So... Having bossed NBA, Fifa, Topspin and PGA, now we're going to be competing for the ACME Tournament of Champions over 4 events; Basketball, Soccer, Tennis and Golf–all while playing as one of your favourite Warner Bros. cartoon characters.
There are basic and advanced tutorials for each sport, all are playable, so you get a feel for the controls and special moves.
Basketball
Controls are simple and instinctive, you pass with 'A', high pass with 'Y' and shoot with 'X' (with a timed release for accuracy.) When the energy bar is filled (by performing various actions, successful passes etc.) you can easily perform dunks inside the highlighted area and 3-pointers from distance. 'RB' calls a teammate for an alley-oop (they run to the hoop so you can pass to them.) When defending you can press 'X' to shove an opponent and steal the ball, and jump-block a shot by pressing 'B'. Additionally, ACME crates drop onto the court randomly, providing you with a chance of things like custard pies to the face, freezing opponents, speed-ups or dropping anvils on opponents' heads!
Soccer
When you have the ball you press 'A' to pass along the ground or 'Y' for a high pass, 'X' to shoot, 'RB' to dash and 'LB' for an unblockable super shot when the energy bar is full. You can even dodge a tackle when in possession by pressing 'B' as the opponent slides in. When defending you can press 'X' to shove an opponent and stun them temporarily, or press 'B' for a sweep (sliding) tackle.
Tennis
You press 'A' to toss the ball and 'A' again to serve. 'A' is also your basic flat hit when returning the ball. You can direct the shot with the Left stick as you hit. When the energy bar is full you can activate a super shot with 'LB' and have a short time to direct the unstoppable smash shot. 'X' is a slice shot, 'B' is topspin and 'Y' is a lob. Every type of stroke can also be charged by holding the button as you approach the ball. When the energy bar is half full you can activate slow motion, making tough-to-reach shots possible.
Golf
Once again simple controls are the name of the game–simple but tough to master. This uses a basic 'A' button "3-press" method to set both the power and the accuracy, a method first used in the classic Leaderboard games originally released in 1986... Once the super shot gauge is full you can unleash an extra-long drive or super-powered shot out of the rough.
ACME tool power-ups appear occasionally and can give you abilities such as slowing down the power gauge or placing a smoke cloud over your opponent's power gauge. Pressing 'Y' brings up a top down view of the shot, allowing for more awareness of hazards in your intended path, and 'X' zooms in to a "shot camera" to give you a better view of your aiming point. Moving the left stick left or right on the power stroke sets the amount of hook or slice. You can choose the number of holes (3, 6 or 9), up to 3 opponents and whether they're human or AI.
Ultimate Cup is a custom game over 4, 6 or 8 matches for 1-4 players (if solo AI players can be selected and the team sports supply you with AI teammates.) There is no online multiplayer.
Sports Mode allows you to choose a single event with 1-4 characters, select venue, ball type, game time, difficulty and hazards on/off.
Once you've chosen a sport, if you don't want to fanny around with all the options, Quick Match selects a normal match with random characters.
Challenges set you a series of umm... challenges or tests for each of the 4 sports in which you have to obtain a certain score within a set time etc.
If I have a criticism it's that the games are a bit too fast-moving for their own good, and even the golf's power bar moves too quickly for newbie players and kids. But, and it's a big but, the games are all extremely playable, and the presentation colourful and faithful to the source material. The game is enhanced by the maddeningly catchy Looney Tunes theme and quality voice actors who actually sound like Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Tweety Pie, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester et al should. And... That's All Folks!
Thanks to BamTang Games, GameMill Entertainment, Renaissance PR and PressEngine for the review code.