When it’s not Duck Season or Rabbit Season, it’s Sports Season! Everyone’s favourite Looney Tunes are ready to slam dunk, kick for a goal, score points, and get holes in ones. Published by GameMill Entertainment and developed by Bamtang Games, Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports is set to bring some cartoon chaos to the sporting world, now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

In this multiplayer game, players can take control of their favourite Looney Tunes characters and compete in basketball, soccer, tennis, and golf. The playable characters include Bugs Bunny, Lola Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Taz, Wile E. Coyote, and Road Runner. Those who purchased the Deluxe Edition can also take their shot with Yosemite Sam, just not with his guns. Each character has their abilities that set them apart. For example, Road Runner relies on his speed and Taz relies on his brute strength. Everyone also has special moves that can be used with enough meter built up, creating an entertaining animated sequence referencing memorable moments from the cartoon.

Each sport has the same rules as real life, but with no out of bounds and players can get rough with each other by grabbing items from ACME boxes containing dynamite, pies, anvils, and more to slow down the opposing team or give themselves an advantage in true Looney Tunes fashion. Basketball is 2v2, soccer is 4v4 but with AI goalkeepers, tennis can be singles or doubles and golf can have up to 4 competitors.

Playing each of the four sports can be fun, but they each have problems. In basketball, shooting hoops can be tricky and is easier to go for slam dunks, the lack of depth perception in tennis can make it difficult to see how close or far the ball is, and the physics in golf could use more polishing because the ball seems to stick to the grass and struggles to roll down a slope. Soccer works the best, but even then, it’s not the most exciting either. The gameplay overall feels slow and sluggish, killing any excitement it should have.

It’s more enjoyable to play with friends for some couch co-op fun than to play solo. Unfortunately, there is no online play or any online features at all, something that should be standard at this point. When it comes to sports games, there are better alternatives out there for the four sports.

Players can enter the Ultimate Cup, which is like an arcade mode where 4 players will compete or team up in a series of matches across all four sports in a random order, and the winner is decided based on the total points gathered. This is the most enjoyable of all the modes available, especially when playing with friends. Sports Mode is just playing a single match in any sport, and Challenges has players attempt to complete a series of tasks, a fun thing to do on the side with 20 unique challenges to get through.

The game has long loading times that feel like they drag on forever, like old CD-ROM games in the 90s. Even just going between menus can take longer than it should. After taking that long to load a game, there are still some texture pop-ins during gameplay and this issue is present across every console.

For the Nintendo Switch version, the game looks as good (or not as good) in handheld and docked mode. There are also motion controls exclusive to the Switch version, with players using a single Joy-Con for tennis or golf and swinging it like a racket or a club like the old Wii Sports. Just be sure to have the wrist strap on.

The art style stays true to the cartoon, with each character looking like they do in any media they’ve appeared in, though depending on what angle you’re viewing them, they sometimes look awkward and incomplete. The Unreal Engine logo is seen in the opening credits which indicates the game would have high-quality graphics. They look okay from afar, but very outdated up close, like it’s a PS1 or Nintendo 64 game and the texture pop-ins don’t help either.

Various other characters not playable in the game can be seen in the background including Marvin the Martian, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, and many more. Granny and Witch Hazel can be seen and serve as the goalkeepers for either team when playing soccer.

The game is full of easter eggs and references to the show. It’s fun to spot familiar characters and items throughout all the stages with more to be unlocked, giving players a nice incentive to see more.

Where the game shines the most is the current voice cast of the Looney Tunes, which fans will certainly appreciate. Eric Bauza voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Marvin the Martian, Porky Pig, and Tweety Bird, Kath Soucie is Lola Bunny and Jeff Bergman is Foghorn Leghorn, Ralph, Sam the Sheepdog, and Sylvester to name a few. Hearing everyone say their iconic lines while reacting to their triumphs or shortcomings is a nice treat for longtime fans.

The Looney Tunes franchise has everything it needs to be a fun and entertaining sports game. Longtime fans will appreciate the current voice cast reprising their roles, but the lasting appeal for the game just isn’t there. The asking price of $69.95 is too much for the content it offers.

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and more have appeared in various sports-themed games in almost every console generation, but Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports is not one of the better examples. That’s all folks!

Written by: Sammy Hanson