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Looking to play your favourite characters from the cartoons of your youth? Well, now you can, with Cartoon Action Hour, by Cynthia Celeste Miller and Eddy Webb, published by Z-man Games. What Big Eyes, Small Mouth does for anime, Cartoon Action Hour does for Saturday morning cartoons.

Overview:

The single tome for Cartoon Action Hour is divided into two "books": the Rulebook, and the Series Guide for Iconia, which is loosely based on "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe". The Table of Contents covers both sections under individual headings. The core rules are comprised of six chapters, called Channels, and three appendices: Dials, Glossaries, and Recommended Viewing. Designer's Notes, a Character Sheet, and Series Guide round out the first 112 pages. The Iconia section has seven Channels making up the last 49 pages. The Index is in the back, and like the Contents, covers both the Rules and Iconia in separate sections. After the Index is a section containing the character creation rules for ease of use.

The contents are well laid out, and the entries make it easy to find the section you need with minimal difficulty. There are two typos; in the Rulebook section, Channel 5 is listed twice, the second one should be Channel 6: Line Up. Also, the first Channel of the Iconia section is not labeled as a Channel. These are minor issues in both circumstances, and don't interfere with the usability of the Contents. Each channel is divided up into a number of sections, each one given a listing in the table of contents. Channel 2, which deals with character creation, has each attribute of the character listed separately. This is quite helpful, as it negates a trip to the index to find what you are looking for. The rest of the contents are laid out similarly, although Channel 2 is the longest chapter in the Rulebook section, and so benefits most from the organization.

As the contents are set out, so then is the rest of the book. Starting with the obligatory Introduction section, it moves on to character creation, task resolution, combat, and a game master's section, wrapping up with several Series to use, and a host of Series Seeds. The Appendices cover alternate rules, the glossaries of Cartoon Action Hour terms and 80's slang, and a recommended viewing list of 80's cartoons that were the inspiration for the game. The designer's notes offer insight as to how the game was created, from the humble beginnings to the hard copy version. The Iconia portion of the book starts out with some Game Master information, including rules specific to the setting. The next three Channels detail major locations in the setting, and Channel 5 describes Races and Societies in the Series. Lastly is the GM's Guide for the series, which probably could have been folded in with the Game Master Rules from the first section. The last Channel contains some Sample Episodes, or adventure seeds.

Throughout the book are pictures of 80's style artwork, mostly line drawings except for the cover. Wherever there is a picture, it generally applies to the section it is in. In the Combat Section (Channel 4), there are eight pictures, and each is an action scene, or a character posed in a combat stance. A few of the pictures show a bit of pixellation, but the rest are clean and well placed. There is one nearly full-page picture that rather crowds the text at the top, which is most of the character guideline for one of the Series Seeds. It would have looked a bit better as a full-page piece, with no text at the top. Aside from these few quibbles, the art is appropriate to the contents.

Finally, the book lies open much better than most perfect bound softcovers I have used. This is one area where I am almost always disappointed in softcovers. Unless one is willing to break the spine and virtually bend the book in half backwards, they never seem to lie flat very well on their own, and there are times when one does not have a free hand or two to hold the book open. A bit of pressure on the spine and the book stays open to the pages you want without damaging the book itself, as it seems to close again as though it were new. Even with the first few pages, keep the book open to what one is reading is not a problem.

So, the quick tour of Cartoon Action Hour shows a sturdy book that is well organized and packed with artwork that hearkens back to the heyday of the 80's thirty-minute toy commercial/cartoon. After these messages, in depth looks at each channel!

Details:

The obligatory section on what RPGs are and how to play one. This is rather shorter than most similar sections in other games, and does cover many of the important points succinctly. There is also a summary of each of the Channels here, and the appendices. The pertinent sections for players and GMs to be familiar with are also described, which is a useful touch.

The sidebar narrator is also introduced in this chapter as well. His name is Kargorr, and he is present sporadically throughout the rest of the rules sections. Providing commentary about the rules, various rules quirks, or just flavour text, he is the out-of-work galactic conqueror roped into this job after his series was cancelled back in the mid 80's. Overall, the commentary is useful, pointing out some areas of the rules a GM should watch in order to avoid abuse, and occasionally some insight to the workings of the rules themselves. The flavour text sidebars include a few chapter intros. These could have been placed with the Channel summaries in the front, and the sidebars used for some tips on how the chapter is used.

