Looney Tunes Collector Martian Alert!

Join Bugs Bunny and a myriad of other cartoon stars as they attempt to save the world from Marvin the Martian and utter destruction, in Looney Tunes Collector Martian Alert!, from Infogrames. The game features 47 Looney Tunes characters to meet and collect throughout the adventure and 20 weird and wacky worlds to explore.

The game begins with our favourite bunny Bugs packing his bags and heading for Pismo Beach. On the way Bugs takes a wrong turn and finds himself overhearing Marvin the Martian reprimanding his dog. Apparently K9 has thrown away ten of Marvin's Earth-eliminating teleporter pieces and Marvin is, understandably, a bit peeved. How are you supposed to blow up this dastardly planet without your Earth - eliminating teleporter pieces? Since Bugs hasn't made it to Pismo, he trashes his holiday plans and decides to save the world from the maniacal Marvin by recovering the teleporter pieces before he can reach them and blow up the Earth.

You begin the adventure with Bugs Bunny, but to proceed in the game you will need to find and defeat other Looney Tunes characters and convince them to join you in your quest. Each character has a special ability, which you'll need to use in order for Bugs to continue on his way and to progress through the game. In all, the game contains 14 different Looney Tunes characters that you can collect and play with.

In addition to recovering the teleporter pieces and obviously saving the world from being blown into a billion tiny little pieces, the secondary objective is to collect all 47 cartoon characters. Thirty-three of the 47 Looney Tunes stars are non-playable characters that are stored in your collection gallery when you meet them.

The gameplay is filled with action and puzzles and uses a top-down perspective. The game's graphics are rich in detail and colour. Even the music - which in most Gameboy games can drive you to distraction - actually adds to the game, perfectly interpreting the action. The game has a save feature too, so none of those annoying passwords to remember.

To get the most out of Looney Tunes Collector Martian Alert!, you'll have to trade your Looney Tunes characters with a friend (see where this is going?). In the one-player adventure, there are 12 initial stages, eight playable characters and 25 characters to meet, including Elmer Fudd and Sylvester. Using the game link cable or the infrared link, trade characters with a friend and you'll gain access to a second adventure with eight missions, six playable characters and 22 characters to meet.

Martian Alert! also has six mini-games for two players; Looney Tunes Collectors can compete in these games and wager their characters based on the outcome. The stakes are high, because if you lose, you can say au revoir to your character for good!

This may be an attempt by the publisher to cash in on the collecting craze whipped up by Pokémon, but the game is certainly an ingenious idea, great fun to play and adds a different dimension to the Looney Tunes franchise on the Gameboy.