A series of licensed games based on Animaniacs (1993), released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis by Konami in 1994. An 8-bit port of the Genesis version was released for the Game Boy in 1995 by Factor 5, and was designed to work with the Super Game Boy add-on, which enhances its graphical capabilities. A PC video game titled, "Animaniacs Game Pack!" released in 1997 by Funnybone Intereactive.
In the SNES version, the Brain hatches his latest plan to take over the world by stealing the scripts of the new Warner Bros. film while it was still in production. Mr. Plotz, the CEO of the Warner Bros. Studio reluctantly asks Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, the Warner siblings to retrieve all 24 script pages and foil the Brain's plan. In this version, players navigate the Warners through a three-dimensional playing field. The goal of the game is to collect 24 script pages, and although the game can be completed without obtaining all of them, collecting all 24 results in the best ending. The Warners have no health bar, lives, or unique abilities, and the game ends when all three Warners are defeated or captured by Ralph. Each character can pick up and throw items as well as execute a dash move. If all three characters are together, they can stack themselves up to reach higher platforms. At the bottom of the screen is a slot machine, which is activated after collecting a certain number of coins. This slot machine can grant continues, invincibility, or bring back a character if they were previously defeated or captured by Ralph.
In the Genesis version, the Warners decide to open a hip pop culture shop in order to become closer to their favorite movie stars. To do so, they travel across various stages in the Warner Bros. studio to collect movie props to sell. Once they collect all five props, Pinky and the Brain steal them in their latest attempt to take over the world.This version plays like a traditional 2D platformer. You can play as all three Warner siblings and switch between them with a push of a button. Each Warner sibling has their own unique abilities that are required to progress through the game. Yakko can push and pull boxes and attacks enemies with his paddle ball, Wakko can use his mallet to attack enemies, activate switches, and light bombs, and Dot can blow kisses to distract characters.
In the "Animaniacs Game Pack!", unlike the previous two games, this one is an anthology of five arcade games featuring Yakko, Wakko, and Dot as they go through everyday lives as a computer game.
The SNES version provides examples of:
- Border-Occupying Decorations: The Game Boy version features a Super Game Boy border depicting an old TV set, dotted with portraits of the Warner siblings, Pinky and the Brain, and Ralph Theodore Guard.
- Boss Rush: The Editing Room features the Warners fighting the bosses from each stage before facing off against Pinky and the Brain.
- Floating Limbs:
- The tentacles of the giant octopus in the second half of the Aquatic Stage are made up of floating orbs.
- The Brain's robot suit is depicted with limbs that are also made up of floating orbs.
- Full Moon Silhouette: The minecart section in the Adventure Stage ends with the Warners flying past the full moon as a
sound-alike of the theme from ET The Extraterrestrial plays. - Gangplank Galleon: The second half of the Aquatic Stage takes place on a pirate ship, featuring cannons, rope swinging, pirates and the boss being a pirate captain with an eyepatch and pegleg on a giant octopus.
- Human Ladder: When all three Warners are together, they can stack themselves atop each other to reach higher places.
- Indy Escape:
- At the end of the Adventure Stage, the Warners get chased by the full moon after they pass by it.
- The Sci-Fi Stage has three examples; first, the Warners get chased by replicas of the Death Star. Then, they get chased by an oil truck driven by a Terminator-like robot. Finally, the Warners are chased by a giant gear.
- Multiple Endings: This game has three different endings. How many scripts you collect in the game determines which ending you get:
- If you collect less than 10 scripts, you'll get the Bad Ending where Mr. Plotz scolds the Warners for missing too many scenes in their movie.
- If you collect 11 to 23 scripts, you'll get the normal ending where Mr. Plotz tells the Warners that although they made a better effort, the movie's still incomplete and they need to try harder, then when he sees Yakko and Wakko reacting lustfully to Hello Nurse, he asks if they're even trying.
- If you collect all 24 scripts, you'll get the Golden Ending, where Mr. Plotz screens the movie, only to discover it has nothing but the Warners in it. After the credits, the Brain plots his next plan to take over the world.
