Nightmare Fuel / Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters

"Won't you come in and make yourselves at home?"

Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters is darker than your average Looney Tunes game, and has plenty of Nightmare Fuel to go around... especially in the Transylvanian Era.

Spoilers Off applies to all Nightmare Fuel pages, so all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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• Even from the opening cutscene that pivots over the various eras, the Granwich theme takes a darker, more haunting turn when we see the entrance to the Transylvanian Era, as if the game is warning you what is in the distant future.
  • The entrance is also marked by a spooky, gothic gateway with old lampposts, and you enter a crevasse that is dimly lit, and you see a winding road past a rickety fence leading to some scary looking towers...
• One of the Granwich challenges has Bugs use his stealth ability to sneak past Spike the dog, whose presence is noted by Granny who says to “beware of the dog”. If Bugs breaks his cover, he’s sent flying back to the others by a violent attack from the dog.
• Even though Granny prevents him from eating him, Taz can involuntarily attack Bugs if he is close by with his back turned, giving a surprisingly effective Jump Scare for those unaware of just how much Taz wants to eat Bugs.
• The baboons in the Baboon Realm are large, aggressive, and persistent in chasing you down. The lack of details on their models also means they come across as more inhuman, and they will beat you to death with their fists if they get the chance. You do get to lure them into traps, but if you do, you only see darkness with a pair of angry eyes looking out at you. If you move into the trap, you’re sent out with depleted health and a ferocious growl from the baboon below.
• Sam’s Temple is rather quiet and suspenseful, and is the only location in the game where you cannot use the Magic Mirror to summon back the other character, so the game encourages you to stick together. It’s easy to feel like you’re trapped in a maze with no easy way out, and if you get lost, you’ll never leave at all.
• The special enemy encountered in the Moon Valley are some very strong wolves. They may look dopey due to having some too heavy proportions, but it’s easy to wander into their territory, only to realize what’s happened when you hear their ominous growling.
• Gashouse seemingly dying when Bugs and Taz sink his ship into the freezing waters. Once Bugs smashes him out of his icy prison, he just remains frozen in place and floats to the surface, before sinking to the bottom.
• Elmer's Domain takes place on a winding road that is your only path in a dark, mountainous abyss, and it has countless scary-looking buildings with painted red eyes "watching" you. One wrong step, and you fall to your death.
• During the Carpet Ride, you fly through a palace where some lions can swipe at you, ready to eat you.
• The Royal Garden has a rather quiet, subdued theme that like Sam’s Temple makes you feel more on edge than you probably should be. The Elite Mook’s here are also tall, burly men with vicious whips.
• Babba's Cave features a mini-game where if you fail, the game cheerily promises that "the lions will take care of you!" If you do fail, the lions rush out of their cages and you’re sent flying out of the room, your character yelling in pain.
• The piranhas throughout the game are downright terrifying for younger players. They look hideous with their ugly looks and sharp teeth.
  • The most terrifying moment with them is at the level of the Water Temple. Piranhas in this place behave much more aggressively than in the rest of the game. When you walk along the edge of the pool, and piranhas swim nearby, they will follow you wherever you go, waiting for you to go down into the water to eat you!!!
• The opening pivot of the Transylvanian Era takes you on a tour of the Ghost Town, and you get to see all the scary creatures of the night that roam this era. It then pans to a final, establishing shot of Count's Castle, which sits atop a hill to watch the rest of the dark kingdom, as if to say, "this way to the endgame". The music is also very dreary and dark, especially at the point when the camera shows the Castle.
• It's the Monstars from Space Jam! Only they're invincible and will chase you for an extended period of time if you get too close.
• In the Ghost Town, the backgrounds are just giant, vague buildings with lit windows. While they're clearly just 2D backgrounds, they're no less scary as you imagine what could be out there in the distance.
  • Most windows are pitch black with pairs of white dots here and there, giving the impression that something creepy is watching you from inside.
• The Jumpscare's from the skeletons hiding in the coffins throughout the era.
