Tiny Toons

[Atari2008]

I've grown curious about the Jag recently, not sure way, maybe because I used to have one back in the day. I remember from the ads at the time seeing pics of a Tiny Toons game. I know it wasn't released at the time, but did a prototype or anything like that ever surface? The screenshot in the ads looked cool, I think they were all about to get in a rocket or something.

[twoquickcapri]

The Jaguar Preservation Pack #1 has a build of it. It was sold by Beta Phase Games.

http://www.betaphasegames.com/Store.html

 

video:

[+Cobra Kai]

Glad I can't hear my Jaguar controller clanking around while I play a game.

[Atari2008]

Wow this game looks awesome!!! Thank you for sharing! I had a Jaguar in the mid/late 90s, when it was at the end of its lifespan. I was a huge Atari 2600 fan so I became a fan of all things Atari. While I had ignored the Jaguar as I continued to play my SNES/Genesis, for my 13th birthday I did get a Jaguar to support Atari, and I was pretty happy for a while. I knew I was supporting the underdog. I also loved Tiny Toons at the time so this game would've been a slice of heaven! Too bad, Atari never completed it, I think it would've been a big seller.

 

I'm glad it was made available even if it is incomplete. I know it's sold out, but how much did the Jaguar Preservation Pack #1 sell for?

 

It would be cool if one day someone finished the game.

[Clay]

$80 plus shipping. Here is the release topic on AA:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/166554-new-release-tiny-toons-final-tt030-backup/

 

They show up for sale on Ebay once in a while.

[Atari2008]

Wow it looks awesome!!!! Love the Tiny Toons cart.

 

Glad to hear they pop up on eBay once in a while, just in case I get a Jag again, I may want to get this.

[lexlothar555]

Just an FYI - I have a copy of this which Im probably going to put up on ebay soon, I will post here when I do. I opened the pack but left the cartridge sealed - was going to try it out one night and got sidetracked and fell asleep. Now Im getting rid of some of my games

[Tursi]

I was one of the people who went through the TT code and produced some builds to see what we had. Although the game looks okay, the gameplay is frankly miserable. And it's not very "Tiny Toons", IMO, but I suppose we can stretch anything to see the characters we love! Still, like you all, I thought it was awesome to finally see this lost title from the actual BOX of the Jaguar up and running. Definitely a must-have for any collector, just because it is a /true/ piece of the Jaguar's history.

 

I read a number of docs a couple of years ago, not sure if here or JS2, about the development of Tiny Toons. Reading the notes there, and extrapolating the likelihood that this was all-too-common, really made me feel bad for the people actually trying to make a go of the Jaguar.

 

[Atari2008]

I was one of the people who went through the TT code and produced some builds to see what we had. Although the game looks okay, the gameplay is frankly miserable. And it's not very "Tiny Toons", IMO, but I suppose we can stretch anything to see the characters we love! Still, like you all, I thought it was awesome to finally see this lost title from the actual BOX of the Jaguar up and running. Definitely a must-have for any collector, just because it is a /true/ piece of the Jaguar's history.

 

I read a number of docs a couple of years ago, not sure if here or JS2, about the development of Tiny Toons. Reading the notes there, and extrapolating the likelihood that this was all-too-common, really made me feel bad for the people actually trying to make a go of the Jaguar.

 

Why do you feel bad for people who made a go of the Jaguar? I remember the console but the crappy games left a sour aftertaste.

[Tursi]

Why do you feel bad for people who made a go of the Jaguar? I remember the console but the crappy games left a sour aftertaste.

 

I feel bad for the people who tried to make a go of the Jaguar, that is, people who were working hard to try and make it successful.

 

The documents suggested, at least in my opinion, that for every one person trying to make a go of it, there were six just screwing around and wasting time and money. My opinion, anyway.

[Atari2008]

I feel bad for the people who tried to make a go of the Jaguar, that is, people who were working hard to try and make it successful.

 

The documents suggested, at least in my opinion, that for every one person trying to make a go of it, there were six just screwing around and wasting time and money. My opinion, anyway.

