๐ Received: January 9th, 2023 ๐ Written: April 17th-24th, 2023 ๐
(As played on Super Game Boy)
Year: 1991 | Developed and Published by: CapcomHello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it. ๐
In 1981, author Gary K. Wolf was inspired by watching cartoons to get ideas for his latest novel and finding fascinating amusement from watching commercials for cereal mascots Tony the Tiger and Trix the Rabbit where these cartoon characters casually interacted with real children, a concept he wanted to explore in book form.
Image from Wikipedia
The end result was Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, a fantasy mystery novel which centered around real characters and comic strip characters coexisting in the same world. Disney showed immediate interest in adapting it to film, a process that would take several years, but featuring animated movie characters coexisting with real life human characters instead.Directed by Robert Zemeckis following his success with Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future, produced through Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment company, lensed by the great Dean Cundey*, with animation spearheaded by the late Richard Williams (blending in Disney's high quality animation style, the characterization of Warner Bros., and the humor of Tex Avery), Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a very groundbreaking film that impressed critics and audiences alike in its 1988 theatrical debut with its performances, writing, humor, and especially the visuals with the seamless blend of live action and animation (which still hold up to this day), and was the second highest-grossing film of that year earning $351.5 million against its $50.6 million budget behind only Barry Levinson's Rain Man.
* He worked on the cinematography for John Carpenter's Escape from New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China, Steven Spielberg's Hook and Jurassic Park, and Brad Silberling's Casper, and many more
The success and popularity of the movie rekindled an interest in animation of the Golden Age, led to the creation of three theatrical shorts* featuring the eponymous rabbit, author Gary K. Wolf writing two non-canon spinoff novels Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? and Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? in 1991 and in 2013 respectively, and inevitably wound up receiving different video game adaptations:
* 1989's Tummy Trouble preceding Joe Johnston's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, 1990's Roller Coaster Rabbit played before Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, and 1993's Trail Mix-Up prior to the showing of Mikael Salomon's A Far Off Place
Screengrabbed while watching World of Longplays' respective Famicom Disk System and NES gameplay videos on YouTube
Kemco's 1989 Famicom Disk System take was the first game in their Crazy Castle franchise which was changed to The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle when localized for the NES outside of Japan due to Capcom having exclusivity rights to Disney gaming on Nintendo formats in the West but also because LJN published Who Framed Roger Rabbit's NES adaptation developed by Rare,
Screengrabbed while watching I AM IRONCLAW!'s respective Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hare Raising Havoc's Amiga longplay videos on YouTube
it would see a personal computer adaptation by Buena Vista Software as well as BlueSky Software's Hare Raising Havoc which leaned more into animated short territory.
There was one other video game adaptation of the historically significant and beloved Zemeckis classic, but by the time it came out the popularity of the film slowly began to wane. This version in particular was produced by Stephan L. Butler, whose production of Pipe Dream for Lucasfilm in 1989 landed him the job of producing Disney games
Image from GameFAQs
Capcom's Who Framed Roger Rabbit for the Game Boy. This handheld version, designed by Shinji Mikami in one of his earliest venues, would be released in North America on November 1991 and be followed up by a European release on December of that year, well over three years after the movie first came out.
In 1947 Hollywood, a toon named Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer) receives a call at Maroon Studios from Acme Corporation and Toontown founder Marvin Acme (played by the late Stubby Kaye, RIP) to meet with him in his office to discuss something urgent. Upon arriving Acme tells him that he'd been threatened with his life by Judge Doom (played by Christopher Lloyd) if he didn't sell Toontown to him, so as a result he wrote a will and gave it to Roger's wife Jessica Rabbit (voiced and sung by an uncredited Kathleen Turner and Amy Irving respectively)
but neglected to give her the deed to Toontown as well which is the only way the will can be executed and entrusts Roger to bring it to her before Acme is shot and killed from behind a curtain. Roger goes to find Jessica at The Ink and Paint Club but is too late as he witnesses her being abducted by Doom's hench weasels, so he goes to get help by the human private detective Eddie Valiant (played by the late Bob Hoskins, RIP legend) who agrees to help in any way he can to rescue both Jessica and Toontown and also take down the weasels along the way.
