I liked this game because Taz and his animations are so true to the cartoons. But the game was just *insanely hard.* Especially the mine stage with the elevators.
This is one weird looking game because Taz looks fantastic, but those gray enemies are really creepy and while the graphics look nice, the levels look very... copy/paste. The sounds are odd, too, though the music does evoke a sense of classic "Looney Tunes".
The music is interesting because it's actually an earlier instance of procedurally-generated music that changes depending on what's happening on-screen. It's just really badly implemented with way too many different styles that don't gel together at all in terms of beat or disparity.
Calling BS on nailing this entire playthrough without dying once. The mine cart level alone proves you used save states. Fun visit down the memories though 😎👍
An old classic. Teeth-grindingly hard. You literally had to play the hell out of it and learn the path through the levels by trial and error. Ten year old me beat this sucker on hard. What an achievement!😁
Oh my God, I had forgotten all about this game! Saw this thumbnail pop up and memories came flooding back! I don't believe I finished this game for good reason; hell I don't think I can finish it now as an adult without using save states! Thank you so much for this.
I remember the nightmare it was for me when I arrived at the mines levels. It took me many attempts to cross the first one, and I managed by memorizing everything, and learning I should slow down when the traffic is yellow. After that, It also took me many attempts to figure it out how to move the pendulum elevators. It wasn't mere minutes or hours, I took many days, maybe months.
This game defies all logic and reason, and is also fun. Taz looks incredible, and I love the oddball sounds for everything. Also, Taz's idle animation tantrum is great.
This was one of a few Genesis games my dentist office had when I was a kid. All I remember is getting fucked up by that gray enemy and the sound it made lol
Christ above. I remember getting a Megadrive for Christmas back in 92' and along with the packaged game was this... Mess. I eventually beat it, but Jesus wept is the game out to beat you. Limited life pickups (literally none past the ice level!) limited continues, clunky controls and awful sounds were bad enough, but the insane difficulty of the mine levels was designed to make you fail and try again. And again. And AGAIN. So, I spent most of my time playing the other packaged game, a bit better in all areas: Sonic the hedgehog.
I couldn't agree more with your assessment here, AL82... man, do I still have buyer's remorse from paying nigh on full price for such a crummy Mega Drive title back in the day. (--_--)
@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays the master system and game gear versions are different from each other. The MS one was developed in Japan, and is decent. At the least it doesn't deserve to be confused for the game gear version (or the Genesis version for that matter).
Could never beat this as a kid. Beat it via emulation not too long ago. Thank god for save states. This game was overly tough. Love the stoneheads. What other game has stone enemies sticking their tongues at you and trying to attack you when you stand on them for too long?
DYK: The game’s developer, Recreational Brainware, consisted of former Technopop employees who co-developed the 1991 hit Spider-Man for the Genesis. They also developed several development tools for the Genesis, including the GEMS audio editor and driver. Taz-Mania could be one of the first games to use the GEMS driver, which may have descended from the Spider-Man/Toejam and Earl sound driver.
christ, what are these sounds? this sounds like a dos game with poorly implemented adlib support. even if the rest of the game was decent, the sound design would sink the experience all on its own
The sound is abhorrent - they clearly tried to go for something akin to the soundtracks which accompanied the cartoons, but fell way short. It's just a bunch of off-key and discordant notes...
They were trying to capture the essence of the cartoons with this I think, but MAN does it come off as bad! I had to laugh at your apt description of this being a terrible DOS game with poorly implemented Adlib support--I'd add it sounds like a DOS game with a broken sound card or malfunctioning drivers, haha. That, or dying speakers.
Okay, to answer your question: the reason why the sounds are so awful is because they were attempting a new approach with the soundtrack where all the music would be context-sensitive depending on what enemies were on screen or what Taz was doing. As an example, when the walking enemies are on screen, you get a weird drum beat that's supposed to resemble feet tapping along the ground. The problem is that this was the first time anyone was really attempting something this complex and each of these little musical cues are really poorly matched to the actual background music for the level that plays, often times being totally out of rhythm or just plain jarring to the ear. Furthermore, the Genesis sound chip didn't really have enough channels to be able to cope with so much going on at once, so it's not uncommon for you to end up with music just cutting out altogether for a few seconds and things like that. Pitfall 2 is an example of a game that did dynamic soundtracks before this one and it did it much better because it wasn't trying to overlap a bunch of sounds over itself.
