The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Spoofs are an integral part of cartoons, as far back as "What's Opera, Doc?" So it was perhaps inevitable that TOON would turn its attention to genres of movies, TV and roleplaying itself. The result: nine new "worlds" for the TOON game, done with great attention to the source material and as a result extremely funny and promising.

First on the tour is "Atomic Monster Theater", the world of 50's and 60's B-monster movies. Well, sorta (the original films didn't have talking animals and cream pies.) There are Character Types like The Military Man, The Old Scientist, and Teenagers, shticks like Weird Science and Talk to Monsters (Gamera and Kenny, anyone?), and tables for what created the monster du jour and what it's vulnerable to. Suggested adventure ideas include "It Came From the Garden" and "Calling All Creatures."

Next up is "CarToon Wars", based on SJG's own CAR WARS game (and spinoffs.) Here, characters can be racers, bikers, mechanics or even talking cars. Adventures can take place on the road or in Twisted Ridge, Colorado, a small town with a ruined building every three feet. There's even an "Uncle Spud's Catalog", with Armor Piercing Peanuts, Super Boggle Pies, Portable Hole Droppers and even Balloon Tires. Yep, autoduelling and cartoons should've met a while ago. There's even a table for crash results ("Occupants get out of car, walk six steps and explode.")

Then there's "Crawl of Catchoolu", the world of slurping horrors. Here, your characters investigate the occult and battle creatures like Deep Clowns, Crisponions and Qwertyuiop Asdfghjkl Zxcvbnm (the Horror Whose Name Can't Be Pronounced.) Characters who get too close can lose their natural Insanity, and become boring normal people. Beware!

Of course, you can't parody RPGs without giving a nod to the one that started it. Enter "Dungeons and Toons." Characters have Races (Dogs, Squirrels, Badgers and Mice) and Classes (Fighters, Thieves and Wizards), Wizards have Spells (Shticks) like Wall of Spam and Peter's Perilous Pieball, there are Porcs and Slimes and UnFallen Down- there's also a sample dungeon with some pretty good gags (two of which depend on the characters figuring out the layout).

Next we have "Mektoon", where the characters are Mek Pilots and Mek Techs fighting the evil Kazoolan raiders. This chapter includes "Strife Paths" to describe your character's complex and melodramatic background, plust Mek Construction rules. Adventure ideas include "Mobile Suit Gumball" and "Project O-No".

Then it's off to the final frontier with "Star Toon", the adventures of the Confederation Spacefleet. The best part of this chapter is the full crew roster of pregenerated characters for the starship OVERSIZE, including Jean Nuke Pickacard and Ensign Wastely Crasher. There's also stuff for building robots and an All-Purpose Science Fiction Plot Generator.

"Supertoon" is an all-purpose Superhero parody. Superhero types include Hotshots, Geniuses, Split Personalities and Wannabes (heroes with no powers but lots of gadgets, which don't work anyway.) There's a huge list of superpower Shticks, and a "Crawl of Catchoolu" crossover adventure called "Crisis of Infinite Mirths." Tables include Origin Generators, Name Generators, and Silly Vulnerabilities.

"Toonpunk 2020 1/2" is set in Blight City, run by the ultraserious Megacorps. Netroamers and Toonpunks look to sabotage the everpresent seriousness by hacking Cyberspace and sabotaging the megacorps. Journeying through virtual reality works surprisingly well in a cartoon setting- characters risk getting Techno-Boggled or Zeroed Out (sort of like Going Sane), they experience Cyberspace through WorldGrams giving them the appearance of an alternate reality (if not, the characters risk getting boggled every turn by what Cyberspace *really* looks like), and there are characters named Gibson Williams and Max Playroom.

"Toony Tyke Adventures" seems primarily inspired by the cartoon show TINY TOON ADVENTURES, but there's also the influence of CALVIN & HOBBES and MUPPET BABIES. Everyone's a kid, there are Coaster Cart races, Haunted Houses and Robot Nannies- it's a fairly easy fit for the Toon universe. There's even a layout for "The Treehouse of Doom."

