The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout

aka: Happy Birthday Bugs, The Bugs Bunny Blowout
Moby ID: 13974
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Description

The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout takes place as Bugs is invited to his 50th birthday. Because some of the other Warner Bros. toons weren't invited (including Wile E. Coyote), they decided to stop Bugs from going to this party.

A Warner Bros licensed game, The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout is a 2d side-scrolling platform game. Bugs can jump over and on some enemies and try to collect as many carrots as possible. Bugs can use his hammer in order to smash enemies as well as to find some secrets.

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Screenshots

Credits (NES version)

Graphics (uncredited)
Music and Sound Effects (uncredited)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 59% (based on 19 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 23 ratings with 3 reviews)

Bugs Bunny Turns 50, Buys A Deadly Mallet

The Good
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout allows the player to take control of the famous WB cartoon character. Mr. Bunny has to walk, jump and whack his way through several, side-scrolling levels in order to reach his birthday party.

Bugs Bunny collects carrot icons for points, mostly he has to whack blocks, enemies and the odd projectile. Sometimes your whacking will reveal hearts to restore hit points, but mostly you are just whacking your way to the end of the level.

Familiar WB cartoon characters will periodically appear as bosses. Sometimes you whack them a few times (or their projectiles) to defeat them. Although sometimes you just ignore them in order to grab a large carrot.

Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout features some nice, 8-bit platforming graphics. The game's cut scenes are impressive and it's fun to do a bit of whacking.

The Bad
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout features levels and minor enemies that are nice to look at, but don't really connect with the WB cartoon world. The game's setting and minor enemies could just as easily be seen in an early Super Mario Bros. game.

One of the minor enemies is a flying ball of fire. While they look nice enough and, when killed, often leave behind hearts, it is difficult to picture a cartoon scenario where Bugs Bunny would battle floating fire monsters.

The mallet has a fairly short range. This ain't a big problem when whacking blocks, but the game would have benefited from having more weapons in the game. After all, how much whacking can you do, before you start to get bored or tired?

The Bottom Line
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout places Bugs Bunny and several other WB cartoon characters into a nice side-scrolling platformer. Fans of the WB character library will recognize the main characters, and it's not difficult to learn the play mechanics.
It is not a bad game, but not much about the game stands out from other games of that genre. Still, if you wish to do some single player, whacking, without much difficulty, give this game a try.

NES · by Shamal Jifan (20) · 2017

Bugs Bunny 50th Anniversary Disappointment

The Good
'The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout' for the NES, first released in 1990, on the 50th anniversary of everybody's favourite Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny, is a rather simplistic 2D platformer similar to Super Mario Bros. 2.

In the game, Bugs gets an invitation to his 50th birthday party. However, the other Toons are envious because nobody ever celebrated a party in their honour, so they decide to stop Bugs from going to his party. At the end of each level, the player faces one of the Toons as a boss. There is Daffy Duck in your way, who is impervious to all attacks. So how can he defeated? By reaching the big carrot, of course. Tweety throws tomatoes at the player, while Yosamite Sam and Elmer Fudd shoot corks and nets, E. Coyote charges at you with his fork and knife and so on. It is a bit strange fighting these beloved characters, but they are all here.

The gameplay is as simple as possible. You collect Warner Bros. squares (which are converted in Bugs' preferred currency, carrots) and bash enemies with your wooden mallet, Looney Tunes style. There is also a fun bonus round after every level in which you can get some extra lives. It seems that the party was organized very far away from Bugs' home, as you get to traverse many different 'stages' throughout the game, such as forests and deserts. There are six stages in total, which are further divided into four separate rounds each. Each round does not take a lot of time to complete, including the boss fight, which is ideal for younger players (which the game was targeted for).



The Bad
For Bugs Bunny 50th anniversary, this game lacked inspiration. The birthday-themed concept is certainly zany enough for a Looney Tunes episode, but for a videogame it doesn't make as much sense. The enemies in the game that the player encounters have nothing to do with Warner Bros' franchise, such as what I assume to be a soda bottle and a glowing sun. Yes, a glowing sun.

Each time you get hit, you are unable to attack for a period of time, which forces the player to flee instead. There are a lot of times when you try to skip ahead as much as possible when you are hit, since you are invincible during that period, which is surely a sign of bad game development.

But, I disagree wholeheartedly with the AVGN's review on Youtube of this game. At the end of the day, it is just a bit of harmless fun for youngsters, even though the Looney Tunes show appeals to everyone.

The Bottom Line
'The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout' is definitely a disappointment for me considering it is a licensed game. It settles for mediocrity, maybe with the excuse of targeting a younger age group. However, for an NES game, it is not without its redeeming qualities, however few they may be.

NES · by Carmelo Lia (42) · 2016

Nice Platformer

The Good
The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout is a fun, if unoriginal, single-player, side-scrolling platformer along the lines of Super Mario Brothers 2 or M.C. Kids. Armed with a mallet, Bugs must survive several, cartoon-inspired levels in order to reach his birthday celebration. Along with an assortment of minor enemies, power-ups, smash-able blocks and bonus rounds, jealous cartoon rivals appear as bosses.

The Bad
The mallet is a nice weapon, but their were times during the game when I wished Bugs also had the ability to collect items to use as projectiles. Every time you start the game you forced to watch the entire introduction sequence. It is a nice sequence, but having to watch it every time you start the game, can be tedious.

The Bottom Line
The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout is the second 8-bit outing for Bugs and, compared to Crazy Castle, this title features superior graphics, music and sound effects. It is not the most original or difficult platformer for the Nintendo, but it is one of the most enjoyable.

NES · by ETJB (428) · 2010

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Didz.

Additional contributors: chirinea, Atom Ant, LepricahnsGold.

Game added July 15, 2004. Last modified August 30, 2023.