game more than anything, you know, my closest parallel to it has been Pac-Man because that's ideally like that's the same game, right? Like the ghosts are chasing you and you're powerless to them unless you have the power pellet. In this game, it takes a similar approach where like these enemies that you otherwise are just completely, you know, like you're indefensible to them.

22:07 Now all of a sudden, because there's so much more space, there's so many different ways to go and the only penalty is just like, oh, now I got to climb back up those stairs again because I jumped off the platform to get away from that enemy. You know, that's not really a punishment and it just prolongs like the experience of playing the game and collecting all the carrots.

22:26 I just think they should have done more to make this, you know, feel like something you actually have to solve. Like, okay, the carrot's there, but I don't know how to get it. That never happens in this game. You never see a carrot and say, well, I don't know how I'm going to get that because you see just from the mechanics of the doors, the pipes, the stairs, you see where everything leads to right on its very own screen.

22:49 Maybe some of the pipes try to trick you by being long enough that they're spread out across two screens, but all that takes is a simple walk over so that the screen scrolls a little bit and you'll see where the pipe ends up. So there's no real challenge to figuring out, like, you know, how do I collect the only thing I need to collect in this game?

23:11 Yeah, it feels like each of the levels was sort of, like, designed to function and to work well, but not necessarily be a puzzle, you know? It was never like, how do I get the player to, you know, trick the player into going this way and then turns out that's the wrong way or hide the way that, hide the correct path from the player's, like, obvious view. So it doesn't sound like a very crazy castle to me. Maybe it's crazy at how a little thought was put into the puzzle. I love that.

23:50 So there's 60 levels in the game and, you know, I didn't do it. I didn't play them all, but I did go to the cheat codes and because it's passwords. So I did look at, like, okay, well, what is the password for the 60th level? And I did that one. And, like, yeah, it was challenging, but I agree with Sean's, you know, idea that this is probably just a game designed for children who are familiar with VIP, be it Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse or Ghostbusters, right? It is a very basic game. It is a very simple game. And, you know, for some people, this might be enough of a game, right?

24:26 Like, it doesn't actually, like, control too poorly. And the concept is laid out to you right from the very beginning, but it never, like, evolves. And I think for me, I'm struggling with that part. I don't like that. But maybe that is enough. Like, maybe just the idea of, like, a game that plays well enough and has a core objective and you just keep doing that over and over again, yeah, it feels like a very, you know, 10 years earlier arcade-style game. But it's a completely functional game that does exactly what, you know, what a Crazy Castle game, I guess, is supposed to do.

25:03 I just feel like they should have put some more thought into the IP and other things that they clearly were never going to do. So we're just talking about this, you know, now in present day. Obviously, like, you know, this IP is just tied to whatever they could get the license for. Maybe in Japan they were able to get the license for Mickey Mouse, but, you know, you got to pay a fortune in America. So they were like, all right, we'll get Bugs Bunny. He's like Mickey Mouse. I think it was actually Roger Rabbit too at one point, which is interesting.

25:31 But I don't really know where I'm going with this other than to say, like, there's not a whole lot to talk about here because you could play level 1 and play level 60 in the same playthrough, like, you know, as an experienced gamer, like someone who just knows video games and knows layouts. Like, you could play both and probably solve both of them in a few attempts.

25:50 I'm not saying you're going to just, like, load up the game, type in the password for level 60 and solve it on the first try, but you're also not going to, like, be like, oh, well, I need to understand the way that the game works and, like, all the puzzles and the intricacies in order to beat level 60. I think almost everybody who listens to this podcast could beat level 60 in, like, you know, by their 10th attempt, hands down.

26:12 And maybe this is like Wrecking Crew where it's not, you know, it's just like the levels are just the levels and you're just going for a high score, but it's not. It is a story objective of beating the game to rescue Honey Bunny, and you do get that ending once you get to the 60th, and there is no select stage thing like there was for Wrecking Crew. So there should have been at least some kind of evolving factor. Yeah, it's a puzzle game without any aha moments.