I liked this game because Taz and his animations are so true to the cartoons. But the game was just *insanely hard.* Especially the mine stage with the elevators.
Personally, the hardest level is the 2nd River Level on Hard Mode.
Way to hard for an 8year old
I beat this game back then as an 8 year old
The way he flipped switches already made me smile!
It was hard back then but I still end up beating the game, took me a while but I beat it.💯💯
Thanks for resurrecting a childhood trauma. People say the Souls games are hard - they've got nothing on this.
There's a sequel, "Taz in Escape from Mars". Better presentation, even more brutal.
Which games are retro games exactly?
I made Sega rich on how many controllers I've busted over that mine cart stage.
I understood that reference
One of the hardest games ever. The mine cart level...amount of tines i died and was sent back to level one.
Yeah it was very hard i never finished it back then when i was a child, came here for nostalgia
The game was absurdly hard back in the day. However, I must admit I really love the sound design
I played the hell out of this game when I was a kid, I even managed to beat it a couple times
This is one weird looking game because Taz looks fantastic, but those gray enemies are really creepy and while the graphics look nice, the levels look very... copy/paste. The sounds are odd, too, though the music does evoke a sense of classic "Looney Tunes".
The music is interesting because it's actually an earlier instance of procedurally-generated music that changes depending on what's happening on-screen. It's just really badly implemented with way too many different styles that don't gel together at all in terms of beat or disparity.
That sound you hear when the rock monster sticks its tongue out has been stuck in my head for ages but I couldn't remember where it was from
Same! The fact it made an specific sound when the monster sticks its tongue out used to disturb me back when I was a kid
The sound, when you are on top of the rock monster for too long, made me panic first time.
Never got past the mine stage lol
I get stuck in the mine cart stage 😢
Calling BS on nailing this entire playthrough without dying once.
The mine cart level alone proves you used save states.
Fun visit down the memories though 😎👍
An old classic. Teeth-grindingly hard. You literally had to play the hell out of it and learn the path through the levels by trial and error. Ten year old me beat this sucker on hard. What an achievement!😁
Oh my God, I had forgotten all about this game! Saw this thumbnail pop up and memories came flooding back! I don't believe I finished this game for good reason; hell I don't think I can finish it now as an adult without using save states! Thank you so much for this.
I remember the nightmare it was for me when I arrived at the mines levels. It took me many attempts to cross the first one, and I managed by memorizing everything, and learning I should slow down when the traffic is yellow. After that, It also took me many attempts to figure it out how to move the pendulum elevators. It wasn't mere minutes or hours, I took many days, maybe months.
This game defies all logic and reason, and is also fun. Taz looks incredible, and I love the oddball sounds for everything. Also, Taz's idle animation tantrum is great.
Absolutely loved thud game back in the day.. Great to watch and have memories unlocked ,
Really appreciate you uploading this dude, never even tried hard mode
This was one of a few Genesis games my dentist office had when I was a kid. All I remember is getting fucked up by that gray enemy and the sound it made lol
Christ above. I remember getting a Megadrive for Christmas back in 92' and along with the packaged game was this... Mess.
I eventually beat it, but Jesus wept is the game out to beat you. Limited life pickups (literally none past the ice level!) limited continues, clunky controls and awful sounds were bad enough, but the insane difficulty of the mine levels was designed to make you fail and try again. And again. And AGAIN.
So, I spent most of my time playing the other packaged game, a bit better in all areas: Sonic the hedgehog.
I was sure Taz-Mania came bundled with the Mega Drive at some point - thanks for confirming my suspicion (and my commiserations!)
Taz-Mania is back 😺👍!
