HINT: They’re diminutive, they’re also of the animated persuasion…

STOP SCROLLING: In Guess the Game Commercial, we invite you to guess which game is being advertised based solely on a single out-of-context screen grab. The video below will feature the commercial and generally a short sizzle of our own making with the game in question. Scroll no further than the video below unless you’re stumped and ready to spoil the answer for yourself…

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ANSWER: Tiny Toon Adventures [NES, 1991]

Before I made the video above, I would’ve written something along the lines of “I don’t know what makes this game hold such a special place in my heart,” but thanks to this stupid series, I’m one billion percent clear on the issue. For starters, this is a Konami game. It’s not made by Hi-Tech Expressions, LJN, or one of those dozen or so other hackneyed studios known for cranking out licensed smegma that rightfully no longer exist anymore; Tiny Toons Adventures comes from a Triple A, Japanese developer who was at the top of their game.

Secondly, the game is still pretty goddamned great. The controls are outstandingly solid compared to 90% of practically anything on the NES, and that’s all the more impressive when you consider Tiny Toons has FOUR playable characters. (Babs has been unfortunately relegated to “damsel” for the sake of this Adventure. Look for my 4000 word screed on Strong Female Characters Based on 90s Fox Kids Shows coming never.)

Many of the wonderfully colorful levels, where even the lowliest of bit players can momentarily shine as an enemy, usually featured a fun variation of the the shows theme song. What you hear in the video is only one example. Speaking of which, I concluded the video with the very thing that absolutely blew my mind when I played it back in 1991. “Holy shit, my favorite cartoon characters are talking for the first time in a (home console) video game!” said the boy, refusing to return the game to Blockbuster.

Arnold the Pit Bull, anyone…anyone?!

Lastly, the game’s source material still holds up. Watch the show as an adult. Watch the show with your kids. It’ll work, I promise. Steven Spielberg and the folks at Amblin company weren’t shy in recreating the Warner Looney Tunes characters for a new generation, but more importantly, they wanted to recapture the kinetic spirit of those characters.

Sure, certain Tiny characters got relegated to supporting players, but in very much the same fashion as their 1940s counterparts (Dizzy, Lil’ Sneezer, etc.) But like Bugs, Daffy, and Porky before them, Buster/Babs, Plucky and Hampton probably would’ve emerged as the principles simply because they don’t rely on one-note jokes and can make the most of any situation they’re inserted into. I’m sure their star status was intentional, but I’ll betcha $10 it would’ve happened organically too (Man, do I know how to go out on a limb?!)

This poster hung proudly on the wall of my 4th grade classroom

Fuck, I wish this show never stopped being in production. Given it was only really being worked on for five or so years, yeah, certain references are a little dated so we don’t see a lot of reruns nowadays. But the same could be said for the first generation of Looney Tunes, and their Clark Gable caricatures and jokes about air raid warnings continued to entertain blissfully unaware viewers like me seven decades later.

PREVIOUSLY ON GUESS THE GAME COMMERCIAL

Wubba Lubba Dub Dub?!
HINT: A young Kosmo Kramer scit-scats about his virtual PhD…

SHOP TINY TOONS STUFF ON AMAZON, SUPPORT LASER TIME!!