26:42 It's, I know you said that the controls aren't terrible. They're not terrible, but they are very strange in that, like, up and right and down and left, or depending on, like, the direction you're facing, like, up and down can move forward, and you can't approach stairs from a certain angle. You have to, like, give it some space and then back it up. Like, it also isn't perfectly constructed is what I'm trying to say.

27:13 So there's just a lot of, like, head-scratching moments of, like, I was wondering, who is this game designed for? And the only answer that makes any sense is that more so than most NES games, this is just a kid's game that they don't really expect you to have to think too hard about. Right. I was thinking that, like, the whole time I was playing it, too, because, yeah, it's never too complicated. But also, like, I just remember playing this as a kid on the Game Boy,

27:48 and I loved it as a kid. And also, like, I wasn't good at it as a kid. So, like, I feel like I always remember, like, getting excited to play this, you know, on, like, a long car ride, and I'd bring all my Game Boy games, and I would never get very far. And I think that that's, like, I think that, you know, now when I play it, I'm like, well, this is way too easy.

28:11 But, yeah, I mean, I think that they're still thinking of it as, like, okay, this is the... I know that it was, like, this isn't the order in which they decided things, but if they were, like, thinking of it as, like, this is the Looney Tunes audience, it's a kid's audience, even though, obviously, the game was made before the Looney Tunes property was added to it, but it seems like they're always putting a children's property, slapping a children's property onto this, so maybe that was always the case. Like, this should be for kids. You know, it's no Sesame Street 1, 2, 3.

28:43 Yeah, Nostalgia Goggles on for a second, because I had the second one on Game Boy. I would say that I was not excited to, like, play the actual game and, you know, do the whole, like, collecting. In the second one, I think you collect keys, and you have to get enough keys to open up the final door or whatever in each level. I was just excited to play a Bugs Bunny game, so they did get me on the IP part. I don't think I was, like, excited for the actual, like, gameplay of it, but the IP was something I bought it on. So it's weird, because we definitely have a successful series here, right? They made, like, five of these Crazy Castle games, and for numerous different IPs, too, not just five total then. So it actually comes out to, like, 20.

29:25 But, you know, I don't know if that's how we need to look at it as people who look at games, like, based on, like, what you have available to you on PS5. Like, I think we can say, like, you know, Sean, you were talking about the controls not being too tight. I completely agree, too, that, like, they're serviceable, but there are weird moments in stiffness, too, with Bugs, where I feel like sometimes he takes, like, an extra step to the right or the way that the free fall works, it just, like, you're just hanging there, and then that causes, like, weird moments where you just know you're going to die. I guess a consequence of the system they set up anyway.

30:03 But there's just a, overall, this game might be a children's game, but, like, you know, if we're not going to look at Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 that way, we shouldn't look at Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle with that pass, either. Oh, yeah, never meant for it to, never intended for that to be a pass. I'm just squaring up my Essential Games list votes. You know, I don't want the kids' table to get a vote.

30:28 One other thing that bothers me about this game is the password screen. It happens after every single level. You collect the final carrot or whatever, and you see Bugs Bunny jump for joy. Then you get the password screen, and it says, that's all, folks. Yeah. Clearly a Looney Tunes thing, you know, like a ha-ha-ha. They actually included, like, a good reference there. But it doesn't have the, like, you know, the circular record spinning look thing that, like, Looney Tunes is famous for. It just has a star.

30:59 And that's all, folks, to me. Sounds like game over. Sounds like I ate too many carrots, got full, and now I'm done. Like, pick it up again tomorrow, Bugs. You're done for the day. That's all, folks. And they probably could have thought of something a little better and save That's All, folks, for a game over screen. Yeah. Which is also the same thing, though. The game over screen is the same.

31:21 Yeah. Couldn't have been, like, a WhatsApp doc? Even though that doesn't really make sense either. Something makes funny sense. It's their only WhatsApp doc in the manual. Oh, well, yeah. I guess they only get one. I think that was a part of their licensing agreement. Yeah. Did it have a trademark next to it? I don't think so. But also, he's usually talking to Elmer Fudd, right? Yeah. Like, we're not doc, but I think most people are doc to him. Oh, okay. Yeah. Bugs would say WhatsApp doc to almost anybody. But you're right. In this universe, without Elmer Fudd, did it ever occur to him to say WhatsApp doc? In this alternate Bugs Bunny reality.

