Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout was a 2D side-scrolling action platform title published by Kemco for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. Differing wildly from its North American predecessor, Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle, Birthday Blowout's gameplay consisted of platforming, combat using Bugs' hammer, and collecting power-ups and carrots. Several antagonistic Warner Brothers characters--including Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam--appeared as boss characters at the end of levels. Birthday Blowout also included minigames such as a slot machine and Whack-a-Mole as opportunities to earn extra lives.
Birthday Blowout featured levels that were decently large in vertical scope, with many areas being up to two screens high, if not more. There were rabbit-hole warps to hidden areas with bonus carrots as well, further increasing the explorable size of each level. Several levels made up an entire world, and each of the six worlds in the game offered different environmental themes: A grassy plain; a desert; a temple; a jungle; and a dank cavern were the different backdrops on offer.
Bugs's abilities never really deviate from using his hammer, which is admittedly very short-range, though there is a power-up that renders him invulnerable for a short period of time. Bugs is also able to jump on top of some enemies without incurring any damage, similar in fashion to Super Mario Bros. 2, and while atop them can safely thwack them with the hammer. Oddly enough, collecting a bonus carrot within a level leaves behind a blue "WB" insignia that then acts as a platform on top of which Bugs can jump.
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