Just like Todd from the show; dull, punishing, not fun to look at, but it has a cool factor.
The game is a platformer. You control both Beavis & Butt-Head, switching between the two at will, through levels you can choose to play MegaMan style. While the Blue Bomber has astounding level design, Beavis and Butt-Head doesn't. Some of the levels are interesting enough, with walking chicken fights through Highland High's gymnasium to pogo-stick jumping across spiders in the mall. It's just diverse enough, but look past that, and the game begins to fall flat on its face.
The main problem I have with this game is it's based far too much in memorizing these levels. While both characters control exactly the same, and rather responsive, the difficulty presented here is absolutely cheap. The game punishes you for not memorizing exactly where certain enemies are placed, or memorizing which door to go through for extra lives or NERF gun ammunition. Games should be a joy to play, they should reward you for quick reflexes and playing well through learning the game's core mechanics. Beavis and Butt-Head certainly tries to do this, but ends up coming off as terrifyingly frustrating in the process. That isn't to say that's inherently a bad thing, though. Games like this can be considered great to the right audience. If you feel like pouring a lot of hours into this game, memorizing each level, enemy pattern, etc., you're sure to feel a sense of accomplishment, but you're not given much motivation to do this considering the game is as punishing as it is and not quite as good as other titles that pull this punishing difficult idea off successfully.
Throughout even your second or third playthrough, after memorizing enemy placement and maybe some collectibles, you'll still be punished for playing poorly. Again, not inherently a bad thing, but when 1-ups are frighteningly scarce and death can happen at any given moment (again, not in a good way, but the cheap way), I could see many people playing this game and throwing controllers in absolute frustration.
Even when you do manage to get good at the game and look past its difficulty, there's really nothing special here. The best thing about the game is its set-piece moments throughout the levels, and this isn't saying much since the enemies tend to be so cheap in these levels, making them a pain to play through. For example, an enemy appearing from the right of the screen, giving you all of a second or two's time to react or it's a one hit death. Though I have beaten this game a couple of times, it's just so hard to recommend because of its immensely steep, punishing difficulty.
The reason I played this game as much as I did is because I'm a huge Beavis & Butt-Head fan, and playing this game for even that reason can be hugely disappointing. The humor falls absolutely flat. Beavis & Butt-Head have barely any context to them, opening the game with something along the lines of "Hey, if we do cool stuff, maybe they'll let us into the GWAR concert." That's literally it. At least in the Genesis version you have the same goal, but it's outlined so much better and has a bit more character depth to it. I just feel that whoever wrote the jokes in this game doesn't have a very good understanding of what Beavis & Butt-Head cartoons are really like. Maybe it's because the game was released during the formative years of the show when jokes there didn't exactly work either, but somehow the Genesis version is a shining example of how to write a licensed game without having the writing take up most of the experience. The Beavis & Butt-Head in this game are not the dudes I know and love. They come off as boring kids doing impersonations of the titular characters. It can really be that bad.
Visually, the game is absolutely nothing special. Character sprites look almost grainy and have little detail, and throughout the incredibly long levels, you'll see backgrounds repeat over and over. The animation itself can be quite good at times, say on the pogo-sticks, chicken fighting, or bouncing your way through clotheslines over dogs that are trying to eat you. The problem being, and my personal gripe with the game's visuals, is that it could have the best animation in the world (which it doesn't), but if it doesn't have good sprites or backgrounds to look at, it's all going to be for naught, and unfortunately, it is. Compared to the Genesis game, sprites don't look nearly as detailed, the levels aren't full of much character or even color, for that matter, and this is just something that is unforgivable for a SNES/Genesis multiplat. The Genesis itself is incapable of displaying as many colors as the SNES, so what the hell happened? I know both games were made by two different developers, but on Viacom New Media's part, it seemed as if they knew that Beavis & Butt-Head was hugely rising in popularity at the time, and they took the lazy way out. Compared to their own Rocko's Modern Life video game that was released the same year, it's clear to tell that Rocko ends up looking much better; with better sprites, better looking levels, even better animations; the one visual aspect I praised Beavis & Butt-Head on SNES for. There is quite simply no excuse for this game to look as bland as it does.