- Palmtree Panic: The first half of the Aquatic Stage takes place on a beach. The Warners have to ride rafts and barrels across the water and use giant clams as springboards while dodging sharks.
- Temple of Doom: The third part of the Adventure Stage takes place in one, which ends with a ride in a mine cart. This is because this stage is a parody of the Indiana Jones films.
- Threatening Shark: Sharks serve as common enemies in the first part of the Aquatic Stage.
The Genesis version provides examples of:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: In Stage 5, the level disintegrates behind the Warners, and they have to stay ahead of it.
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: When Brain asks Pinky "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", Pinky's response is "I think so, Brain, but how do we teach a sardine to speak Russian?"
- Big Boo's Haunt: Stage 4 takes place on the set of a horror film called Bloodmask: Part 32, where Dracula serves as the boss.
- The Cameo: The Vic Viper fittingly shows up in the Sci-Fi stage
◊. It helps that both this game and the Gradius series are developed by Konami. - Dramatic Thunder: The final battle with Pinky and the Brain takes place in ACME Labs, where thunder booms and lightning flashes outside.
- Expressive Health Bar: The Warners' health bar is on the upper-left corner of the screen, and it consists of a face with its expression changing depending on how much health they have (they can take up to eight hits). If their health gauge is full, the expression is excited, if they take two hits, the expression is calm, if they take four hits, the expression is terrified, and if they take six hits, the expression is tired. If they're one hit away from losing a life, the expression starts flashing.
- Fight Dracula: Dracula is the boss of Stage 4, which should come as no surprise, since Konami, creator of the Castlevania games, also developed this game.
- Forced Tutorial: The game begins with a level where the Warners escape from their tower and have to use their special moves to get past obstacles and into the Warner Bros. studio; Yakko to push boxes, Wakko to set off a bomb to destroy a stone wall, and Dot to kiss Runt, who is blocking the exit. This is done to teach players how to use each of the Warners' special moves.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: During the final battle with Pinky and the Brain's robot suit, the torso and the legs separate from each other. The Warners can use the bombs that Brain throws to attack either one, but they do have to dodge the legs as they walk around and jump. Once the robot takes enough hits, the legs will finish off the torso by kicking it several times before jumping away.
- Hydrant Geyser: In Stage 5, the Warners come across buildings on fire that spread flames. Wakko must put the fires out by hitting the nearby hydrants with his mallet.
- Human Cannonball: When Wakko first comes across a cannon, he must light the fuse with his mallet. Then, he must jump inside the cannon so it can launch him in the air.
- Improbable Weapon User: Yakko's basic method of attacking enemies is with a paddle ball.
- Locomotive Level: The second half of Stage 3 takes place on a train, where Ralph serves as the boss. During the first encounter, the Warner siblings must toss pies at him from an oven in the bakery car, while he tries to do vice-versa to them while riding a rail-mounted segway. In their second encounter, the Warners reach the engine. They must fill it with coal so it can outrun Ralph.
- Mad Bomber:
- Ralph is the boss of Stage 1, and when he is on the platform above the two seesaws, he tosses bombs at the Warners. Wakko must use the boulders on the seesaws to hit him.
- In the final battle against Pinky and the Brain, Brain tosses bombs, which Pinky lights. Dot needs to distract Pinky so he can't light the bombs. Then, Yakko can push the bombs towards the robot suit and Wakko can light them.
- Medium Awareness: The fourth-wall breaking intro has Yakko mentioning how they're in a game version of a cartoon, with even some of the show's Viewers Are Geniuses by referencing Marshall McLuhan!
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: In Stage 1, there are alligator animatronics that try to attack the Warners. They have to jump off the boat when the animatronics try to attack them. Ralph is also seen riding one near the end of the section.
- Power Trio: You can play as all three Warner siblings, switch between them, and each of them have their own unique abilities that are required to progress through the game.
- Power-Up Food: If the Warners collect food like apples, bananas, grapes, ice cream, and meat, they can restore lost health.
