| Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Artificial Mind and Movement |
| Publisher | Infogrames |
| Composer | Gilles Léveillé |
| Platforms | |
| Release | PlayStationMicrosoft Windows |
| Genre | Platform |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer[1] |
Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters is aLooney Tunesplatformvideo game released for theSony PlayStation andMicrosoft Windows in 2000, and is an indirect sequel to the 1999 gameBugs Bunny: Lost in Time. It also came on a twin packCD bundled withWacky Races (2000) in 2003.[2]
The main objective of the game is to collect all of theRegulator Gears scattered around the levels, which are required to progress through all four different eras: theAztec Era, theViking Era, theArabian Era, and theTransylvanian Era.
The gameplay plays much the same asBugs Bunny: Lost in Time, retaining Bugs' traits (sans being able to pick up and carry crates, or push heavy objects), but introducing new ones to Taz, as well as aco-op mode where one player can control Bugs, with the other controlling Taz; alternatively, the game can be played insingle-player, with the player having to switch between controlling Bugs and Taz throughout the game. Both characters need to be used to make use of their unique abilities to make areas accessible and defeat certain enemies. Unlike in the last game, both characters are able to swim (albeit Bugs is faster), and Bugs is able to climb ledges for the first time in the series.
Jumping on Taz's head allows Bugs to climb higher than in the last game, and if Bugs remains stationary around Taz for too long, then he will bite him depleting hishealth. Health can be distributed between characters if one attacks the other, andcarrots are the source of health for both.
All eras are accessed from the central hub level Granwich. Once an era has been completed of its levels, aboss must be confronted and defeated, along with collecting nearly all of the current era's gears, in order to unlock the next era. After the last era is completed, the player is given two different endings based on if all gears were collected. If all gears are not collected, the player can choose to continue playing to collect the remaining gears.
While on duty as the top pest controller for "Jet Age Pest Control,"Daffy Duck accidentally breaksGranny's Time Regulator and is thrown back in time with the core of this machine, a precious Time Gem. The time regulator goes haywire, hurtling various residents of different eras in time across time and space, and the gears that help the regulator function are scattered as well.Bugs Bunny arrives at Granny's house, and is tasked with finding the Time Gem, the gears, the lost characters, and Daffy with Granny's petTaz. Bugs and Taz solve various puzzles and battle local villains, many of whom Daffy has run afoul of due to greedily trying to steal their riches.
The game features two possible endings upon the defeat of the final boss, Count Bloodcount. If the player has not collected all the Time Regulator's gears by the time they defeat Bloodcount, Granny asks the player to return to the game to retrieve the remaining gears; if the player refuses, Granny accepts the Time Regulator not working perfectly, and Daffy is left in the Transylvanian Era to be killed and eaten by Count Bloodcount. If the player either agrees to return to collect the remaining gears and succeeds, or has already collected them all by the time they defeat Bloodcount, Granny fully repairs the Time Regulator and rescues Daffy from Bloodcount. The gateways to the various eras are then sealed off forever, and Daffy returns to the present shrunken to insect size.
| Aggregator | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| PC | PS | |
| GameRankings | 70%[3] | 75%[4] |
| Metacritic | N/A | 72/100[5] |
| Publication | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| PC | PS | |
| AllGame |   [6] |  [7] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | N/A | 7.67/10[8] |
| Game Informer | N/A | 8.5/10[9] |
| GameSpot | N/A | 7.5/10[10] |
| GameZone | 8/10[11] | N/A |
| IGN | 6.8/10[12] | 7.9/10[13] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | [14] |
| PC Zone | 67%[15] | N/A |
The PlayStation version received "mixed or average reviews" according toMetacritic.[5] Frank Provo ofGameSpot wrote that the game "does an excellent job of capturing the humor and personality that the Looney Tunes franchise embodies."[10]