PrinceWatercress plays Taz-Mania (SMS) - Part 1 of 5

Believe it or not, this is not the same game as the Game Gear version. This is its own Europe-exclusive version...and it's quite good.

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One day, Taz's dad was telling him about a place called the Lost Valley, a valley where numerous rare animals still live. The rarest of these animals is the giant seabird. The seabird eggs are enormous, supposedly the largest in the world. A mere legend...wouldn't you agree...?

And there he goes - off and spinning! He's rushing to find the long-lost nest of the giant Tasmanian seabirds. Its legendary egg will make one Taz-sized omelet!

Stage 1: Plains

Section 1

Taz leaves home in search of the legendary valley of the giant seabird eggs, even though he hasn't got a clue as to where it is. Will Taz be able to find it?

At the start of the game, your lives will be in the lower-left corner, while the upper-left corner will show your current health (L) and the current power of your spin attack (P). When the L bar goes all the way down, you'll lose a life. Left and Right lets you move left and right, Down lets you duck, Button 1 lets you jump, and Button 2 lets you perform the spin attack. The spin attack lets you take down enemies. You can also use them to get rid of the bombs that are in your way, but don't forget that you can accidentally get rid of the good power-ups that way, too! The P meter will quickly drain when you attack, but it will quickly refill. When it's full again, you can attack again. 

Turkeys give you more health, and 1-Up icons with Taz's face will give you extra lives. Red stars give you temporary invincibility. There's a few 1-Ups here, and if you look high and low, you'll be able to easily find them.

The springs are much like the games in the Sonic games and let you reach higher areas.

Enemies include bushrats with spears that move back and forth and plants that can spit projectiles. While you can attack the plants, you cannot attack the projectiles.

The pedestal with the egg and the arrow on it is the exit. Move past it to get to the next section. The time bonus gets bigger the less time it takes to clear a section, while the life bonus is dependent on how much life you have when you beat the section.

Section 2

If you press the Start button while the game is giving you bonus points at the end of a section, the game will do you a solid and pause when you enter the next one.

The slopes will slowly push you downwards, so watch where you're going.

In case you can't make a jump, spin attack forwards. You'll get that boost that will let you get to where you need to go.

You'll get an extra life at 20,000 points.

Section 3

After two sections, you'll face a boss. The first boss is a bull that charges at you. Jump over the bull when it charges at you, then jump over it when it returns. When it hits the wall, use the spin attack. After five hits, the bull goes down.