YMMV / Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters

• Alternate Character Interpretation: With the exception of Babba who explicitly didn't have the Time Gem before his boss fight, the other villains - Sam, Elmer, and Bloodcount - all have the Time Gem safely stowed away in their lairs. While the game likely didn't put too much thought into it given the simplistic plot, one might wonder if these villains are simply hoarding the Time Gem for its' presumed monetary value... or if they know its' true nature, and plan on using the Time Gem for their own nefarious purposes.
• Angst? What Angst?: Interestingly worked into the gameplay. The first two rounds of Lost in Time characters, who hail from the Viking and Arabian Eras, are seen crying and wanting to go back home. However, the third round who come from the Transylvanian Era are never seen upset and just enjoy tormenting the player who tries to collect them, effectively serving as something of a Warm-Up Boss for the darker final level of the game. The final round, who are from the Aztec Era, also never express fear or sadness at their predicament, which fits as they're supposed to be the hardest, most unforgiving Lost in Time characters to collect in the bleakest level of the game.
• Awesome Music: The music in this game really does fit each locale. In particular, the themes for the Transylvanian era make it appropriately scary, dreary, and creepy. See here for more details.
• Best Level Ever:
  • The Viking Era seems to resonate as the most popular with players, due to having a very fun vehicle level (The Shield Race), a sub area called the Snowball Fight Challenge (for those who like snowball fights), an entertaining final boss fight with Elmer, and especially because of the Moon Valley; which is also popular in its own right due to its gorgeous soundtrack and peaceful, enchanting scenery.
  • ZooVania in the Transylvanian Era is also popular due to the fun turn it takes when you activate its' night mode.
  • Count Bloodcount's Castle is well-liked for its' abundant, yet understated Nightmare Fuel.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Upon entering the Transylvanian Era and hiding in a laboratory, Daffy drinks a potion that turns him into a hulking monster. He only briefly returns when it's time for the final boss and quickly returns to normal, making it seem rather random especially since he doesn't even serve as a boss.
• Breather Level: Count Bloodcount's Castle zigzags it. On the gameplay front, it's extremely easy, consisting of three rooms, one consisting of two Simon Says games, and one consisting of very easy tasks in the entrance hall. It's a really short, easy level that some fans have speculated was a byproduct of a rushed production schedule at the very end of development. That said, the ambiance, score, and atmosphere is widely agreed to be the tensest, scariest location in the game, meaning even though the gameplay is easy, you'll likely be doing anything but taking a breather while going through the castle.
  • Various sub levels could count as breather levels.
    • In the Aztec Era, it is the Baboon Realm. The puzzles are not that hard to deal with even when playing solo though getting the gears before falling off the waterfall can be a bit tedious. Taking on the boss is not that hard either.
    • In the Viking Era, it is the Moon Valley. Having a nice BGM as players go through the peaceful, night time scenery, there's not many puzzles to deal with and the boss fight is quite simple.
    • The Arabian Era has the Royal Gardens. No boss here but there are hedge mazes as one of the challenges to navigate through as players search for 3 pearls.
    • Also in the Transylvania Era, there is the ZooVania. The puzzle is to simply change the time from the peaceful day to the scary night. Although the night proved a bit more challenging due to hostiles, they are easily taken care of.
• Catharsis Factor: After a long, harrowing journey and after having just defeated the scariest boss in the game, it's nothing short of satisfying for the player(s) to see Daffy fruitlessly beg for Bugs and Taz to not leave him behind, only for them to do so after all the trouble he's given them (and you).
• Even Better Sequel: General consensus seems to be that Time Busters is an improvement upon Lost in Time, featuring polished gameplay, improved animation, a vastly improved soundtrack (with no recycling save a few exceptions), and a more serialized plot with genuinely effective Nightmare Fuel.
• Fanfic Fuel: The concept of the game (and its' predecessor) of having Bugs and Taz explore levels based largely off classic Looney Tunes shorts can inspire a player to imagine their own levels based on shorts, especially what characters and villains would appear in each one.
