Oh the humanity! Oh the insanity! Oh the poultry!

Daffy Duck- The Marvin Missions was hands-down one of the hardest games I've ever played, but oh so worth it. From the company that produced such gems as Aero the Acro-Bat and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel, Sunsoft really struck gold releasing virtually every Looney Tunes game of the 16-bit generation.

The gameplay progresses through very well designed worlds as Daffy's Duck Dodgers alter-ego chases his arch-nemesis Marvin the Martian throughout the galaxy in order to bring him down.



Hunting Marvin from the lava-covered resort planet, to a base that's been frozen solid, and back to Earth (while let's not forget the incredible shrinking duck on the forest world!) did at times seem to become stagnant, the ever faithful comic relief was always there to step in at the end of the level, along with the progress displayed in the form of quirky newspaper headlines to keep the light tone in place.



The weaponry was a bit of a mixed bag. Take the freezing gun, very cool idea and design, but not entirely useful as it did almost no actual damage. The anti-matter gun was probably the mos powerful of the straight-shot guns, but it was worth it to master the effect of gravity on the bomb launcher because the damage inflicted was immense. The jet pack was handy for slowing falls and short climbs, but the fuel ran out far too quickly, forcing the player to be prudent and sometimes downright stingy in its use. And then the special attack, aptly named the Nutty, during which Dodgers would indeed have a nutty and bounce around the screen, demolishing everything in sight, was something to be conserved until absolutely necessary.

The enemies were well tailored to each environment and also very different, not just clones with different models, which was a bit innovative for games around this time. Even the Martians encountered as regular enemies and the occasional minibosses were differently conceived and executed.

With cartoony art, cartoony humor, and straightforward cartoony gameplay, The Marvin Missions stands out because its the consummate Looney Tunes game and brings back those great old-time memories while still being an very enjoyable game.