 

I wasn't aware of that. It's a shame, perhaps the Jag would've had a better game library if everyone on board was committed.

[+doctorclu]

Typical stuff really. We can't imagine working for Atari being a 9 to 5 job, but like many jobs there were those that were there for the paycheck. In the end, from what I've read, Atari was not the greatest place to work for anyway, so not hard for me to see why you would have those not being committed to making something like the Jaguar work.

[wozencl]

Typical stuff really. We can't imagine working for Atari being a 9 to 5 job, but like many jobs there were those that were there for the paycheck. In the end, from what I've read, Atari was not the greatest place to work for anyway, so not hard for me to see why you would have those not being committed to making something like the Jaguar work.

 

It wasn't all Atari in this case from what I recall, if anything they spent too long trying to get the game finished rather than pulling the plug IMO. Wasn't it Telegames who made a complete mess of it?

 

Plus as Tursi has said what we have is interesting but it isn't really a game. If anything it's testament to how little progress was actually made given the time-scale. Still cool that was managed to get it mind you.

[JagChris]

It wasn't all Atari in this case from what I recall, if anything they spent too long trying to get the game finished rather than pulling the plug IMO. Wasn't it Telegames who made a complete mess of it?

 

Plus as Tursi has said what we have is interesting but it isn't really a game. If anything it's testament to how little progress was actually made given the time-scale. Still cool that was managed to get it mind you.

 

I remember reading back in the Atari Jaguar/Lynx fanzine 'WildCat' that Tiny Toons and AvP were sent back at the same time to be redone because they were really bad. Even testimony from Lance Lewis on how bad Rebellions work ethic was is shocking.

 

@DrClu. I dont think the conditions at Atari were so bad to warrant some of the crap and lack of effort that we got for a lot of the Jag games. A lot of these guys appeared to be shysters and con men. Either you try to do your best or go do something else. Anything else is stealing.

Edited October 13, 2012 by JagChris

[+Cobra Kai]

I don't see anything in that video that would have sold Jaguars. It's just another Genesis quality game it appears.

[Atari2008]

The game does seem to be on par with the SNES and Genesis but I still think it looks good. I feel like perhaps the Jaguar could've carved a niche by sticking to making awesome looking 2D games rather than the un-inspired 3D ones that Atari put out. I mean 3D was the next step but the Jag didn't appear to handle those well. Plus, Tiny Toons were a big part of 90s pop culture, I feel like a well known title like Tiny Toons (rather than a cheap knock-off like Kasumi Ninja) would've helped to push the Jaguar in sales, it would've at least made the system a bit cooler. I'm glad the final build has at least been released, not a complete game, but still looks fun to play and see what could've been.

[Shamus]

Fun to play? Definitely not.

[Willard]

I remember Tursi sending us some ROMS shorty after he got a drive dump of the TT030 and it was definitely exciting to finally get to play it.

 

As Tursi noted, it's extremely disappointing how badly the programmers, designers and artists consciously botched the game despite the close supervision and scrutiny of some talented Atari executives. The milestones illustrate this to an extent, as can be seen by the vast improvement of character sprites, backgrounds, and animation between builds that were mandated by Atari (do not take this to mean that the game was improved to such a point that it was actually a great game ).

 

The final build that was produced was cancelled about a year into development upon the realization that the game would not pass QC and that it would need to be restarted from scratch. It is not hard to see why- the levels are extremely generic and devoid of Tiny Toons references, and the gameplay lacked the quality what consumers would expect from frachise that was high profile at the time like TTA. The gameplay is not so broken that it would've been the "worst" platformer ever made, although it probably would have been below average at best.

 

Still, they managed to put together a demo consisting of a completed menu, first level, as well as a near completed second level. It is for all intents and purposes a solid demo that represented what the game would've played like. Although this game is not necessarily fun to play it was exciting to finally get to play what is truely the final build and to dig it out every once in a while to revist one of the focal points in the Jaguar's history.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Willard

[JagChris]

Who were the developers?

