Tom and Jerry (SNES) - Quick Review
Tom and Jerry on the Super Nintendo came out in the US in 1992, coinciding with the release of the Tom and Jerry movie (althought not to be confused with the Sega Genesis and Game Gear games released in 1993 that were based on the movie). The game starts off in a movie theater and deals with Jerry trying to make it back home to his mouse hole by traveling through the town to get there. But as usual, Tom is there to try and stop him.
The game is playable with a friend, with one of you controlling Jerry and the other controlling his nephew Tuffy, and the controls are very simple, limited to left and right movements with the D=pad, B jumping, and X,Y, and A controlling Jerry/Tuffy throwing marbles, their only weapon throughout the game. So let's look at what's good and bad about this game and see if it's worth it.
The Good
- Able to expand life/health. At the beginning of each level, Jerry (or Tuffy) starts with a handful of lives, and four heart pieces for health. Any time he is hit by an enemy, he loses one bar of health, and obviously after losing all of them he loses a life. Through the level are scattered tiny cheese bits, as well as larger chunks of cheese, and full wheels, the latter being really rare in the game. Collecting 100 of the small cheese bits gains him an extra life, while the chunks of cheese can refill health, and the rare wheels are a straight up extra life. Being able to add more lives to your counter and regain lost health is a very nice touch.
- Varying projectile angles. The reason you have three buttons to throw is because they each angle the marble in a different direction. X sends the marble at a slightly upward angle, Y sends it level, and A sends it at a slightly downward angle. This was a very nice touch because in different levels you will be going upwards on a slight incline, and instead of having to try and jump yourself so you're level with the enemy, you can just use X to send the marble slightly upwards in the first place.
- Fun level designs. Some of the levels in this game are pretty creative. One of my favorites is the second one where you are traversing through the insides of a film projector. You find yourself climbing up the reels of film and it's pretty fun. Some other's include a junkyard-maze, the floor of the movie theater (which you get to surf across on a ticket-stub) and some of the locations inside the Tom and Jerry house.
The Bad
- Fall of doom. There's a certain distance that Jerry is allowed to fall and still survive. But the line between survival and death from these falls is extremely thin. In one of the earlier stages (the film-projector one), before finishing the stage you must make your way down from the near-top of the stage. On your way down, you must make a few near-blind jumps where you can't really see the platform you're supposed to land on below. On one playthrough, I made one of these jumps completely fine, but on a later playthrough, I made the same jump and died, and I actually made the second jump with more health than I had doing the first. It just seemed more random to me then an actual set distance.
- Too short, too easy. This game is a cakewalk, and there's not a whole lot of variety. Every stage involves the same things, run across the level, jump over openings, kill/avoid enemies, and every three stages ends with a boss fight against Tom. There's practically no challenge to it and it's a bit of a let down since it can be beaten so fast and easily.
Is it Worth it?
On a bit of a personal note, I grew up with Tom and Jerry always on the TV. At my dad's I had a few of the VHS tapes that I'm honestly surprised I never wore them out with how much I watched them over and over. So when I got really into gaming (about four or five years ago), I just about jumped at any game I saw that had their names on it. Unfortunately, I've yet to find one that lives up to the cat-and-mouse games, and this one is the farthest from it. Yes, it does portray the whole Jerry trying to get away from and outsmart Tom, but it doesn't fully capture the antics between the two; Tom setting up an elaborate trap to finally catch the troublesome mouse, and Jerry either making an even more elaborate trap to outwit Tom, or just completely obliterate Tom's idea and make it fall to pieces in front of his face. None of that is captured in this game, and it was a huge let down for me.
As a game on it's own (not comparing it to the cartoon it's based upon), this one still isn't worth it. It's far too simplistic and way too quick to beat. It's not even worth getting as a throw-away game, something to just pass the time for an hour, because it doesn't present enough of a challenge to commit yourself to playing it. This game is valued around $10, but can usually be found in retro stores for around $6 or $7. Unless you are given this game for free, though, you won't be getting any of your money's worth out of it.
The game is playable with a friend, with one of you controlling Jerry and the other controlling his nephew Tuffy, and the controls are very simple, limited to left and right movements with the D=pad, B jumping, and X,Y, and A controlling Jerry/Tuffy throwing marbles, their only weapon throughout the game. So let's look at what's good and bad about this game and see if it's worth it.
The Good
- Able to expand life/health. At the beginning of each level, Jerry (or Tuffy) starts with a handful of lives, and four heart pieces for health. Any time he is hit by an enemy, he loses one bar of health, and obviously after losing all of them he loses a life. Through the level are scattered tiny cheese bits, as well as larger chunks of cheese, and full wheels, the latter being really rare in the game. Collecting 100 of the small cheese bits gains him an extra life, while the chunks of cheese can refill health, and the rare wheels are a straight up extra life. Being able to add more lives to your counter and regain lost health is a very nice touch.
- Varying projectile angles. The reason you have three buttons to throw is because they each angle the marble in a different direction. X sends the marble at a slightly upward angle, Y sends it level, and A sends it at a slightly downward angle. This was a very nice touch because in different levels you will be going upwards on a slight incline, and instead of having to try and jump yourself so you're level with the enemy, you can just use X to send the marble slightly upwards in the first place.
- Fun level designs. Some of the levels in this game are pretty creative. One of my favorites is the second one where you are traversing through the insides of a film projector. You find yourself climbing up the reels of film and it's pretty fun. Some other's include a junkyard-maze, the floor of the movie theater (which you get to surf across on a ticket-stub) and some of the locations inside the Tom and Jerry house.
The Bad
- Fall of doom. There's a certain distance that Jerry is allowed to fall and still survive. But the line between survival and death from these falls is extremely thin. In one of the earlier stages (the film-projector one), before finishing the stage you must make your way down from the near-top of the stage. On your way down, you must make a few near-blind jumps where you can't really see the platform you're supposed to land on below. On one playthrough, I made one of these jumps completely fine, but on a later playthrough, I made the same jump and died, and I actually made the second jump with more health than I had doing the first. It just seemed more random to me then an actual set distance.
- Too short, too easy. This game is a cakewalk, and there's not a whole lot of variety. Every stage involves the same things, run across the level, jump over openings, kill/avoid enemies, and every three stages ends with a boss fight against Tom. There's practically no challenge to it and it's a bit of a let down since it can be beaten so fast and easily.
Is it Worth it?
On a bit of a personal note, I grew up with Tom and Jerry always on the TV. At my dad's I had a few of the VHS tapes that I'm honestly surprised I never wore them out with how much I watched them over and over. So when I got really into gaming (about four or five years ago), I just about jumped at any game I saw that had their names on it. Unfortunately, I've yet to find one that lives up to the cat-and-mouse games, and this one is the farthest from it. Yes, it does portray the whole Jerry trying to get away from and outsmart Tom, but it doesn't fully capture the antics between the two; Tom setting up an elaborate trap to finally catch the troublesome mouse, and Jerry either making an even more elaborate trap to outwit Tom, or just completely obliterate Tom's idea and make it fall to pieces in front of his face. None of that is captured in this game, and it was a huge let down for me.
As a game on it's own (not comparing it to the cartoon it's based upon), this one still isn't worth it. It's far too simplistic and way too quick to beat. It's not even worth getting as a throw-away game, something to just pass the time for an hour, because it doesn't present enough of a challenge to commit yourself to playing it. This game is valued around $10, but can usually be found in retro stores for around $6 or $7. Unless you are given this game for free, though, you won't be getting any of your money's worth out of it.
