Animaniacs started life in the early ‘90’s as a children’s programme intent on breaking the rules. After the series came the film, the merchandise and the not altogether bad SNES adventure. Now, in 2005, it appears that the Animaniacs have the intention of making a comeback – with the PlayStation2’s Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt and the NintendoDS’s Animaniacs: Lights, Camera, Action!.

            The NintendoDS title appears somewhat dated. Although the title has just been released, it clearly lacks the definition of titles released within the same period. I’m a lover of retro gaming – I still play on my SNES and NES – so for me to be griping about a title not being up to a technological standard isn’t to do with age or style, but more to do with sloppy development. The title plays as an isometric platformer with a small selection of puzzles, similar to Goof Troop on the SNES and, although clearly more limited, Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand for the Game Boy Advance. Switching between the five characters on offer – Brain, Pinky, Yakko, Wakko and Dot – you have to use your abilities to wok through each short-lived Level. Each character has different abilities which, as opposed to the usual everyone’s-got-something-better-than-everyone-else, seem to be more of a restriction to make them weaker then the other characters, for example, Brain can’t jump, whereas one of the other can work out how to use the levers hidden within some Levels.

            The Level structure is rather nice – with your protagonist cartoon stars being given the challenge of making back some of the money they’ve cost the studio, by filming three movies simultaneously. Flicking back and forth between the movies can be entertaining, but aside from a few minor aesthetic and enemy changes, the basic premise of each Level remains the same. Of the fifteen Levels the title sports, not one feels like a change of pace.

            The Multiplayer Mode on the other hand, is a refreshing change of pace from all the racing and shooting titles that seem to draw the crowds these days. Allowing for one-to-four players via a Single Card Download, the Mode features miniaturised or single-section versions of the in-game Levels as maps for the Multiplayer – a Super Mario64 DS inspired grab-the-crown game. The crown starts in the middle of the arena and players must storm to obtain it. Running into an opposing player with the crown will steal it from them and falling off the edge will lose you the treasure. As you hold the crown, your time, noted on the Touch Screen, will increase and for every two seconds an opponent scores, your time will decrease by one, with the objective being to have held the crown for the longest time. Not an entirely inventive option but none-the-less and thought-out attempt. I would happily say that the Multiplayer Mode would be a common pastime for as long as the Game Card stays in your NintendoDS, but with such a lack-lustre Single Player Mode, I’m not quite sure as to how long that’ll be…

            The titles graphics are frankly shoddy. Offering isometric 2D SNES-style renditions on today’s super-number-crunching processors is not an idle waste by any means in my opinion; however, offering inferior, fuzzy, bug-ridden SNES-style graphics is just not excusable. A distinct lack of any special effects -  including the SNES favourite boasting power, Mode7, a fifteen-year-old technique - means redeeming features are thin on the ground. The musical quality is just as uninviting, with turn-the-volume-down-esque jingly tunes and irritating sound effects trying to mimic the show.

            It’s a disappointment at least to say that a title with so much promise should end up as a run-of-the-mill kids cash-in licence. The NintendoDS is capable of and worth so much more, refusing to utilise any of the systems unique features. As with so many updates to television programmes from our youth – why do they insist on updating for today’s children as opposed to the original fans who have long since become adults.