Left: Even though he was the only one present at the scene of the crime, Roger doesn't get framed for a murder he didn't commit in the context of this game | Right: Below Valiant's office is a repository of health replenishing carrots ๐ฅ
In the top-down open-ended action adventure Who Framed Roger Rabbit you control the titular toon whom you can move around in a square pattern, speak with a character by pressing the A button* while standing beside them and pick up helpful items by pressing A while standing beside them, duck in position when remaining still as you hold down the A button, press the B button* to attack your foes with your punch hammer or your toon gun (provided you have bullets to fire them with) while you're equipped with them, and by pressing Start you can browse your inventory and equip your weapon of choice as well as select an item you have at your disposal for the appropriate situation.* B and Y buttons respectively if you decide to set it to the alternate setting on the Super Game Boy
Left: "Just don't bring up his brother in conversation, okay?" | Right: Wait, that can't be right, I haven't even finished the scene yet
Over the course of the game you must occasionally beware of the weasels who will deplete your health upon being touched by them or hit with one of their projectiles which you can replenish by munching on a carrot which heals up two hearts each time with the health capacity being three full hearts. Should you lose all your health at any point during a scene you will be given a prompt to continue or to go back to the title, with the former sending you back to the beginning of the present scene. Upon completing a scene you will be given a simple eight-character password to pick up your progress at a later point.
Left: Steer clear from the litter being tossed by the trash weasel | Right: ๐ต Why don't you do right, like some other men do? Get out of here and get me some money too ๐ต
This game has a solid visual aesthetic and manages to add in a good amount of detail despite the monochromatic quality, managing to recapture some of the locations from the movie such as the kitchen set piece inside Maroon Studios at the beginning, the streets of Hollywood, The Ink and Paint Club, Eddie Valiant's office, and the pub managed by Valiant's ex Dolores (played by Joanna Cassidy). There are game-exclusive areas that look solid as well, like the harbor residing by the ocean and the forest path towards Judge Doom's mansion. Who Framed Roger Rabbit on the Game Boy has got endearing designs of the vital characters with that recognizable Disney Capcom charm.
Left: Pick the right hiding spot and you'll be safe, pick the wrong one and your chances of surviving this are close to nil | Right: "Because I'm going to kiss you!"
Roger Rabbit is well-designed with his big-eyed fluffy appearance and sleek whiskers, I like how his ears flop down upon ducking and how his walking animation is decent, and how he sees stars upon having his health fully depleted. The game versions of other characters look solid as well, like Valiant, Jessica Rabbit, Baby Herman (voiced by Lou Hirsch), Benny the Cab (also voiced by Fleischer), Dolores, and Judge Doom with his imposing stature and all-black attire. Even the weasels are solidly designed and recapture their easily identifiable looks from the movie well: be it clones of the tommy gun wielding Wheezy (voiced by the late June Foray, RIP), the large propeller cap-wearing Stupid (voiced by Fred Newman), the menacing Greasy, the certifiably insane Psycho (both also voiced by Fleischer), and the no-nonsense mobster and alpha weasel Smart Ass (renamed "Smarty" for this game, voiced by the late David L. Lander, RIP).
Who Framed Roger Rabbit's movie soundtrack was composed by frequent Robert Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri,
The Game Boy adaptation's music was composed by Yasuaki Fujita, and even though it doesn't use any of Silvestri's jazz-oriented themes from the movie it's still a pleasantly likable and well-composed soundtrack on its own merit.
Yasuaki took over composition duties for Capcom's Rockman 3: Dr. Wily no Saigo!?/Mega Man III for his wife Harumi Fujita when she left to take care of her newborn and reprised his composer role for the next installment Rockman 4: Aratanaru Yabou!!/Mega Man IV, he also provided music for Capcom's Nintendo 8-bit Disney licenses The Little Mermaid and Darkwing Duck,
was one of the composers for the original Breath of Fire turn-based RPG, and was the only composer from the original Final Fight to step into the composer's chair again for the Nintendo 16-bit sequel Final Fight 2 but with different company this time around. Yasuaki Fujita was also the one who came up with Capcom's logo jingle.
Left: Inside a bakery ๐ | Right: The trap is set
The title theme does a good job at drawing you in to the quest you're about to partake in, Eddie Valiant's theme for whenever you enter his building (or any building) sounds serious, the first scene's theme has got a neat sleuth-like vibe, the third scene's theme is catchy and breezy as you make further progress traveling back and forth from Toontown to Sunset Boulevard by train, the fifth scene's theme is atmospherically involved, the boss theme for when you battle against a main weasel and Judge Doom sounds riveting, and the ending theme is a satisfactory listen once you save Jessica Rabbit and Toontown from Judge Doom.
