Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports

Let me start this review by giving you a very easy to understand description of what this game is. Take Mario Strikers, Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Slam Basketball, combine the four into one game, scale back the quality and mechanical depth, then replace the Mario cast with the Looney Tunes squad, and what you ultimately get is Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports. There is perhaps not a better way to envision this arcade and simplistic sports title, and in that very description you can probably already infer many of the strengths and weaknesses that come with such a premise.

It only took me a few hours with Wacky World of Sports to feel as though I'd seen everything. That's often a trend in smaller scale sports titles, but here it's increasingly apparent. The main dish is the Acme Ultimate Cup. This is a multi-sport tournament where you play as one of nine Looney Tunes characters to battle it out in football, tennis, golf, and basketball. You play each sport once, get graded and scored on your victories and individual performances and once everything is said and done a winner is determined.

There's very little depth here whatsoever and the only way that the game attempts to spice things up is in the difficulty settings of the rival competitors and in the fact that each Looney Tunes star is rated based on their strength, skill, and intelligence. This is pretty much the exact same deal as we see in Mario sports titles, as while Roadrunner is incredibly fast, Wile E. Coyote is (hilariously, and perhaps cruelly...) much, much more intelligent. Another example in practice is that Yosemite Sam's strength means he can smash a golf ball further than say Lola Bunny, but Lola is hands-down better at scoring three-pointers in basketball. Sure, there are a variety of Looney Tunes levels and maps to unlock and compete on, but these are cosmetic and don't impact gameplay unlike the character ratings.

So, the gameplay. Let's start with what I believe to be the best of the bunch: tennis. This is pretty straightforward as the camera holds position behind your side of the court and you simply waddle around in a three-dimensional manner and return serves and hits from the opposing player, be it by lobbing, flatting, or topspinning the ball in response. You can aim shots where you want them to land, spice things up by using a time-slowing mechanic to reach otherwise unreachable shots, and use superpowered ultimate-like shots in an attempt to secure a point. There's a fair bit of depth in this mode, and the pacing does mean it's entertaining and thrilling, more so when you add the Acme items to the equation. At times, a target will appear above the net, which when hit will spawn obstacles and hazards on the opposing team's side of the court. This could be dynamite that when a player steps on it they are stunned, meaning a well-placed ball on a dynamite will be near-impossible to return. It's a simple idea that works really well and makes tennis an undoubtable highlight for the Wacky World of Sports.

Next up is football. It's a more streamlined iteration of what we see in the Mario Strikers series where small teams battle it out in tight arenas, attempting to score in small goals manned by AI keepers. You can pass, lob shots, dodge or tackle (depending on possession), and of course unleash a shot of varying power depending on how long you hold the strike button. You can use an ultimate-like strike here too, but this is easy to stop with a well-timed tackle. There's really not a whole lot of depth to pick apart here, aside from the added challenges that Acme care packages pave the way to by introducing hazards and weapons to the equation, but this doesn't change the fact that the football is serviceable and tends to flow with ease.

It's golf where the cracks really start to show. From the macro perspective, this sport works like a charm with a simplistic mechanical setup that promotes a lot of player agency and skillful opportunities. It's the micro that really torpedoes this sport. There's absolutely zero putting depth begging the question why it's even featured, the ball and wind/weather physics are horrible and basically don't do anything that you'd expect, the powerups and Acme item usage element feels minor and like an afterthought, and the course and hole design feels uninspired and too straightforward to be any kind of special. Does it work for the most part as a mechanical experience? Yes. Is it fun and does it stack up to other arcade golf adaptations? No... not really.

But despite golf being hit or miss, it's basketball that leaves the most to be desired. This is the mode where it seems like developer Bamtang Games has put the most mechanical depth and focus and ultimately it comes together for an experience that feels too bloated and unrefined to impress. There are too many inputs that do similar things, the camera perspective and the small size of the courts mean that it's difficult to keep tabs on everything that's happening, the shooting system is flawed at the best of times, and each match is split into four quarters that fly by at such a rapid pace that the game is over before you're even aware that it has started. It's an overwhelming nightmare in practice and by far the worst of the sports quartet featured in Wacky World of Sports.

While I will say that the local multiplayer support is a positive and great feature, the lack of online multiplayer is a letdown. Sure there are a couple of additional ways to play in the Challenges and more exhibition-like modes, but there aren't enough ways to enjoy this game overall. Yes, the characters are still timeless and offered up in an authentic and brilliant manner, although it would have been nice to have access to more than nine (10 including bonus character Yosemite Sam). The map design pays homage to Looney Tunes cartoons and environments and the backdrops are always littered with a whole collection of additional and more niche characters, even Gossamer. Plus, the chippy and iconic theme song adds a lot to the Looney Tunes experience but having an additional song or two to play in the background would have gone a long, long way to keep things feeling fresh.

It's with these points in mind that Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports leaves me wanting more. There are moments and parts of the game that impress and excel, but there are also plenty of areas, mechanics, and features that frustrate or disappoint. It feels limited on content and mechanically lacking at times, but it's still authentically Looney Tunes and that alone will mean that it'll offer up the occasional laugh and giggle as you plug away, score some screamers, shoot some hoops, tee off, and smash some aces. What else can I say except... That's all Folks!