• The transformation of the ZooVania creatures - they go from cute, harmless plants, chimps and fish to bloodthirsty, snarling flesh-eating plants, demonic monsters, and piranhas.
• The various horrors that plague you on the river ride, including alligators and bats. You also have to pass through a large cave entrance that is in the shape of a golden, ornate vampire bat with glowing green eyes. The water is also a black, bottomless void.
  • The music that plays during this level is barely audible due to the sound effects of the water and Taz's spinning, but as scary as it is, maybe it's for the best. Particular note goes to the grand, scary choir that begins singing at 0:17, and the last, suspenseful stretch that starts at 1:12 with the ominous cymbal clashes. If the Haunted River is the last major level you go to get a Boss Token from, the music makes it sound like you're on a suspenseful, all too fast race to the endgame that's approaching whether you're ready or not.
• The theme for Count's Castle deserves special mention. It's so damn quiet, eerie, and downright scary. The ominous choir that sings almost the entire time just screams "evil" to you. Even the light flute that plays is little comfort considering you're in the lair of the darkest villain of the game. As quiet as the castle is, helped by this suspenseful piece of music, can lure you into paranoia that the Count is ready to pop out at any moment.
• The castle only consists of three rooms with relatively simple challenges within to proceed, but along with the terrifying theme, makes up for it with the scary architecture. Each doorway is designed like a bat to remind you of the Count being a vampire. Stairways are adorned by sculptures of skulls that either evilly grin at you or make frightened faces. The second room is dark and lit by the fire heating the cauldron, which combined with the skulls and the dragons, makes the room look rather hellish. And the final chamber has stark checkerboard tiles with a sickly color for the walls.
• The sleeping dragons in the second room in Count's Castle which the game warns you to not wake up. Thankfully, they won't wake up, but there are three of them and they're colossal.
  • To get the dragons to blow fire, you have to beat a minion so he gives up a feather. This minion will not attack you or mischievously giggle at you - whichever character is closest, he simply watches you intently until you get too close. He has no eyes, only the faintest hint of a smirk. And he holds his ground, staring directly at you until you close in before he runs. It’s surprisingly chilling to see a minion who was arguably leaning more into Black Comedy so serious in this final portion of the game.
• In Count's Castle, the ghouls that chase you while possessing suits of armor and that try to drop chandeliers on you.
• The final room has two pattern games where you have to light four candles in the correct order. On each side, there are floor tiles where long, sickly looking arms will suddenly burst out to swat at you. You never see who those arms are attached to, and you’re probably grateful you never will.
• Then comes the Count himself. After making only a brief appearance in the opening cutscene of his era, he goes all out trying to subdue you and drain your blood. In one of the final cutscenes, he more than likely kills Daffy.
  • As his boss fight progresses, Count outright announces, "I'm going to taste your blood!" From that point on, it becomes frightening if you take damage and hear Bugs or Taz yelp in pain, because he just might be doing that.
  • In an example of Developer's Foresight: After you push the first gargoyle into place, Count returns and goes on the offensive, opening a window to another gargoyle in the process. If you try to bounce to the next ledge before successfully hitting Bloodcount, he immediately teleports in front of the ledge, meaning that if Bugs has gone to bounce on Taz's head, Count is right there waiting for him.
• The Bad Ending of the game. Bugs and Taz refuse to return to the game, tired from their long journey. Granny understands and accepts it, but asks what happened to Daffy. Bugs and Taz are apathetic and shrug. Back in Count's personal chamber, a spookier remix of the Haunted River theme plays as Daffy swears vengeance on Bugs and Taz for leaving him behind. As a big shadow looms over him, Daffy loses his bluster and turns around in terror to find the Count, who says he looks delicious, as a swarm of his fellow vampire bats gathers for the feast. Daffy runs off to the exit, but the Good Ending shows that Daffy isn't able to open the door by himself. Since this is the ending of this "timeline", Daffy is almost certainly doomed to be killed and eaten by Bloodcount.
  • The Good Ending also shows what this probably looked like, as Daffy fails to open the door and can only scream in terror as Count goes in for the kill. Daffy is teleported away at the last second, but Count's animation makes it clear he was going in for the bite right then and there.