- Projectile Kiss: This is Dot's basic attack. She can use this to distract characters.
- Rail-Car Separation: The second half of Stage 3 has the Warner siblings board a train to escape from Ralph, who is chasing them down. When the Warners get to the engine at the end of the stage, they uncouple it from the freight cars it's pulling, leaving Ralph who is on them behind.
- Seesaw Catapult: When Wakko comes across a seesaw with a boulder on one end, he can hit the other end with his mallet. The seesaw will launch the boulder into the air, then when the boulder comes back down, it will launch Wakko into the air.
- Teamwork Puzzle Game: This game has all three Warners as playable characters, each with their own unique abilities that are required to progress through the game.
- Timed Mission: The Warners have 500 seconds to complete each stage, and they lose a life if time runs out. Collecting clock power-ups adds extra time to the time limit.
- Waxing Lyrical: In the prologue to Stage 1, Yakko says, "Wakko, you take the high road. Dot, you take the low road. As for me, I'll be in Scotland afore ye. Whatever that means."
- Weapons That Suck: In Stage 4, the Brain uses his Vacuuminator to suck up some nearby dishes. The Warners have to dodge these dishes and avoid being sucked in until the Vacuuminator overloads and explodes.
- The Wild West: The first half of Stage 3 takes place on the set of a western film called Swing Em' Low, Hang Em' High.
Both versions provide examples of:
- Big Bad Ensemble: Both Ralph and Pinky and the Brain serve as the antagonists of both games. Ralph spends a majority of both games trying to capture the Warners and return them to their tower, while Pinky and the Brain are trying to take over the world and serve as the Final Boss of both games.
- Eternal Engine:
- In the SNES version, the second part of the Sci-Fi stage takes place in a steel mill, in a parody of The Terminator, culminating in a battle against a Terminator-like robot.
- In the Genesis version, Stage 5 takes place on the set of an action film.
- Hub Level: After the tutorial stage is completed, the Warners can play the following stages in any order they choose. Once all those stages are complete, the final stage will be unlocked.
- Jungle Japes:
- The first half of the Adventure Stage in the SNES version takes place in a jungle-themed set.
- Stage 1 in the Genesis version takes place on the set of The Adventure of Dirk Rugged VII, which is a jungle.
- Minecart Madness:
- The SNES version has one minecart section in the Adventure Stage where the primary danger is the pursuing Ralph. It ends with the minecart soaring into the air ... and passing directly in front of the full moon.
- The Genesis version also has a minecart section in Stage 1. While riding the mine cart, Wakko must use his mallet to switch the points to avoid falling off dead ends.
- Mobile-Suit Human: The Brain's robot suit from the TV series is the Final Boss in both games, with Brain operating it and Pinky in its pocket.
- Mythology Gag:
- In the SNES version, the Adventure Stage begins with Kiki the Gorilla from "Kiki's Kitten" chasing Rita and Runt.
- Dracula from "Draculee, Draculaa" appears as an enemy in the Adventure Stage during the mine cart section.
- The boss of the Aquatic Stage is Captain Mel from "H.M.S. Yakko".
- In Stage 3 of the Genesis version, the Warners come across Pinky with the Brain in his "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" alias.
- In Stage 4 of the Genesis version, the Brain uses his Vacuuminator from "Pavlov's Mice" to suck up some dishes on a nearby shelf and attempt to suck up the Warners.
- The boss of Stage 4 of the Genesis version is Dracula from "Draculee, Draculaa".
- Password Save: Both games have a password system. The SNES version uses a twelve-character system, while the Genesis version uses a nine-character one.
- Space Station:
- Shout-Out:
- In the SNES version, the opening cutscene where Mr. Plotz contacts the Warners to help him retrieve the missing scripts directly parodies Mission: Impossible, complete with the video message self-destructing afterwards.
- The Fantasy Studio is largely based on Alice in Wonderland, as it begins with the Warner siblings chasing after the White Rabbit, and features Playing Card Guards as enemies, culminating in a boss battle against the Queen of Hearts.