Better watch yourself, Bugs Bunny 😹!
I couldn't agree more with your assessment here, AL82... man, do I still have buyer's remorse from paying nigh on full price for such a crummy Mega Drive title back in the day. (--_--)
The Master System/Game Gear version is just as bad...
@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays the master system and game gear versions are different from each other. The MS one was developed in Japan, and is decent. At the least it doesn't deserve to be confused for the game gear version (or the Genesis version for that matter).
The 2 mine levels with the mine cart and elevators ate through my lives like a hot knife through butter.
You made the final fight a lot harder than it needed to be
6:31 Oh Taz. You Too Funny And Hilarious. X❤
Hey you... Move!
My favorite idle animation ever!
Sega early games had the weirdest sounds. Sounds like the X-Men game
Tai-Mania REALLY should have been developed by Graphic Research who also did DeCap Attack and Trouble Shooter.
Could never beat this as a kid. Beat it via emulation not too long ago. Thank god for save states. This game was overly tough. Love the stoneheads. What other game has stone enemies sticking their tongues at you and trying to attack you when you stand on them for too long?
الله على أيام راحت❤
Oh crap! I forgot about that damn tree! 😱
impressionante como esse jogo é bem feito, principalmente os áudios.
Landing sounds:
"Bap! Beep! Doop!"
this was a rental for me 😂❤
THIS WAS HARD!!!! That level with that machine behind you my gawdddd. Hated this game. The only game I RAGE QUIT.
Weird thing is, I loved this game. Even with all of the undeniable bullspit.
7:59 ⚡Warning!
Sounds like the GEMS sound engine strikes again. Yikes!
the music in this game barely even sounds like music lmao it all just sounds like unorganised noise
Too bad you could never get a save code to continue Taz’s hard earned journey.
I still play this game its fun😊
Who came here from WhoIsThisGit's new vid?
All of the levels look unfinished. Lolol. Taz deserves better.
DYK: The game’s developer, Recreational Brainware, consisted of former Technopop employees who co-developed the 1991 hit Spider-Man for the Genesis.
They also developed several development tools for the Genesis, including the GEMS audio editor and driver. Taz-Mania could be one of the first games to use the GEMS driver, which may have descended from the Spider-Man/Toejam and Earl sound driver.
christ, what are these sounds? this sounds like a dos game with poorly implemented adlib support. even if the rest of the game was decent, the sound design would sink the experience all on its own
The sound is abhorrent - they clearly tried to go for something akin to the soundtracks which accompanied the cartoons, but fell way short. It's just a bunch of off-key and discordant notes...
They were trying to capture the essence of the cartoons with this I think, but MAN does it come off as bad! I had to laugh at your apt description of this being a terrible DOS game with poorly implemented Adlib support--I'd add it sounds like a DOS game with a broken sound card or malfunctioning drivers, haha. That, or dying speakers.
Okay, to answer your question: the reason why the sounds are so awful is because they were attempting a new approach with the soundtrack where all the music would be context-sensitive depending on what enemies were on screen or what Taz was doing. As an example, when the walking enemies are on screen, you get a weird drum beat that's supposed to resemble feet tapping along the ground.
The problem is that this was the first time anyone was really attempting something this complex and each of these little musical cues are really poorly matched to the actual background music for the level that plays, often times being totally out of rhythm or just plain jarring to the ear. Furthermore, the Genesis sound chip didn't really have enough channels to be able to cope with so much going on at once, so it's not uncommon for you to end up with music just cutting out altogether for a few seconds and things like that.
Pitfall 2 is an example of a game that did dynamic soundtracks before this one and it did it much better because it wasn't trying to overlap a bunch of sounds over itself.
@@AL82RetrogamingLongplays did they exclusively watch the 60s cartoons with bill lava music or something lmao
22:10
16:07
this game is so hard to master
The mine cart stage.
Com meu pirulito pin pin lero lero você pega
Animation and music is good
Blind jumps and mine carts are bad
Epen makan semua makanan
Kids these days say Sekiro is hard