Left: If you want to avoid this, ๐ | Right: do this ๐
The sound effects are decent and mostly don't overpower the soundtrack, except for the lingering engine chugging sound of the train Roger rides in the third and fourth scenes which slightly obfuscate the music quality for the duration of the ride each time. While I'm generally fonder of Harumi Fujita's music stylings, there's no denying that her husband Yasuaki is a good composer in his own right too.
Left: Sleeping customer (likely drunk given this establishment) | Right: Entering Marvin Acme's factory
I've long known of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and I vaguely recall having watched it once on VHS as a kid back when I lived in Italy during the '90s, and only once. I never watched it again until I noticed on YouTube that it was free to watch on New Year's Eve of 2022, and taking into consideration that it might no longer be the case at the start of 2023 I decided to watch it that night (even though it's also available on Disney+, but I didn't consider that option), and I have to say it's a really great movie! ๐ Oh my GOD, the amount of work gone into making the animation elements blend in with live action, and with such fluid motion as well, is so breathtaking to behold, its script is both clever and funny (lots of jokes that would've flown over my head as a kid), Bob Hoskins was fantastic, and its story is just so captivating, there's countless things about it that are highly noteworthy! I kind of wish I saw it more than once when I was younger, but I can't change the past.
For the longest time I was under the impression that the Nintendo 8-bit The Little Mermaid and Nintendo 16-bit Disney's Aladdin video games were the only titles Capcom developed that were based on Disney movies. I knew of Who Framed Roger Rabbit's Nintendo console adaptations, but I was surprised to learn a few years ago that Capcom made their own interactive interpretation of Robert Zemeckis' film for the Game Boy. It did look interesting based on what screenshots I saw of it online, but I didn't immediately look into it. Having caught up with the movie at the end of 2022 inspired me to check out the Game Boy game, and thus it was among the first games I ordered in 2023.
Left: Picking up toon gun rounds from inside the drawer | Right: Position yourself carefully whilst firing toon bullets at Greasy
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a largely enjoyable game and one that's different than the usual Disney Capcom fare as it is viewed from a bird's eye perspective as opposed to it being a sidescroller with it having you travel from screen to screen a la Nintendo's Zelda no Densetsu/The Legend of Zelda and having a stronger emphasis on nonlinear exploration as opposed to it being completely action oriented. There is action involved, but it only comes to the forefront on certain screens filled with weasels whose tommy gun projectiles you have to avoid and boss battles where you have to use your punch hammer and toon gun against them.
Left: Why would I want to know Norman Bates' whereabouts? | Right: Baby Herman ๐ถ
Capcom definitely took some liberties when it came to the Game Boy adaptation in terms of plot and sequences, and it features none of the animated character cameos from Disney and Warner Bros. (to date, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is the only film to feature Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny not only sharing the same screen but interacting with one another as well), but on the whole it captures the spirit of the movie fairly well and is still well-written in its own right when it comes to the occasional dialogue sequences. One line in particular that is funny is after Roger Rabbit tells Valiant that Jessica's been kidnapped and his response is along the lines of "Now who would want to kidnap Jessica, err... why would anyone want to kidnap her?" which is amusingly in line with the movie because he had to stop himself. ๐
Left: Liberating Benny from his chain ๐ | Right: Take down Psycho as you're driving but watch out for his unlimited supply of bombs ๐ฃ
When you start off the game you're pretty much at your most vulnerable as you have nothing to defend yourself with and while it's true that you have a health system, health replenishing carrots are scarcely laid out and do not respawn in place until you lose all your health and choose to continue when given the prompt. I am happy that this game has a password system as it's not necessary to play it through in one sitting (the first Disney Capcom game to feature one), but it is definitely doable in one go at roughly thirty to forty minutes and that's presuming you don't mess up at any point if at all.
Left: Sure, the movie may not have had any scenes directly set at the harbor, but man if it isn't the breeziest looking place in the game ๐ | Right: Oil drum maze
During the '90s there were rumors floating around about a spinoff animated series that centered around Roger Rabbit for The Disney Afternoon but got changed to Bonkers instead due to license troubles with Amblin Entertainment, something that series writer and co-creator Greg Weisman denied in a retrospective interview. While admitting that Toontown as a concept was influenced by the film and Bonkers D. Bobcat was influenced by Roger, Weisman insisted the titular police officer toon was always intended to be his own character and nothing more.
Bonkers ended up being popular enough at the time to garner a series of video game adaptations of its own, with the Nintendo 16-bit take in particular being handled by (who else at this point?) Capcom.
