Destined for the bargain bin.
Looney Tunes has introduced some of the most iconic characters of all time for nearly a century. While their popularity has certainly diminished over the years, largely due to some forgettable movies and low-budget cartoons, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and countless others have nonetheless endured. Wacky World of Sports is not the Merry Melodies’ first foray into sports videogames as while Tiny Toons would have their own Wacky Sports title on the SNES in 1994, Bugs, Daffy, and Marvin the Martian would lace up on the court in Looney Tunes B-Ball back in 1995. However, fans of the original cartoon have seen Bugs and company taking part in the likes of golf, basketball, and tennis countless times throughout the years.
Following in the steps of a few recent Mario sports titles, the stars of Looney Tunes will find themselves taking part in four sports; Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, and Golf. You’ll do this either with AI controlling several of your favorite Looney Tunes characters or alongside three other friends in local co-op. It's disappointing that there is no online option present, given that GameMill Entertainment has dipped its toes into that territory before. While solo play is an option, braindead AI can certainly get in the way of what could have been a solid return for the Looney Tunes cast. Wacky World of Sports can be enjoyable, it just depends on how and who you play it with.
If there is one area of the recent licensed games produced by GameMill Entertainment that I have to give them credit for, it’s that they have seemingly been more willing to reach out to the license owners to hire some of the regular voice talent. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, for example, was a vastly improved game over its predecessor, and a lot of that had to do with the commitment to providing authentic voices for its memorable cast. While Looney Tunes has had several recasts to their beloved characters over the years, hearing Fred Tatasciore, Jeff Bergman, and Kath Souicie return as their respective characters is a delight, even if Tatasciore only voices Taz in the base game as Yosemite Sam is part of the Deluxe Edition for some bizarre reason. Did they really think Yosemite Sam was worthy of the additional $10? Who really knows.
Wacky World of Sports, even on the Nintendo Switch, is a visually pleasing recreation of the memorable cast and their world. While some more presentation could have been given to celebrating a goal or even winning a match for that matter, the cel-shaded 3D art style does wonders for the cast and the pretty well-executed animations. While there isn’t anything remotely “wacky” about the game, seeing the typical Daffy Duck tantrums when he loses or Wile E. Coyote slamming into the ground and then climbing out of his body-shaped hole, never gets old. For any of the game’s shortcomings, Bamtang Games has done a great job at recreating its cast and their memorable mannerisms and hallmarks.
While Yosemite Sam is DLC for some god knows reason, the central cast consists of Bugs Bunny, Wile E Coyote, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Road Runner, Lola Bunny, the Tasmanian Devil, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck. Each character has a range of stats differences that consist of Speed, Strength, and Inteliigence. Bugs, for example, is rated a 2 in speed, 3 in strength, and a 4 in intelligence. Lola, which was my main through the entire game, is faster than Bugs with scoring a 4, a 2 in strength, and a 3 in intelligence. As Lola is the only female on the cast, having her not as intelligent as the likes of Daffy Duck is certainly a choice. These stats play into how hard they can hit, the speed at which they move around the court, to other factors not generally explained here.
Wacky World of Sports provides its activities across a few options. You have the tournament mode in Ultimate Cup, which rotates across the four sports to determine the winner, Sports Mode that allows you to play the sports without the tournament structure, Challenges that have you performing various tasks like scoring a set number of goals, to a series of tutorials to help you get a handle on all the various controls. Apart from unlocking new courts, courses, and skins to equip to each of the sport's notable equipment, Wacky World of Sports is a fairly thin piece of content, especially if you lack the local availability of others players. Honestly, I could easily recommend this far more if GameMill opted to patch in online matchmaking and greatly reduce the price. Is the game worth $49.99 USD? Without online play, I’m not so sure.
As I mentioned previously, when it comes to the game’s namesake, there isn’t much here that I would define as “Wacky”. Sure, some of the animations to score a goal could aid in that definition, but the sports themselves are pretty standard in their approach, providing nothing that allows the cast to really go for it. Tennis does allow you to slow down time, you can drop anvils on the heads of your opponents in Basketball and Soccer, and Golf does allow you to swap your opponent's ball with an explosive or lay out bear traps, but that is about as “Wacky” as it gets. Had there been moments of characters interacting to perform skits, similar to moments in the original cartoon where Bugs would dress up as a lady or Wile E. Coyote would charge head first into a painted wall, then short condensed versions of these moments could have worked, provided there was enough variety within them to not get repetitive. Looney Tunes has a history of these types of gags, and sadly nothing of the sort is really here.