Most of the humor in the book tends towards real groaner puns (as you should see by now), but hey, these are cartoons after all. You want sophisticated humor, read P. G. Wodehouse. It's good goofy fun, and Cross has clearly done his research- there's an extensive bibliography for each chapter. This book provides a wealth of ideas for any given TOON game, and it's well worth the cost. A terrific game supplement.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Tooniversal Tour Guide
Author: Robert "Doc" Cross Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: TOON Cost: 19.95 Page count: 208 Capsule Review by Evan Waters on 06/01/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Science fiction Modern day Horror Comedy Post-apocalypse Superhero	Spoofs are an integral part of cartoons, as far back as "What's Opera, Doc?" So it was perhaps inevitable that TOON would turn its attention to genres of movies, TV and roleplaying itself. The result: nine new "worlds" for the TOON game, done with great attention to the source material and as a result extremely funny and promising. First on the tour is "Atomic Monster Theater", the world of 50's and 60's B-monster movies. Well, sorta (the original films didn't have talking animals and cream pies.) There are Character Types like The Military Man, The Old Scientist, and Teenagers, shticks like Weird Science and Talk to Monsters (Gamera and Kenny, anyone?), and tables for what created the monster du jour and what it's vulnerable to. Suggested adventure ideas include "It Came From the Garden" and "Calling All Creatures." Next up is "CarToon Wars", based on SJG's own CAR WARS game (and spinoffs.) Here, characters can be racers, bikers, mechanics or even talking cars. Adventures can take place on the road or in Twisted Ridge, Colorado, a small town with a ruined building every three feet. There's even an "Uncle Spud's Catalog", with Armor Piercing Peanuts, Super Boggle Pies, Portable Hole Droppers and even Balloon Tires. Yep, autoduelling and cartoons should've met a while ago. There's even a table for crash results ("Occupants get out of car, walk six steps and explode.") Then there's "Crawl of Catchoolu", the world of slurping horrors. Here, your characters investigate the occult and battle creatures like Deep Clowns, Crisponions and Qwertyuiop Asdfghjkl Zxcvbnm (the Horror Whose Name Can't Be Pronounced.) Characters who get too close can lose their natural Insanity, and become boring normal people. Beware! Of course, you can't parody RPGs without giving a nod to the one that started it. Enter "Dungeons and Toons." Characters have Races (Dogs, Squirrels, Badgers and Mice) and Classes (Fighters, Thieves and Wizards), Wizards have Spells (Shticks) like Wall of Spam and Peter's Perilous Pieball, there are Porcs and Slimes and UnFallen Down- there's also a sample dungeon with some pretty good gags (two of which depend on the characters figuring out the layout). Next we have "Mektoon", where the characters are Mek Pilots and Mek Techs fighting the evil Kazoolan raiders. This chapter includes "Strife Paths" to describe your character's complex and melodramatic background, plust Mek Construction rules. Adventure ideas include "Mobile Suit Gumball" and "Project O-No". Then it's off to the final frontier with "Star Toon", the adventures of the Confederation Spacefleet. The best part of this chapter is the full crew roster of pregenerated characters for the starship OVERSIZE, including Jean Nuke Pickacard and Ensign Wastely Crasher. There's also stuff for building robots and an All-Purpose Science Fiction Plot Generator. "Supertoon" is an all-purpose Superhero parody. Superhero types include Hotshots, Geniuses, Split Personalities and Wannabes (heroes with no powers but lots of gadgets, which don't work anyway.) There's a huge list of superpower Shticks, and a "Crawl of Catchoolu" crossover adventure called "Crisis of Infinite Mirths." Tables include Origin Generators, Name Generators, and Silly Vulnerabilities. "Toonpunk 2020 1/2" is set in Blight City, run by the ultraserious Megacorps. Netroamers and Toonpunks look to sabotage the everpresent seriousness by hacking Cyberspace and sabotaging the megacorps. Journeying through virtual reality works surprisingly well in a cartoon setting- characters risk getting Techno-Boggled or Zeroed Out (sort of like Going Sane), they experience Cyberspace through WorldGrams giving them the appearance of an alternate reality (if not, the characters risk getting boggled every turn by what Cyberspace really looks like), and there are characters named Gibson Williams and Max Playroom. "Toony Tyke Adventures" seems primarily inspired by the cartoon show TINY TOON ADVENTURES, but there's also the influence of CALVIN & HOBBES and MUPPET BABIES. Everyone's a kid, there are Coaster Cart races, Haunted Houses and Robot Nannies- it's a fairly easy fit for the Toon universe. There's even a layout for "The Treehouse of Doom." Most of the humor in the book tends towards real groaner puns (as you should see by now), but hey, these are cartoons after all. You want sophisticated humor, read P. G. Wodehouse. It's good goofy fun, and Cross has clearly done his research- there's an extensive bibliography for each chapter. This book provides a wealth of ideas for any given TOON game, and it's well worth the cost. A terrific game supplement. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Tooniversal Tour Guide