It's been more then 10 years since I first got this game and I still enjoy replaying it....
I remember the day I saw a commercial for this game. It was about a mom who took her son to see a doctor because of his strange behavior because the kid was playing this game too much. I didn't really like that commercial, but as soon as I got this game I instantly fell in love with it...
This game, while not a masterpiece, is everything you would ever expect from a Bugs Bunny game. Everything you love about Bugs Bunny makes it's way into this great game.
The game begins with Bugs Bunny trying to reach Pismo Beach but unfortunately for him (and fortunately for us :) ) he makes a wrong turn at Albuquerque and stumbles into a warehouse with a time machine. Thinking that it is a carrot juice dispenser he turns it on and ends up lost in time.
He soon meets Merlin, from one of his episodes, who tells him that in order to go back to his own time he needs to collect clocks (or clock symbols). So Bugs has to travel through time (through all of his past episodes) and collect clocks until he has enough to return home. It's a simple story with no twists but then again, would you really expect a dark and twisted story from Loony Tunes?
You play as Bugs and control him from a third person view. You go from level to level (and from time zone to time zone) searching for clocks and golden carrots. Bugs can obviously jump, kick, roll, sneak jump into holes and interact with various objects. Each level has a set number of clocks and golden carrots (golden carrots are like a secondary item to collect) which you will need to collect. Some of them are out in the open, while others are slightly hidden. The game is basically a treasure hunting game. You can beat most levels in one go, but some of them require you to posses certain power ups which you obtain later in the game, so you will have to go back and replay some levels again. In order to progress to the next level you will need to find at least 95% of each level's clocks, which is a little to much to ask from a children's game.
Let's just say that in order to beat the game you will need to obtain 120 clocks, while the game only has 124, so it is almost crucial that you beat each level fully, but like I said before most of the clocks are out in the open while those that are hidden require just a bit of exploring and interacting. On each level there will also be some enemies. There are basically two main tactics for dealing with enemies. If an enemy is short, you simply jump on his head to pancake him and kick him while his wobbling around. If an enemy is a big guy you run around until he gets tired and then you kick him from behind. Bugs Bunny the ass-kicker! On some levels you will have boss fights at the end. These fights are usually easy and fun, though some of them can be a bit frustrating. The basic formula is to find the bosses weak stop and use it against him, and all of them are pretty easy to spot, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. While bosses are easy, they are really fun to fight against. Each boss has a funny and creative way of getting beaten and you won't be bored by any of them.
Bugs has three carrots that represent his health bar and an unlimited supply of lives, which seems pointless at first, but you will be glad because of it. This game has a lot of pitfalls and during the time this game came out, 3D platforms weren't as advanced as they are today. Therefore the creators thought it would be wise not to include lives since players will probably lost most of them right away. I must have fallen at least a hundred times of a dinosaurs head on the very first level until I finally learned the ropes and luckily for unlimited lives I didn't have to see the game over screen a single time.
The zones that you visit are: The Stone Age Area (Elmer Fudd's turf), The Pirate Years (Yosemite Sam's turf), Medieval Times (Witch Hazel's turf), The 1930's (Mugzy and Rocky's Turf) and Dimension X (Marvin the Martian's turf). All the characters act just as I remembered them from the cartoons and they all have the same voice actors.
One thing that this game should really be praised for is it's level designs. All levels (except one) feel completely different and fresh. Each of them will have a different theme, different enemies, different objects to interact... it's actually quite amazing. I always look forward to the Medieval stages because of all of it's contents. Also you won't be spending the first quarter of the game stuck in the same time zone. Instead you will play one level there and move on to the next time zone and after a level there move on to another zone and then eventually go back to the first one for another level, so it keeps the atmosphere colorful and interesting. One complaint I have with the levels is that they aren't arranged well. The first few levels are really long and hard when compared to the last few levels. Also, not all levels have you simply controlling bugs on foot. On some levels, bugs will fire cannons, drive a car or a mine cart, do puzzles, fight a bull, ski and so much more. It's really refreshing to play one of those levels just to take a quick break from the usual routine.
The graphics are nice and colorful. The game was made during the middle of the PlayStation's lifespan, and for that time, the graphics looked great. You won't find yourself complaining about them nor the controls which also work great.
The music on the other hand is kinda shallow. You would expect from such a game to have fun and catchy tunes that you can hum or whistle to, but you just won't. While it isn't horrible, the music could have been done a little bit better just so it would sound more Loony Tuneish.Seeing how I have beaten this game more times then any other game, I found a decent share of glitches, but nothing that major. You have the usual stuff like the quick camera turn or the never-ending fall but most of them can be fixed by re-entering a level so it's nothing too major.
Bugs Bunny Lost in Time is and remains as one of my favorite games of all time. Mostly because of the nostalgia factor, I have to admit, but even when I look past that and when I see how my younger cousins enjoy this game so much, I can't help but say that this truly is a great game that's definitely worth playing!