The second game from developer Kemco to use the Looney Toons license and featuring popular cartoon character Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout is the follow-up to Kemco’s The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle. Releasing in 1990, just one year after Crazy Castle, the gameplay closely adheres to the side-scrolling format that Crazy Castle establishes but switches to feature an emphasis on platforming and attacking instead of puzzle-solving. In terms of licensed games for the NES, both Crazy Castle and Birthday Blowout tend to hold a more positive reception in most players’ minds, especially in comparison to some of the other licensed games on the system from the era.
The game received a mostly positive critical reception, with several outlets awarding the game scores in the range of 75-80%. In the years since its release, and with the benefit of hindsight, the game has gone on to be the subject of some less-than-favorable critical analysis and replay, with several content creators taking digs at the game for being little more than a shameless cash-in featuring the Looney Toons license. Still, the game was successful enough to warrant several sequels and follow-ups, with the Looney Toons characters (and Bugs in particular) featuring in several games across the NES, Game Boy, and SNES.
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout Premise
Gameplay in Birthday Blowout takes place from a third-person, side-scrolling perspective where players control the titular character Bugs Bunny. Contrary to his controls in Crazy Castle, Bugs can now jump, and the game even gives him a mallet with which to attack enemies. In addition to being able to use the mallet as a weapon, Bugs can also use it to smash bricks that block his progress or deflect projectiles that enemies shoot at him. Unlike other popular platformers (such as Super Mario Bros.), Bugs can land on top of enemies’ heads by jumping on them and not damage the enemy or himself.
Each level features carrots for Bugs to pick up and earn bonus points, as well as hearts to recover any lost health from enemy attacks. At the end of each stage is a different famous Looney Toons character for Bugs to challenge as a boss, with some of the more notable inclusions being the Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, or Daffy Duck. Like the other enemies, Bugs can damage these bosses by deflecting their own projectiles back at them or hitting them with his mallet. Interestingly, Daffy Duck is the only character that Bugs cannot attack directly, instead needing to simply evade him before reaching an exit to the next level.
After clearing the boss at the end of each level, players will control Bugs in one of several bonus stages that feature mini-games. Completing these mini-games results in Bugs earning some extra lives, with the maximum limit of possible lives being 99. Contrary to most other platformers from this era of the NES, Birthday Blowout does not feature a password system or level select, requiring players to essentially complete the game in one go.
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout Main Characters
In addition to the titular hero and star of the Looney Toons franchise Bugs Bunny, players will encounter several familiar characters throughout Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout. All of these characters are fellow stars of their own Looney Toons cartoons and are each trying to stop Bugs from reaching his birthday party because they’re jealous of his attention and place as the “favorite” Looney Toon. Main characters in Birthday Blowout include:
- Bugs Bunny: The star of the Looney Toons franchise and its most popular character, Bugs Bunny is the loveable and snarky bunny rabbit that constantly finds himself at odds with his fellow Looney Toons.
- Sylvester the Cat: Sylvester the Cat is the mortal enemy of fellow Looney Toon Tweety Bird and one of the bosses that tries to stop Bugs from reaching his birthday celebration.
- The Tasmanian Devil: Accordingly, the Tasmanian Devil is a cartoon version of the real-life viscious mammal of the same name. However, unlike his real-world counterpart, the cartoon Tasmanian Devil is capable of spinning up a tornado.
- Yosemite Sam: Yosemite Sam is the grumbling and cursing Wild West prospector of Looney Toons fame and one of Bugs’ bosses in Birthday Blowout.
- Daffy Duck: Bugs Bunny’s eternal “frenemy”, his sometimes pal and occasional nemesis Daffy Duck is continually competing with Bugs for being the “favorite” of the Looney Toons.
Games Featuring Bugs Bunny from Looney Toons
The NES features a plethora of games featuring licensing from prominent pop culture properties such as movies and television, and the Looney Toons franchise has several titles spanning the NES, Game Boy, and SNES. While the games featuring Bugs as the main character are more numerous than other titles, they’re only a fraction of the total games featuring the Looney Toons license on Nintendo consoles. Games featuring Bugs Bunny as the main character include:
- Crazy Castle (1989, NES)
- Birthday Blowout (1990, NES)
- Birthday Ball (1990, Arcade)
- Crazy Castle 2 (1991, Game Boy)
- Rabbit Rampage (1994, SNES)
- Double Trouble (1996, Genesis)
- Operation Carrot Patch (1998, Game Boy Color)
- Crazy Castle 3 (1999, Game Boy Color)
- Lost in Time (1999, PlayStation)
- Crazy Castle 4 (2000, Game Boy Color)
- Time Busters (2000, PlayStation)
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout Cheats & Cheat Codes
Because Birthday Blowout does not feature a traditional password system there are no official cheats that the game supports as is. However, both Pro Action Replay and Game Genie devices have several cheat codes available for Birthday Blowout that can make the game significantly easier (though, to be fair, it’s not an overly difficult game to begin with).
Game Genie Cheats
| Effect | Code |
|---|---|
| Infinite Lives | SZVIGKVK |
| Less Energy from Pick-Ups | PEOXPZGA |
| Mega-Jump | LAOANZTE |
| Stun Effect is Shorter | IPNZALAL |
| Stun Effect is Longer | ATNZALAL |
| Two Hearts from Pick-Ups | AEOXPZGE |
| Still Use Hammer While Stunned | AASAKOTL |
Pro Action Replay Cheats
| Effect | Code |
|---|---|
| Can Still Use Hammer During Stun | 895400 |
| Infinite Health | A384AD |
| Infinite Lives | D464AD |
| Invincibility | A337160 |
| Mega-Jump | 8A170B |
Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout Cheat FAQ
Does Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout have level select?
While there are several cheats available for the game using a Game Genie or Pro Action Replay, none of the available cheats for either device include a level select option. Additionally, there’s no official level select button input or cheat code that the game supports.