Toons Tackle The Beanstalk
A Review of Buster and the Beanstalk
Karina Worlton
We're tiny, we're toony, we're all a little looney! Are you singing along? Then you're probably a fan, or at least familiar with, Tiny Toon Adventures. TerraGlyph has brought Buster and Babs Bunny and their comic relief sidekick Plucky Duck to fairytale storyland. You play the part of the cursor named Clickhappy, as you lead Buster and Plucky on a search up the beanstalk, looking for the Chicken that lays Golden Eggs, a Bag full of Gold, and the Magical Flying Golden Harp.
Babs plays the part of the good fairy, and gives you hints. Loudspeakers announce what items you must find as you travel through various scenes, ranging from Humpty Dumpty's wall, the Three Bears cottage, and the Three Little Pigs brick houseboat. In all, there are eight scenes to hunt for such things as a chatty changemaker. The chatty changemaker happens to be a cash register (oops, sorry, I gave it away) and when you click on it, it says, I'm one of the few things that make sense (cents) around here.
When you find the item, you receive one piece of the magic key. Three finds will give you the entire key, at which point you can retrieve one of the giant's possessions (the chicken, the bag or the harp.) Then you start again, assembling two more keys to get the remaining items.
Watch out though, because Elmyra wants to collect Buster and Plucky for her petting zoo. If you do get captured, just use the magic cellular phone to contact Babs, and she'll save you. Of course, you'll hear some sarcastically witty comment on your IQ!
This game is easy to install and navigate. You can choose between easy and hard, making this game one to play over and over. To save a game, you simply click on a box in the save game screen, revealing a Tiny Toons character. If you want to reload a game, select the character that corresponds to the game you want.
Since the entire game is tongue-in-cheek, it is meant to be entertaining, more so than educational. In fact, it begins with these words: Shakespeare, (dramatic pause) this ain't. However, it does require some intelligence to figure out what you are hunting, since all the item descriptions are puns or play-on-words. And while the puns tend to be groaners, puns are a sophisticated form of humor. . .
Be prepared for the Tiny Toons attitude--it can be biting and occasionally rude. I enjoyed the humor myself, since some of the gags are for adults. (For example, click on a opening on a brick wall and hear "It's just another hole in the wall, Floyd.") On the downside, I got a little tired of Buster, Babs, and Plucky treating each other like imbeciles. For the most part, though, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I think most of your family will also.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
Buster and the Beanstalk |
| Company: |
TerraGlyph Interactive Studios
|
| Cost: |
$39.95 |
System Requirements:
Windows 95, 486DX 33MHz (or higher) PC, 8MB RAM or higher, MPC2 640x480 256 Color SVGA graphics adapter, CD-ROM drive (double speed), Sound Blaster compatible audio adapter, Mouse or Windows compatible pointing device.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value N/A
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 5
Sound 4
Overall Score:
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