Left: Only one of these dock houses will lead straight to Smart Ass | Right: It's on like Donkey Kong
It's a very manageable game to play through for the most part, and I do like the different scenarios Roger Rabbit goes through in his quest: like talking to multiple NPCs to gather clues, escaping death by hiding in the correct spot to avoid detection by the weasels, setting up a trap to lure in Stupid after carefully procuring an important tool in a weasel-filled environment to put it in motion, procuring toon bullets after acquiring a toon gun by searching drawers in order to take on Greasy, chasing Psycho while riding Benny the Cab (after freeing him) with your punch hammer in hand as you avert explosives being tossed at you, and cautiously moving around the dip splashed across the room as you fight Judge Doom inside his mansion, et al.
Left: "No more bull schtick!" | Right: Standing at the entrance of Judge Doom's mansion
It's a largely enjoyable game, though I do kind of wish that there was a way to speed up the train ride from Hollywood to Sunset Boulevard and back or outright skip it as it is bit of a lengthy sequence during the third and fourth scenes each time and can kind of negatively affect the overall flow, and losing all your health at any point will result in having to start the present scene all over and having to go through the proceedings again as you collect the requisite items and distance yourself from weasel attacks is also time-consuming in its own right which is a bit much if you lost later on in the scene but is not as big a deal if you lost early in the scene. But those are nitpicks, really, it is fun to play otherwise.
Could anyone have envisioned at the time that the same man who worked on these three Disney video games would go on to direct the first installment of Capcom's adult survival horror franchises BioHazard/Resident Evil and Dino Crisis in the latter half of the decade?
It's amazing to think that Shinji Mikami worked on not just this Disney Capcom game but the Nintendo 16-bit Disney Capcom games Goof Troop/Gลซfii to Makkusu - Kaizoku Shima no Daibลken and Disney's Aladdin as well. Of the three I greatly enjoy the former the most as it features more of the action adventuring flavor like in Who Framed Roger Rabbit only you can move freely in all eight directions as opposed to just four (always a positive) with a fun open-ended structure and an equally fun sense of puzzle-solving along the way, and the latter is still a game I enjoy playing from time to time even though I admit it could've benefited with a better sense of longevity which is more than made up for with its smoothly polished controls as well as featuring some of the most beautiful visuals in a Disney Capcom game ever. ๐ The direction Mikami's career would take after working on these games is incredible to say the least, who would have ever guessed?
Left: Run away from the metallic control dog | Right: Oh my God, it's DIIIIIIP! ๐ฑ
It is strange that it took three years after Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out for the Game Boy version to even come to be, but I suppose it's better than it not having happened at all (and for the context of the time period, Capcom had yet to prove themselves of being capable of handling Disney gaming in the end of the '80s). Nonetheless, it's reasonably good and enjoyable while it lasts, and if you own a Game Boy or a Super Game Boy cartridge for your Nintendo 16-bit console I do recommend checking it out. If you're expecting a long game out of it you might be a bit disappointed, but if that's not your concern and would like to try a Disney Capcom game that isn't a sidescrolling platformer I think you'll enjoy it while it lasts especially if you want to play a fun Roger Rabbit video game.
My Personal Score: 7.5/10
● Not relevant to this game: so on April 16th I saw Illumination's latest animated feature The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theatres based on Nintendo's iconic video game franchise (they were also involved in the film's production too) which marks the first instance of watching an Illumination film on the big screen since Minions back in 2015 (I have not seen anything they've made in-between, and what I have seen of those I caught only in snippets and not in full). Anyway, what did I think of the film, having grown up with and still enjoying the Super Mario franchise? I greatly enjoyed it, it exceeded my expectations, and it was so much fun (even if writing-wise I admit it wasn't perfect which seems to be the general consensus, though honestly... I didn't care)! ๐ It's such a gorgeous-looking movie, seeing Mario and all these characters from the Mushroom Kingdom realized in film format was so exciting, I loved the (subtle) references and nods to Super Mario elements (including the occasional motifs from the games used in Brian Tyler's score) and other Nintendo properties, I liked the cast (Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as Mario and Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess "Peach" Toadstool, Jack Black as Bowser), it was funny at times, and I felt it really lived up to its name. One of the best movie adaptations based on a video game (they really did their homework), in my opinion, and the best Illumination film since Despicable Me 2.
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Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW is allowed); hope you have a great day, be a nice human, and take care! ๐
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