[Willard]

im pretty sure it was Telegames that were handling it with close supervision from atari as it was a contract job. involving telegames to develop the game was a misstep to begin with IMO. they were ok but not spectacular as publishers.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Willard

[Atari2008]

I see your point, the game does looks cool graphically but there aren't enough Tiny Toon references to have made it stand out, and not enough original game play to have made it an awesome title. I just remember at the time being excited every time I looked at the back of the Jaguar box and saw the Tiny Toons game, the only license I recognized in the library. Having a Genesis and SNES, I was used to major license titles all the time - Tiny Toons, Mickey Mouse, Batman, etc. And 2D side-scrollers were in, so I was hoping at the time that the Jag would have an awesome one in Tiny Toons. Guess it was never meant to be.

 

What are some good platformers on the Jag? I used to love Zool 2 and Rayman.

[mmbe]

Is there any chance we will see a re-release of this game on cartridge? I'm thinking just the game on a cartridge and not the complete package from a few years ago. I'm surprised B&C Computervision never sold this game on a cartridge on their website.

[+remowilliams]

Is there any chance we will see a re-release of this game on cartridge? I'm thinking just the game on a cartridge and not the complete package from a few years ago. I'm surprised B&C Computervision never sold this game on a cartridge on their website.

 

Well A) it's not actually a game and B) I'm assuming part of it would be that B&C didn't want to take the chance of being sued into oblivion by using Warner IP without authorization.

[Willard]

B&C Computervisions were actually involved in the release. They are also the ones that made the restarted isometric version of the game (plucky duck demo) available... it can be found in the JS2 download section.

 

@Atari2800 in regard to platformers I wouldn't say they're a big draw on the jaguar but there are a couple. Here's a list, note that although i am commenting on them the comments aren't meant as reviews but just extra informaton.

(1) Rayman

(2) Bubsy- original jaguar entry in the series

(3) Soccer Kid- the gimped version without all the levels or CD quality sound. 3DO version has many refinements and additional content and it's actually cheaper to buy a 3DO + soccer kid than to buy the jaguar version.

(4) Zool 2

(5) Tiny Toons- unfinished

[Atari2008]

B&C Computervisions were actually involved in the release. They are also the ones that made the restarted isometric version of the game (plucky duck demo) available... it can be found in the JS2 download section.

 

@Atari2800 in regard to platformers I wouldn't say they're a big draw on the jaguar but there are a couple. Here's a list, note that although i am commenting on them the comments aren't meant as reviews but just extra informaton.

(1) Rayman

(2) Bubsy- original jaguar entry in the series

(3) Soccer Kid- the gimped version without all the levels or CD quality sound. 3DO version has many refinements and additional content and it's actually cheaper to buy a 3DO + soccer kid than to buy the jaguar version.

(4) Zool 2

(5) Tiny Toons- unfinished

 

Although I don't have it, I'm glad that B&C Computervisions made the game available to Jaguar fans. Their Jaguar library seems impressive, I noticed a few homebrews from Songbird Productions that seemed really cool - Total Carnage and Frog Feast. Glad to see that the Jag is still alive. @Willard, thank you for the platformers list! I'm guessing I'm probably better off with an SNES and Genesis for some good 2D platformer action.

 

1. Rayman was a game I absolutely loved on the Jaguar. Was probably one of my favorites. Looked great, unique character, awesome gameplay. A well done Jag game.

2. Bubsy - been curious about it but never played.

3. Soccer Kid - I had no clue that there was a 3DO version! Soccer Kid was one of the Jaguar games I was looking into as it is a platformer and a homebrew. I did see that it has an $80 pricetag. Never thought of a 3DO not even when they first came out, not many platformers on that system either, ey? I remember Gex was a big deal but I don't think they had many others.

4. Zool 2 - another fave when I had the Jag. Well done characters and background, a fun game.

5. Tiny Toons - I think its cool from the YouTube videos.

 

Have there been any homebrew platformers?