32:02 On the sequels and spinoff side, I don't really know how to break this down. So we're just not going to. But, you know, Kemco is the developer here. Crazy Castle is their series.

32:15 And there's, like, a bunch of these across different properties and IPs. And it gets so confusing. But the main idea to know is that if you played Crazy Castle games in North America, this would just be a shock to you because they were all Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle games. It was this one and then three Game Boy sequels.

32:35 Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle. The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2. Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle with a colon. And then Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle 4. Now, I don't, you know, change it up like whatever. I don't know which one I like the most, though. Is it the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle? Is it Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle? Or Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle 4? I really think it is Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle 4. I would prefer it to be, like, a 50s rock band where it's just, like, Bugs Bunny and his Crazy Castles. Wow, I love that. Yeah, that'd be fun. That's, like, the collection package for the reboot.

33:14 Or the remake series. I think that Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle is probably, like, a grammatical error, but I like to think of it instead as, like, Crazy Castle is the name of, like, the show. And it's, like, Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle. Like, you know, like they used to do with those old cartoons. Maybe that is what they meant. Maybe. Yeah, maybe. And there was a, there was a, they're calling it a spinoff game, but it's not. It's, um, it's for Game Boy Advance. They finally got rid of Bugs Bunny. And it's Woody Woodpecker in Crazy Castle 5. Woody Woodpecker was definitely cheaper.

33:50 Yeah, I think, yeah, it was more, they were like, we need someone more current, someone more topical than Bugs Bunny. How about Woody Woodpecker? Yeah. I'm not going to say which game was for which. I think I posted something like this on Twitter earlier this week. This way people, you know, maybe we have some European friends or some Japanese friends. And they're like, oh, I didn't know that was the same game. So I posted a list of that. But I just want to tell you some of the IPs that were involved. Or all of the IPs, in fact. You have Bugs Bunny. You have Mickey Mouse. You have Roger Rabbit.

34:20 Hugo. I think the Martin Scorsese film that, like, you know, it's not like, it was way before that. But that series of things, that Hugo, is the same Hugo that got a Crazy Castle game.

34:34 Garfield. The real Ghostbusters. Not just Ghostbusters. The real Ghostbusters. Because I think that was the TV show. Yeah, the cartoon. Yes. I thought it was a dig at the Ghostbusters game. What's that? I thought it was a dig at the Ghostbusters game we already played. Like, the real Ghostbusters. This is the real Ghostbusters. Also, Go Go Kid, Kid Go Go Kid.

35:03 What does that mean? Well, that's just the Japanese title of the game. Oh, okay. So I don't know who the property is or what IP it is. It's probably an anime or something like that. But it was just called Go Go Kid, Kid Go Go Kid. I thought that was maybe a different version of how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. That's a really good analysis of a nonsensical title.

35:28 Is there any punctuation in that anywhere? Is there like a colon or anything? The pauses were all different punctuation. Go Go Kid, Go Go Kid, Go Go Kid. If they made a Crazy Castle today, though, guys, what animated series that's obviously still running should they use? Like, I could see a, you know, especially because you're making it now for the Crazy Castle fans of the past, I could see a good, like, Simpsons or Family Guy Crazy Castle game on Nintendo Switch, like, being a thing. SpongeBob. SpongeBob would be great for Crazy Castle. Yeah, you get some villains in there.

36:08 No, no, it would just have, like, Patrick and Sandy. It would be like, why are these people fighting? Yeah, right. Or you could have, like, a pink plankton and, like, a red plankton and then a flying Dutchman. Green plankton would be the hardest, though. Yeah. Oh, wait. Absolutely. He's already green. One last thing to do on the episode, the most important thing to do on the episode, and that is decide, you know, not if The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle is a platforming game, not if The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle is a kid's game, not if Mike should just shut up, but if The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle is an essential game on the essential games list.

36:56 Sean, you're first.