- The second part of the Fantasy Studio features the Warners hopping across a large dog/centipede-like creature that resembles Falcor from The Never Ending Story.
- The first part of the Adventure stage is based on King Kong (1933), and features a battle against a pair of King Kong-like hands.
- The third part of the Adventure Stage is a clear parody of Indiana Jones, featuring a sound-alike of the Indiana Jones theme song, as well as riding a mine cart at the end of the temple. The end of the stage has the Warners fly past the full moon.
- The first part of the Sci-Fi Stage is based on Star Wars, as well as Alien.
- The second part of the Sci-Fi Stage is based on The Terminator, and features a battle with a Terminator-like robot.
- Stage 1 of the Genesis version takes place on the set of The Adventure of Dirk Rugged VII, a parody of the Indiana Jones films.
- Stage 2 takes place on the set of Space Wars. In the prologue, Yakko says he almost fainted when Dume Rayder told Ike Skywriter that he was his second cousin.
- Stage 4 takes place on the set of Bloodmask: Part 32, which is a parody of Friday the 13th, complete with an Expy of Jason Voorhees named Janus.
- Studiopolis: The entirety of both games take place in the various film stages of the Warner Bros. studio. Each of these stages have spotlights and movie cameras present throughout them.
- Tactical Suicide Boss: Pinky and the Brain's robot suit in both games. In the SNES version, it brings down screwbolts that the Warners need to toss back at it to damage it. In the Genesis version, it tosses bombs at the Warners. Dot has to distract Pinky to keep him from lighting the bombs, then Yakko can push the unlit bombs towards the robot suit and Wakko can light them to damage it.
The "Animaniacs Game Pack!" provides examples of:
- Anvil on Head: The player can drop anvils on Baloney in "Baloney's Balloon Bop" by popping anvil-labeled balloons. The intro to "Smoocher" involves Dot wishing to terrorize her enemies with smooches instead of anvils, to the disbelief of Yakko and Wakko.
- Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game: "Tee Off Mini Golf" puts Dot on a course full of silly obstacles, such as waving octopus tentacles, race car tire tracks, and motor oil spills.
- Catapult Nightmare: The cutscene after quitting "Smoocher" begins with Dot screaming from being woken up from her nightmare.Wakko: You okay, Dot?
Dot: Wakko, remember what I said about anvils? Forget it! - "Help! Help! Trapped in Title Factory!": One of the closing animations you get after quitting the game is Wakko rising from the water tower to yell, "Help! We're trapped in a software company!"
- I Meant to Do That: One of Yakko's lines if he crashes on his motorcycle in "Prop Shop Drop".
- Potty Emergency: The ending cutscene to "Belchinator Too!" has Wakko asking Dot where he can find a potty after defeating the Brain. Fortunately, someone promptly throws him a toilet and he runs off to use it.
- Man on Fire: Yakko in "Baloney's Balloon Bop" if Wakko and Dot catch a fire or a cannon powerup.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Level 12 in "Smoocher" has a title of "Doesn't This Dream Ever End?"
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Pinky and the Brain's quitting animation:Brain: When I snap my fingers, you will remember none of this! (snaps)
Pinky: Do I know you? - Rearrange the Song: The game opens with a cover of the Animaniacs theme where the Warners sing all about how they're in a PC game and ready to cause mayhem:Look at Wakko as he tries to pull your processor apart!
And Yakko's burning random access memory with a spark!
Dot just grabbed your cursor! She wants you to restart!
We kidnapped all the programmers, they think that they're so smart! - Smart Bomb: Hitting the TNT in "Smoocher" stuns every enemy on screen. You can only do this twice, but touching a stunned enemy replenishes one usage.
- That's All, Folks!: If you quit the game with Yakko asking you if you're sure, he'll shout "Goodnight, everybody! You've been a great audience!"
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Written by Cast Member: The only song in the game, heard in the intro cutscene of "Tee Off!" , titled "I'm a Swingin' Gal", was written and performed by Dot's voice actor Tress MacNeille.