While I could tell you that Soccer is likely my favorite of the four sports on feature, your own personal mileage is going to vary, especially if you have the likes of Mario Tennis, Mario Strikers, and Mario Golf already on the Switch. Each of those games certainly brings a more tighter and polished series of mechanics, but Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports still may appeal to a younger crowd since it does feature four sports within its thin package. Are each of the sports well-executed and worthwhile? Not really, but they each have some redeemable aspects, even if that is slightly pushing it.
Basketball is the first sport up and has both an interesting way of shooting and yet a camera that is far too close for its own good. You’ll begin by pressing a button in time for the tip off, allowing the winning player to have control of the ball first. You can slam into other players, even if its feels largely off in being able to hit them. You can set up your teammate for a shot, but you are likely just going to hit 3-pointers all day due to how easy it is. To hit that 3-point shot, you merely have to hold the button down until your hear both a sound and a green glow around the ball. If you time it right, that ball is almost always going to go in. Sure, your opponent can jump in front or slam into you, but if you are playing against the AI, it’s unlikely to happen that often.
The camera; however, is far too close. When the opposing team passes the ball back after you have scored, you won’t be able to see your team at all, giving you less time to react. Given that the court is minuscule in its size, this is an issue. Had the court been another half-length, that would have been the perfect size to really allow the game to breath. Characters feel largely on rails as you move around as movement doesn’t feel natural or terribly fluid. Where it starts to sting a bit is that had they simply used the setup they have here for soccer, then they would have absolutely nailed what they needed for its attempt at basketball.
Out of all the sports on offer here, soccer feels the most feature-rich. You have special animations for a super shot, the ability to pass both low and high, dash and dodge, as well as sweep the ball out from your opponent. Shooting is as easy as tapping the button or holding it down for a more powerful shot. There are novelty gimmicks like dropping an anvil on your opponent, something that is possible in basketball as well, but the best part of what is here is that you have a nice big court that gives you a lot of screen to see what you are doing. While I would have preferred a slightly faster speed to the game, everything presented to you works well. While you’ll pick your team of three from the aforementioned cast of characters, Granny and Witch Hazel will be your respective goalkeepers, which is certainly a choice.
Tennis can be played in either singles or doubles, but I will say that relying on the AI is going to cause you to lose. During every single doubles match I took in, the AI would only ever hit the ball back should it come directly to them, otherwise they will leave it for you. It’s also the only sport featured here where you don’t have player icons to indicate who is who. Given the action is pulled back to allow you to see the whole court and environment, it would have helped a lot, given you can choose the same characters on either side of the court.
The gameplay here feels loose enough to give you a good sense of speed and movement, with all the standard shots you’ll need to win. It’s not overly flashy, but slices, lobs, flats, and topspins all work well with more powerful shots being as easy as holding down their respective buttons. To aid in that definition of “Wacky”, Acme targets will occasionally appear that if struck, will launch hazards on the opponents side, such as explosions. If anything, Tennis and Soccer are far and away the best sports offered here.
Golf brings up the rear with a fairly generic offering. Sadly, there is nothing fancy here, and feels far more by the numbers than any of the other sports. You can swap your club, switch to an aerial view, and use the standard meter guage to apply both power and accuracy to your shot. You have super shots to aid with some “hole in one’s”, but apart from hitting spinning Acme target to mess with your opponent, it's a pretty bland affair that is only interesting with some of the courses, such as Marvin the Martian’s command center, which is mostly built out of floating platforms.
Tennis and Golf, at least on the Nintendo Switch, can be played with motion controls. While this works, it generally feels harder to really pull off any of the needed actions here than just pressing the buttons. Still, it is a nice addition to see Bamtang Games add in given the Switch’s capability of allowing such a feat. That said, this feature doesn’t work for the Switch Lite given its format.
Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports may not be terribly wacky, but it shines more so than it fumbles. Tennis and Soccer are the best sports in this package, with Basketball and Golf just shy of being somewhat entertaining. The real star of the show; however, is the presentation given to the cast. Sure, I would do with some actual victory animations and some more buffoonery, but the depiction of these characters and the cel-shaded 3D models go a long way. That said, a lack of online play and a far too thin offering of content makes this a hard sell at $49.99 USD and a purchase I just can’t recommend given the better alternatives on the Switch.
Developer - Bamtang Games.
Publisher - GameMill Entertainment. Released - September 27th, 2024. Available On - Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series X/S, PC. Rated - (E) - Mild Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - Nintendo Switch. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.