The plot is a bit hard to follow unless you aware of the backend story behind it. Back in Looney Tunes: Collector, the evil schemes of Marvin the Martian finally came to a end, thanks to the heroic efforts of Bugs and Daffy. Defeated and humiliated, Marvin makes a retreat back to his home world, only to discover that Daffy is making a movie (and profits) off of the Martian's failure. Now he's VERY angry and bent on sending the black-feathered duck to an early grave. If you were expecting and major plot turns past this, you're out of luck. Aside from the banter between Marvin, his cohorts, and the enemies, the story goes nowhere.

A non-existent story is the least of this latest Looney Tunes edition, as the game is wrought with bland graphics, uninspiring landscapes, and lackluster music. Though the game makes great use of the GBC's color palette, the character sprites are incredibly small and really hard to see given that it's on a handheld. In addition, the animation is sparse, which makes the lowliest of villain to Marvin himself look stiff and lifeless. Not to mention the emptiness of the levels, and the similar flatness they inspire. Aside from the push made on the colors, there's little visual flair to be found here. The audio department shares a similar fault, with boring musical tunes and flat sound effects; it's highly recommended that you keep the volume down.

Fortunately, there seems to be a saving grace in the distance - gameplay. Marvin Strikes Back adopts the overhead style of gameplay and while it feels generic, it starts off as a fun adventure title. In his quest for vengeance, Marvin enlists various friends and captures foes to use at his will. Some people are as easy to get as talking to them, others you have to fight, and a few are hidden in the most obscure of places. Marvin himself may be the star of the show, but aside from his ray gun and a swath of items, he has little going in terms of abilities. This is where his allies come in: can't get across that gap? Use K-9 to jump to the other end. Need to fit into small places? Speedy Gonzales, being a mouse and all, is perfect for the job. Sometimes certain people are necessary to get to a new area or level, so hunting for extra characters becomes an important part of the game. It's a nice little twist to overhead adventure, but can become an exercise in pain. Nothing sucks more than finding a new door or path only to know you're missing the one player needed to get there. This frustration isn't a good thing since it ruins the only original concept in the game, and believe me, after a few hours of play, you'll understand that there's nothing else going for it.

After spending some ample time with the game, a realization will dawn upon you - it's really repetitive. It all comes down to chasing after friends, solving generic puzzles, and roaming around in different areas but essentially doing the same thing...over and over again. Maybe if each level wasn't so routine in which you must 'fight enemies, run from enemies, grab items, repeat,'; finding extra characters wouldn't be so tedious. Likewise for the puzzle elements: they're simply not good, (but not terribly bad), and could be much more tolerable if the trek within each area wasn't so mundane.

Plainly put, Marvin Strikes Back really isn't worth your handheld dollar. It tries to be different with a 'team' focus, but the lackluster quality is evident throughout the graphic, music and gameplay; thus ruining the joy altogether. If you need an overhead adventure fix, my recommendations would be to check out Zelda or Crystalis, and stay far away from this as possible.

T-T-That's all folks! (Editor's Note: He couldn't resist)

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