Platforming, attacking and shooting all feel very responsive. Control wise, the game is fluid. Surprisingly so. We're not talking MegaMan accuracy, but it's definitely serviceable. The enemies you use these attacks on require responsiveness, such as the skater kids or the birds that fly down and try to hit you, and thankfully, the game is no slouch in the control department. It simply works.
The levels themselves can be very tedious to go through. You'll end up seeing the same backgrounds, the same enemies, the same patterns over and over again, making these already large levels feel much longer than they actually are. Implemented into these levels are mini-games, of sorts. From riding a hospital stretcher and shooting your NERF gun to the aforementioned chicken fights, clothesline platforming, etc., and these are easily the most interesting aspect of this game. It's just too bad that boss fights don't really fare as well.
Some of these boss fights are actually quite good, it's just a shame that it's so few of them. Of the four bosses in the game -- count 'em, only four. What a shame -- only two of them were interesting in the least; Mr. Anderson, whom you throw apples at in a very particular way, and Todd, whom you have the chicken fight with. Armed with your boxing glove capped baseball bat (try saying that three times fast), you'll take out every boss with it besides Mr. Anderson, and it's a shame that most boss fights end up being a game of luck. The hit detection in this game is screwed. You'll end up trying to dodge a boss the whole fight, getting hit by them when you clearly shouldn't have, and spamming the attack button, hoping they die before you do. Very, very poor design, and this isn't aided by the fact that Beavis & Butt-Head share the same health bar in single player.
Absolutely no excuse for this travesty of a design flaw. It makes switching between the two characters not only bothersome, but entirely useless, which is just disgraceful considering, again, these two are the reason most people play this game at all. I'm sure that was the case when this game released, and it's certainly the case now. The only, and I mean the only reason to ever switch between the two characters is to line them up to use their special jump ability. Compared to Ahh! Real Monsters (again, by Viacom New Media, the same developers) instead of just pressing a button and watching Butt-Head kick Beavis' ass and launch him through the air, you have to tediously line them up, switching back and forth between the two to do so. Again, poor design.
The sound here isn't the most amazing thing you'll hear on the console, either. The main theme music sounds ridiculous, being a poor attempt at capturing the show's feel, and Beavis & Butt-Head never actually speak, save for a couple of lines of laughter. Considering the limitations of the console, I would be able to accept that, but I have to point back to the Genesis version here. Not only did they both speak in that, the music (especially the main theme) was handled well enough that I wouldn't consider it borderline insulting. Unfortunately, that's exactly how the SNES version comes off. In fact, most things in this game feel like a poor imitation of different aspects from the show itself. It really does come off as insulting, in a way.
Voices and theme music aside, though, the rest of the songs implemented here actually are quite good, and the instruments used, such as the distorted guitar and hefty bass lines, turn out sounding quite great, and this is helped by the fact that the soundtrack is catchy. From what I hear, the band GWAR did the soundtrack for both the SNES and Genesis versions of these games, but I'm only willing to believe they composed the SNES version. The tracks here do end up sounding like GWAR tunes, and it reminds me a good bit of DOOM's music on the SNES. While these songs do get repetitive and loop far too many times for anyone's good, the music choices here, sans the main theme, are definitely appreciated.
It's just too bad the rest of the game doesn't hold up so well. I want to review this game on its own merits, not comparing it to the Genesis version or Viacom New Media's other work. I want to say that after I've beaten it a couple of times I enjoyed it. Even though I did have a decent bit of fun playing through it, it's just hard to recommend to anyone considering Viacom New Media's other, better designed games on the console, as well as the superior Genesis version which is definitely way more than just a run-of-the-mill platformer.
I know that throughout this review, I've shat on this game a lot, and I'm not saying it doesn't deserve it; it most definitely does. However, I would say this game has almost sentimental value to me, and it's something I believe most people would be proud to display on their shelf simply because of the license and the console it appears on alone. Beavis & Butt-Head? SNES? Sure, it sounds like the second coming of Christ, but the execution here just doesn't work. As bad as it can be, it has almost a "cool" factor surrounding it, in the same way that Beavis & Butt-Head thought Todd was cool. It's just like Todd, really; It's dull, it's punishing, it's not fun to look at, and most importantly, it's only mildly fun or entertaining enough. You definitely wouldn't want to spend too much time with it, though, and you should never, ever trust it. Recommended only to hardcore Beavis & Butt-Head fans or masochists.