• Goddamn Bats: As the game's hints section notes, the "Lost in Time" characters from the Transylvanian era are harder to deal with, namely since they actually attack you as opposed to the others who just weep. Subsequently, the "Lost in Time" Aztec characters are also harder to get since they fly away from you and require mastery of Taz's final gum ball ability.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the ending, Daffy unsuccessfully tries to dissuade Count Bloodcount from eating him by claiming he’s high in fat and cholesterol. A few years after the game’s release, Duck Dodgers introduced Count Muerta, an adaptation of Bloodcount who lives off of fat as opposed to blood and ignored Daffy for being too skinny for him to consume. He even asks greedily about Porky/Cadet's cholesterol levels and body fat percentage!
• Paranoia Fuel:
  • The game doesn't have many NPC's roaming around, leaving levels feeling empty in some portions. This plus the often ominous soundtrack, makes for an unnervingly quiet experience.
  • Count's Castle has a deathly quiet atmosphere, with only one major NPC present, one of his minions, who acts much more sinisterly than his brethren. And given how the Count stalked around his castle hunting Bugs in his debut, there's every chance he's doing the same, stalking you...
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • Though not a total pain, having to share a screen during two player mode can be a little annoying. Player 1 controls the camera, while player 2 must stick along and not wander off, though the camera can be switched between both players in order to progress through the game.
  • The game's controls can be quite a challenge in single player as well, considering you control one character with each joystick on the controller.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • The sound effects of the Haunted River are too loud for you to properly hear the soundtrack, even if you turn down the sound effect volume by a large amount.
  • Count Bloodcount's Castle, when viewed from the outside in Ghost Town, does not have the top of it properly rendered. It literally cuts off at the top. This can be viewed in the mini-cutscenes that play when you collect the Boss Tokens from the Haunted River Ride and ZooVania.
• That One Level:
  • The Transylvanian Era is much harder than the rest of the game. It takes some quick, outside the box thinking to progress past the room with the dragons in Count's castle.
  • Swimming areas can be pretty challenging (particularly in the Baboon Realm).
  • The vehicle levels are usually pretty fun, but they can easily become tedious and frustrating since you usually have to go back through them countless times to collect all the items. Out of these, the Haunted River Ride is easily the worst offender, since it’s even more difficult to gather items on the fast-paced river with the menagerie of threats. The loud sound effects also mean you can’t hear the level’s soundtrack.
• That One Puzzle: The primary Boss Token puzzle in Sunset Alleys requires you to free all the elemental Genies in the level. Long, but doable... until you get to the Genie of wind's temple. You're going to be pulling your hair out trying to activate the right combination of wind currents for you to complete the challenge.
• That One Sidequest: Several of the mini-games are rather tedious and generally not as interesting as the vehicle and main feature levels, such as the Simon Says mini-games.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Daffy, following his mutation into a hulking monster, could've served as a mini-boss in the Transylvanian Era. Unfortunately, he only reappears in the cutscene before the Count's boss battle, where he immediately returns to normal anyway.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The Transylvanian Era is well-regarded, but many opine that it feels rather short compared to the other levels in the game as it only features one mini-game (a rugby game, which plays pretty much the same as the other sports levels) outside of the Boss Token levels.
  • Bugs and Taz becoming Fire-Forged Friends is a fun idea and is presented as having happened in the game’s cutscenes, but they don’t have any real interactions outside of them due to the gameplay. This and the game’s general plot of going through time, fighting villains, and saving history could actually make for an interesting animated film premise.
• Unexpected Character: Hassan, renamed here as Babba Chop, being used as one of the four main villains is surprising considering the obscurity of the short he debuted in. Count Bloodcount being used as the Final Boss is also something of a surprise as while he wasn’t as obscure as Hassan, he was nowhere near the level of fame as Elmer, Sam, or Witch Hazel (who didn't appear in this game, but was in Lost in Time).
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Though the game is generally zany in tone, it has a lot of genuine Nightmare Fuel as it goes on. The theme for Count's Castle definitely pushes into this territory since you'd think it was for a video level about the spawn of evil itself, not a cartoonish Looney Tunes vampire.

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