Toonstruck Preview

Since their humble beginnings in the black and white era, cartoons have been a strange paradox. Now considered children's entertainment, the animated flicks have always carried with them a twisted sense of humor that reflects their original adult-oriented intentions. With their newest project Toonstruck, Virgin has tapped the dark side of Saturday morning, added some challenging puzzles and quests, and created a video game aimed at the wanna-be psycho in all of us.

Toonstruck is the story of Drew Blanc, animator of the sickeningly cute Saturday morning cartoon show, "The Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun Show." Faced with the horror of creating a new show with the same overly affable mammals, Drew finds himself unable to come up with any new ideas. Knocked out by a weird accident, the frustrated animator wakes up in his own cartoon world, surrounded by the most bizarre creatures to ever enter his imagination. While trying to escape, he finds himself locked in a struggle between the land of Cutopia, ruled by the sappy King Hugh, and the Malevolands, a dark and twisted kingdom ruled by the extremely entertaining Count Nefarious. The story is both lengthy and absorbing, and never falls prey to the mid-tale lag that haunts many adventure games.

The two most impressive things about Toonstruck are its amazing sense of humor, and the star power that delivers it. From start to finish, Toonstruck's real dedication is to the laugh. The characters are hilarious - from super cute castle guards who are so fun-loving that you want to hit them, to a twisted clown that tortures balloon animals for entertainment. Better yet, Virgin has gotten some amazing voice and acting talent to portray these off-the-wall characters. Drew, your main character, is played by Christopher Lloyd, who gained his experience with toons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit; and your wisecracking cartoon sidekick, Flux Wildly, is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson. Other voice talents include Tim Curry, Dom DeLuise, and David Ogden Stiers.

With great voice talent, an entertaining and amusing storyline, and loads of good puzzles, Toonstruck seems destined to do well with the adventure gaming crowd. One word of caution, though: Toonstruck is a game about the dark side of cartoons, and is not intended or recommended for children's play (unless you want them to grow up really warped). If you're looking for some evil laughs, and you're a fan of the point-and click-adventure, you'll want to check out Toonstruck.