36:59 We've been, we've pretty much been holding our opinions on our sleeve for this. We've not been hiding that we don't particularly think that this is a good game, so I'm going to keep it short and say no, it is not essential. Joe. Um, yeah, so, somebody, Sean, I think you mentioned that, like, oh, you would maybe, you would maybe pull out your phone and play a couple of levels. Yeah, it's a time waster. And I think that about, like, what's that? Yeah, it's a time waster.

37:27 Yeah, yeah. I think that kind of sums it up for me, too. That's what it feels like. It feels like something on your phone. It does, it does seem like, you know, I know we're not using this to give it a pass, but it does seem like something that kids would enjoy more, at least back in the 80s. Um, but I, I don't want to say that this is an essential game, and I don't want to say that it's essential for kids, either. But, uh, it wasn't, I don't think it's, like, horrible for kids. I, you know, I think, I think that, you know, it could be enjoyed, and for that reason, I'd like to give it an honorary seat at the Nostalgia Kids table.

38:03 Just in time for early Thanksgiving. Right. And, uh, I'll just add here, even though I can't put it on the essential games list, I won't put it on the essential games list. Um, like I said, kind of early on, it just feels like an obvious cash grab on a popular franchise. Just, just insert the IP. Like, who can we buy? Like, honestly, Chemco should have been a little more daring and just created a mascot for these Crazy Castle games. But, of course, that wouldn't have sold well. So, they probably, uh, shouldn't hire me, because they clearly knew what they were doing, and they lasted making Crazy Castle games all the way up until the Game Boy Advance.

38:38 So, kudos to them for figuring out a way to make popular IPs work, uh, in games that have nothing to do with them. But, this is also, like, just a step in the wrong direction for video games. And, uh, something I can't agree with. Especially because I was looking forward to a Looney Tunes game, and it doesn't seem like I'm gonna get that on the NES. So, I'm sad. You should be sad.

39:02 Looney Tunes should make me sad. That's all, folks, for this episode. Next week, Dragon Warrior. That's kind of exciting, right, guys? We've been looking, we've been talking about Dragon Warrior since, like, our 86 episodes. Yeah, talk to me when it's Dragon Warrior Monster.

39:20 Oh, okay. Talk to me when it's Monster Rancher. Yeah. Anyway, uh, yeah, Dragon Warrior, very exciting. Probably a much longer episode than, uh, the Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle if I was a betting man. But, you know, that's the beauty of this Nostalgia podcast is the episodes just run whatever we think they should run for. But, if you can't wait till next Friday and you want even more content, great news. There's a whole new podcast called Nostalgia Bites. And it's a look at the Famicom library. Not every single Famicom game. And no Japanese required. But, we already have our first episode out. It is Nuts and Milk.

39:54 And it's not a cereal-based game. It's, uh, it's like, uh, another one of those puzzle games. Puzzle, I'm not gonna say platforming. I'm not gonna say it. I said it. Puzzle platforming. And, um, that is a game that if you have any interest in, you're like, huh, Nuts and Milk, I never got a chance to play it because I don't own a Famicom. Well, now you can get on the fun with us because we don't play these games, but we also never played those games. So, let's all get it out together. Of course, the only way to listen to a Nostalgia Bites episode is to join us on Patreon.com slash Nostalgia.

40:23 Uh, Patrons at the $5 and up, uh, level get access to the podcast. But if you can't give $5 a month, fear not, because you can also give just $1 a month and you get a special thank you on the website, www.nostalgiacast.com. If you can't give us any money, that's fine. Why don't you just tweet at us and say, I can't give you any money. And you can do that at NostalgiaCast as well on Twitter. So, multiple options to interact with Nostalgia if you're waiting for your fix for next Friday. Right, guys? Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

40:55 And I'd like to say, think of how much time you'll save by not listening to a separate podcast about nuts and then another one about milk, when you can just listen to our one podcast about nuts and milk together. I'll also be previewing my tell-all, uh, book about my life. Um, if you pay us money, uh, but I won't tell you specifically when. Um, but it'll be done the line. Someone's gonna hold you to that. I'll see you next time.