Not Shakespeare, but it works.
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Konami
DEVELOPER: Konami
GENRE: Platformer
RELEASE DATE: January 1992
I’m pretty sure I watched every early 90’s cartoon back when I was a child and judged them all with an eagle eye. I definitely weeded out “Bucky O’ Hare” as something that did not interest me. The concept of an interstellar space rabbit and his justice team against a band of toad ruffians (the enemies should have been tortoises – GET IT?! THE TORTOISES AGAINST THE HARES IN A RACE AGAINST TIME!) was played out new-jack horse crap. Give me “Rocko’s Modern Life” or “Inspector Gadget” any day of the week! Nevertheless, Konami, nimble developers that they are, made a fantastic platformer out of said crappy license.
Yes, it’s simple run, jump, and shoot action, but with enough variety to make your head sprout rabbit ears! First, in one of many Mega Man references, the game gives you a choice between levels in the form of planets. Each planet contains a different number of “acts” and, once you defeat the boss, you acquire one of Bucky’s crew and all of them have their own useful abilities. Blinky the robot blasts through blocks made of ice and stone, Deadeye can scale walls, Jenny has a homing bomb, etc. Their specific attributes help you get through the ridonkulously hard levels to follow. Seriously, these levels are controller-rattling tough and you better sing praises be for the unlimited continues that Konami gives you. They also have a password system, for those who have been worn out by the toad menace and just need to set the controller down for a spell.
In traditional platforming fashion, there is a traditional green planet, a fire planet, an ice planet, etc, but that ain’t all folks. The first four levels seem to shoot by in a breeze, albeit a breeze designed to rip your earmuffs off your head. As you progress, though, more levels keep coming… then more… and more. The game won’t end and it just keeps getting harder. For a game based on a children’s cartoon, Konami really pulled out all the stops with the difficulty. Much like Mega Man, though, it’s manageable difficulty that requires you to really learn each and every character in and out in order to progress. It’s difficulty that makes you want to keep going, which is an attribute found in only the finest of NES platformers.
I don’t know what it is about the misadventures of Bucky O’ Hare for my Nintendo Entertainment System, but I couldn’t put it down, even though I kept dying. Each of the levels within the respective planets had enough challenges and variety in the layouts to keep me going. The references to other classic NES games are awesome, as well: the aforementioned Mega Man, of course, but also Konami’s own line of classics, like certain weapons from Contra and an homage to the level in Turtles 2 when you’re on the boogie boards. Also, the toad enemies look like squattier versions of the Battletoads. Radical! If it’s sadistic platforming action you crave, but you’ve Megaed all the Men and Ninjaed every Gaiden you can think of, give Bucky O’ Hare a whirl. It will toast your eyeballs.
A-
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13 replies on “#104 – Bucky O’ Hare”
Toast your eyeballs… IN THE FACE. Kudos on turning “mega” and “ninja” into verbs. Or, should I say, megaing and ninjaing… no, I shouldn’t.
I LIKED BUCKY O’HARE DOUCHE
I gave it an A-, which if I’m judging the letter scale accurately, is a good grade.
Then again, I expect nothing less from the Internet. Thank you for your unwarranted response, heckler!
I think he’s referring to your dislike of the TV show. Great review by the way, I’m reading backwards to catch up on all your reviews right now.
@Sam C.
Ah, thanks Sam. I was wondering about that. And thank you for your interest! It truly means a lot.
Dylan, the sadly short lived cartoon show, first off, was awesome. Secondly, not only would I buy this game based on the cover, BUT it’s also an amazing game, like you said. Third, you should really try the arcade game if you haven’t, it’s a beat ’em up like TMNT and The Simpsons. Great stuff.
Jesse, I respect your taste, good sir, so I might have to give it another watch. And I will have to look out for the arcade version.
Bucky o hare! Wow does that bring back memories…I had an action figure, then lost it the same day if memory serves correct. The show was pretty awesome too, as is this game
i just scored this nes cart for 1.60$
nice
Loved the toons, toys, and games…. I was a Bucky O Hare freak from way back when. I literally tried for 10 years to beat the NES game and one boring weekend fate was on my side! I got passed that huge MFing ship at the end and smashed on that Toad Commander!!!!
My best friend when I was in elementary school… her brother had this game, and since it was a “boys game”, she refused to let me play it or touch the cart herself. It looked SO awesome, I would “go check on him” while she brushed her Barbies hair and sulked… just so I could catch a glimpse of this game in action. Eventually I couldnt pull myself from the screen and made some excuse to keep me in theNintendo room and out of Barbies dream house. My best friend never called me again and I selected someone more compatible for the title of “best friend”. I did get to play the game briefly before I left… so it was total success and completely worth it.
I’ve never played with Barbies myself, but someone who keeps you from Bucky O’ Hare isn’t your friend.
I used to love Bucky as a kid. One xmas was dominated by action figures. This is another great game on that 150-in-1 cartridge I bought. I find it quite a floaty platformer but a solid one nonetheless.