There’s trouble afoot in Krusty’s Fun House. Almost as soon as he opens his latest amusement park, it’s infested by rascally rodents!

Krusty the Clown opened a new Fun House in Springfield, home of The Simpsons — but hadn’t counted on the local rat population. Within days, they scurried into every nook and cranny and made the Fun House their new home.

Poor old Krusty’s distraught! He’s losing money, sleep and most of his green hair! He’s gonna have to get rid of the rats, pronto, or close the Fun House down.

Your job is to guide Krusty the Clown through 50-plus rooms and trap the rats in specially-constructed devices. Unfortunately, Krusty isn’t as young as he used to be. Jumping around the rooms is easy enough but fall too far and he loses energy. Wandering aliens, snakes and other nasties also sap Krusty’s strength.

Luckily, help is on hand in each room from Bart Simpson and his family. They operate the traps so lure the rats in and watch Bart and co grin at the sight of scorched rodents (apologies to all animal lovers!).

Krusty can pick up various objects such as blocks, custard pies and steel balls to help him in his task. Use the block to create stairs or block off passages.

The puzzles get tougher and the rats get dafter. There’s a password system if you’re stuck and extra lives can be collected along the way.

Krusty’s certainly got his hands full!

Mat grins... ‘A CLASSIC PUZZLE GAME’

Fox Williams deserve a pat on the back for Krusty’s Fun House. Every single version that’s appeared has been a massive success and the MS and GG versions are no exception.

And so it should be. The basic platform/puzzle idea behind Krusty’s is dead easy to get to grips with, though later levels get progressively tougher.

The fact there’s virtually no difference between the GG version and the original MD game shows just what a good job the Fox Williams team have done. All the levels are still there and the obstacles are just as brain-teasing to overcome.

Every level’s decorated in bright cartoony colour and sprites, such as The Simpsons, are instantly recognisable from the cartoon series.

Krusty responds well to joypad movements and Is capable of a variety of actions such as leaping, chucking custard pies and picking up handy blocks. Music and sound FX are top notch and there’s even some cool sampled speech thrown in for good measure.

Krusty’s Fun House goes from strength to strength. The GG version proves to be every bit as good as the MD game.

MAT 90%

Warren gasps... ‘ITS AMAZING’

‘Hey, Mega Drive Krusty’s is on telly. Here, on the Game Gear and TV tuner... Wait a minute, we haven’t got a TV tuner!’ Yes folks, all you need to do is plug Acclaim/Flying Edge’s latest GG cart In the back of your handheld and it becomes a 16-bit machine. It’s quite amazing.

The backgrounds and platforms have the bright colours and functional details of the original. Krusty, Bart, Homer the snakes etc look and move as they do on the TV programme. The circus-style music can grate but there’s a smattering of digitised speech; a pity It’s distorted through the Game Gear’s little speakers.

Krusty’s Fun House has to be played to be appreciated. Tackle a room or two and you’ll probably have the same opinion as you do now, having just read the review: it’s a bit dull and simplistic. But hang in there a few minutes longer and you’ll be hooked.

The combination of platform action — hopping around and shooting snakes — and puzzle elements — working out which blocks, tubes and fans should go where — is unique and shouldn’t be missed. If you only buy one Game Gear cart in the next couple of months, make sure it’s Krusty’s Fun House.

WARREN 89%

SF Rating

Presentation

80 - Password system enables you to return to later levels, extra lives can be collected

Visuals

91 - Every bit as good as the MD version. Sprites are colourful and cartoony

Sonics

76 - Bouncy Krusty theme tune, sound FX suit the game, sampled speech is good

Playability

88 - Easy to get to grips with, first few levels are easy but get progressively tougher

Lastability

92 - Even with passwords and extra lives, this takes ages to complete

89

A superior game that combines tricky puzzles with fast platform action

Producer

Flying Edge

GG

TBA

Players

1

Price

£29.99

Rating

89

Reviewer

Sega Force magazine

Region

UK

Scans

Sega Force - Issue 18

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