One positive aspect of the game is the detailed character design and animations.
It would be easier to overlook this if the levels weren’t so full of traps and obstacles. It was very easy to miss platforms by over jumping or having Bugs slip off the end. The problem with the controls becomes apparent particularly from the Arabian-themed stages that require some precise platforming over bottomless pits. Bugs can move fast and even has a run button, but none of the stages are designed around speed unless you are trying to see the “game over” screen as quickly as possible. Many stages are confusing labyrinths with the equally confusing objectives mentioned above, which means going through a process of memorizing each area thoroughly.Īssuming you know what to do and learn the stage layouts and enemy placement, the slippery controls are also a major issue. This is only the second area of the game.
This is employed again in a series of haunted house stages with enemies that run at you from off screen. This is done to simulate the darkness, but it just makes it hard to see what’s coming. While under the bullring, there are a whole host of traps and enemies which is made worse by the field of view being significantly reduced. In the “Bully for Bugs” stage already mentioned, for example, you must descend beneath the bullring. This isn’t the kind of challenge that warrants such a response though. Now I’m aware of the perils of criticizing a game because it is difficult and being told that I just need to “git gud,” to use the parlance of our times.
I will freely admit here that I didn’t finish the game beginning to end on even the lowest difficulty, and the farthest I got without using a level select was to the Arabian themed stages. However, even on the easiest setting (which seems only to increase the player count), I was frequently seeing the continue screen. Looking at the cover before playing, I assumed it would be a mediocre and relatively challenge-free licensed game. Speaking of difficulty, it would be well to mention that this game is difficult. You must have this sword to defeat Yosemite Sam but knowing this, let alone finding the item, is quite difficult. For example, in a medieval themed stage you have to collect a singing sword within a castle maze before you can progress. Considering that even at the time of the game’s release, these cartoons would have seemed old to the average player’s grandparents, this is not to be assumed. While this might sound refreshing initially, the objectives for each stage soon get confusing unless you are familiar with the cartoons. There are even some shooter stages much later in the game. There are more traditional platforming stages, such as the Arabian-themed stages, following the first two but simply getting from one end to the other isn’t often the only objective. The very next stage has Bugs collecting parts to build an elaborate contraption to defeat a raging Bull. The idea being similar to the famous cartoon in which both characters try to fool Elmer into hunting the other. The first stage most players will play has Bugs luring Daffy Duck into flipping a series of signs before Elmer Fudd arrives. Where Double Trouble differs from the standard platformer is that many of the stages have different objectives related to the cartoons they are based on. The game begins either with “Duck! Rabbit, Duck!” or “Bully for Bugs,” and each stage is linked by a simple plot involving Bugs being transported into his old cartoons by a “Televisor” to escape Yosemite Sam.
I never played (nor had even heard of) Bugs Bunny in Double Trouble until recently, but this is exactly the kind of game it is.ĭouble Trouble is a 1996 release based on the Bugs Bunny license with stages designed around a number of the more famous cartoons. I’m thinking specifically of the type of game that, while certainly not good, was not so bad that you wrote it off entirely. I’m sure it was not uncommon for many readers in their childhood to have had a game that they didn’t particularly like but played anyway because it was all they had. Genre: Platformer Developer: Atod AB Publisher: Sega Ent.