The ''Crazy Castle'' series is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

series created by

Kemco Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. One of its best known franchises is the ...

and released on the

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System or just Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer home video game console, released only in Japan on February 21, 1986. It uses proprietary flopp ...

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

, and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

. It stars different popular

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

characters, most notably the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

cartoon character

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...

, the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

cartoon character

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

and the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

cartoon character

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Studios between 1940 and 1972. Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lan ...

History

Kemco started the franchise after they licensed the rights to produce a

game based on the film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

''. When Kemco was planning to release it outside Japan, there was already an NES game based on the same film developed by Rare and published by

LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher based in New York City. Founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, the company was acquired by MCA Inc. in 1985, sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990, and dissolved in 1994. The toy d ...

. In order to release it outside Japan, Kemco bought the rights to

' ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.

'' franchise to produce ''Looney Tunes''-based video games. When the promotion of the film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' in Japan ended, Kemco lost the rights to produce video games based on the film there, but gained the rights to produce

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-based ones, due to the ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' film being produced by

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

, a studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Kemco later produced their ''Mickey Mouse'' versions in the ''Crazy Castle'' series and released most of these versions exclusively in Japan, while continuing their ''Looney Tunes'' versions outside Japan; however, some were based on other licenses such as Jim Davis's ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

and ''

The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

. Prior to the release of ''Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 3'' worldwide, Kemco released the compilation ''Bugs Bunny Collection'' exclusively in Japan, which was a re-release of ''Mickey Mouse I'' and ''II'', but with the Bugs Bunny sprite set and other minor updates (such as the

Super Game Boy The is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994, it retailed for $59.99 in the United States and £49.99 in the United Kingdom. In South Korea, it is call ...

support). The rest of the games in the ''Crazy Castle'' series were released as original titles throughout all territories from this point forward. The fifth entry of the ''Crazy Castle'' series starred

Walter Lantz Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animation Lantz ...

in the role, rather than Bugs Bunny, due to Kemco losing their license to release Warner Bros. properties, while switching to the exclusive rights for releasing

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

properties, because of their release of the

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

title, ''

Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure ''Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure'', known in Japan as , is a 2001 video game developed by Nai'a Digital Works and published by Kemco for the GameCube. Set in the Universal Studios Japan park, the object of the game is to complete several ...

'', in which Woody was also one of the main characters.

Gameplay

While presented in a side-scrolling platform game format, The ''Crazy Castle'' games do not have a jump function. Only by taking different routes (for example by stairs, ladders and teleporters) can the character avoid enemies and collect certain items. Some of the levels have weapons or invincibility items that can be used against the enemies in the game. There are also objects that the player must collect in order to complete a level, like keys. Passwords can be used to start at a certain level.

Games in the series

Reception

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' gave ''Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2'' a fairly positive review, opining that "with smooth animation, good fun, and lively action, ''Bugs Bunny'' on the Game Boy is actually better than the NES version."''GamePro'' issue 23 (June 1991), page 52.

References

{{Navboxes , title=Franchises featured in ''Crazy Castle'' , list1= {{Garfield {{Ghostbusters {{Hugo franchise {{Kid Klown {{Looney Tunes video games {{Mickey Mouse games {{Roger Rabbit {{Woody Woodpecker Kemco games Activision games Famicom Disk System games Nintendo Entertainment System games Game Boy games Game Boy Color games Game Boy Advance games Video games featuring Bugs Bunny Video games based on Woody Woodpecker Video games based on Garfield Video games based on animated television series Video games about witchcraft Ghostbusters video games Side-scrolling platform games Mickey Mouse video games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1989 Video games set in castles Who Framed Roger Rabbit video games