The ''Crazy Castle'' series is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

series created by

Kemco , from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is a Japanese video game developer and publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. Its best known franchises are the '' Kid Klown'' and ''Top Gear'' series, the ...

and released on the

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for more ...

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

, and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

. It stars different popular

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

characters, most notably the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

cartoon character

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

, the

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

cartoon character

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

and the

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

cartoon character

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

History

Kemco started the franchise after they licensed the rights to produce a

game based on the film ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

''. When Kemco was planning to release it outside Japan, there was already an NES game based on the same film developed by Rare and published by

LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher founded by Jack Friedman in 1967. MCA Inc. acquired the company in 1985, and sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990. The toy division of the company was closed by Acclaim and a m ...

. Licensing issues occurring in Western markets, as

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

owned rights to release Disney-based video games outside Japan at the time, had also been cited as a factor. In order to release the game outside Japan, Kemco bought the rights to

' ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' franchise to produce ''Looney Tunes''-based video games. When the promotion of the film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' in Japan ended, Kemco lost the rights to produce video games based on the film there, but gained the rights to produce

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

-based ones, due to the ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' film being produced by

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...

, a studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Kemco later produced their ''Mickey Mouse'' versions in the ''Crazy Castle'' series and released most of these versions exclusively in Japan, while continuing their ''Looney Tunes'' versions outside Japan; however, some were based on other licenses such as

ITE ITE or Ite may refer to: Places * Ite (village), Walloon name of the Belgian village of Ittre * Ite District in Tacna Region, Peru Brands and enterprises * Interactive Television Entertainment, a defunct Danish media company * ITE Group, an organi ...

's '' Hugo''

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program, o ...

, Jim Davis's ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

and ''

The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off and sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran on ABC between September 13, 1986 and October 5, 1991, and was a joint production of DIC Enter ...

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

. Prior to the release of ''Bugs Bunny: Crazy Castle 3'' worldwide, Kemco released the compilation ''Bugs Bunny Collection'' exclusively in Japan, which was a re-release of ''Mickey Mouse I'' and ''II'', but with the Bugs Bunny sprite set and other minor updates (such as the

Super Game Boy The is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994, it retailed for in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In South Korea, it is called the Supe ...

support). The rest of the games in the ''Crazy Castle'' series were released as original titles throughout all territories from this point forward. The fifth entry of the ''Crazy Castle'' series starred

Walter Lantz Walter Benjamin Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker. Biography Early years and start in animat ...

in the role, rather than Bugs Bunny, due to Kemco losing their license to release Warner Bros. properties, while switching to the exclusive rights for releasing

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

properties, because of their release of the

Nintendo GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the su ...

title, ''

Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure ''Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure'', known in Japan as , is a 2001 video game developed by Nai'a Digital Works and published by Kemco for the GameCube. Set in the Universal Studios Japan park, the object of the game is to complete several ...

'', in which Woody was also one of the main characters.

Gameplay

While presented in a side-scrolling platform game format, most of the ''Crazy Castle'' games do not have a jump function. By taking different planned routes (for example by stairs, ladders and teleporters) can the character avoid enemies and collect certain items. Some of the levels have weapons or invincibility items that can be used against the enemies in the game. There are also objects that the player must collect in order to complete a level, like keys. Passwords can be used to start at a certain level.

Games in the series

Reception

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' gave ''Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2'' a fairly positive review, opining that "with smooth animation, good fun, and lively action, ''Bugs Bunny'' on the Game Boy is actually better than the NES version."''GamePro'' issue 23 (June 1991), page 52.

References

{{Navboxes , title=Franchises featured in ''Crazy Castle'' , list1= {{Garfield {{Ghostbusters {{Hugo franchise {{Kid Klown {{Looney Tunes video games {{Mickey Mouse games {{Roger Rabbit {{Woody Woodpecker Kemco games Activision games Famicom Disk System games Nintendo Entertainment System games Game Boy games Game Boy Color games Game Boy Advance games Video games based on Woody Woodpecker Video games based on Garfield Video games based on animated television series Video games about witchcraft Ghostbusters video games Side-scrolling platformers Bugs Bunny video games Mickey Mouse video games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1989 Video games set in castles Who Framed Roger Rabbit video games