A good overview of the rest of the book, however. The Channel information could have been beefed up a little with the Kargorr sidebar intros from the chapters themselves, however, the Channels themselves are straight-forward enough that an intro is almost unnecessary anyway.

Channel 2: Characters

This is the largest chapter in the rules section, covering everything needed to create a Cartoon Action Hour character. The purpose of a character is described, and how it is used in the game. A large sidebar lists various archetypes from old cartoons, which provide a good starting point for designing a character that fits within the genre of 80's cartoons. It turns out to be a pretty good list for any game, as the types are broad enough to fit with many other genres.

Other attributes of a character are described, with the first section stressing the importance of referring to the Series Guide, prepared by the GM, before making a character. Considering there is no base or standard genre to refer to, nor any classes or templates, this is valuable advice indeed. Playing in a Giant Transforming Robot game as a magic slinging reptilian can tend to cause problems with verisimilitude. Some groups may not have a problem with that, but having a form to help set up the series and keep things on track later on can be vital. This is another feature of Cartoon Action Hour that could easily be ported for use with another game.

The next attributes, Tagline, Name, Personality, Background and Appearance, are all freeform. There are no charts, no tables, nor any mechanics. The Name section offers advice on naming conventions for characters in a cartoon series. The rest have examples of how to implement the attribute.

The last one, Story Hooks, does have some mechanics attached to it, and a list of samples to start with. They function much like disads, although they don't provide points at character generation, rather they are used later on during play, where they provide experience when the hook is an obstacle in the session.

The next part gets into the numbers. Character points are determined, based on the Series Guide again. This only underscores the importance of having a series guide. These are used to purchase Traits. Unlike many games, Cartoon Action Hour doesn't use the standard attributes found in most games, such as Strength, Dexterity, and so on. Instead, these are represented by the various category of Trait. Physical, Mental, and Social cover the Traits most characters will need. There are no provisions for adding more, although they act more as skills than attributes, so adding more in shouldn't be very difficult, even without guidelines.

Traits still get a rating as an attribute would, from ?4 up to 4 for normal characters, and for super characters, the range extends into 4(2) up to 4(5). Primarily, the parenthetical numbers allow you a bonus when you roll a 12 on a skill check, but there are other uses for them. Any trait that isn't assigned a rating will have a default of 0. Negative ratings can also be assigned, which will add to the Character Point total. No more than six points can be gained in this manner, and any points gained are not counted towards the total Character Points for the character. For example, a character with 150 Character Points takes some negative traits, garnering five extra points. This is still a 150-point character, rather than a 155-point character. Considering how few character points can be earned this way, the distinction seems rather negligible. Also, the difference between 4 and 4(5) is almost algorithmic, while the cost in character points remains constant. It costs 8 character points to get a rating of 4, and 16 character points to get a rating of 4(5). However, the differences are much, much wider in the descriptions. The example for a Body rating of 4(4) is "World class power lifter". The example for 4(5) is "can lift mountains". That is quite a gulf for a constant cost in character points. This is one of the points where it is very important for a GM to have a firm hand in the character creation session.

The Traits can be further refined by Specialties. These act, as they would be expected to in any other game, as a way to add distinction to a character. However, they do have a refreshing approach. Deciding to take a specialty in one of your traits means allocating one or two points for the specialty, which are deducted from the main trait. In other words, the specialty is purchased at a cost to the trait, which is a good way to keep things balanced without having far too many skills to purchase with character points. Further specializations require that the trait be purchased additional times. This has more of an impact on some Traits than others. Taking a Specialty in Body or Willpower will affect Hurt Points calculated in a later step, whereas taking a specialty in Repair won't have a direct effect on other parts of character generation.

Size has a short section after Traits, and perhaps would have been better placed in the front, as it has a rather limited mechanic in character generation. It costs three character points per size category difference from the default, as set by the Series Guide. Here again, there is the discrepancy between the highest size categories. Colossal goes up to 200 feet, and Gargantuan goes up to 100,000 feet, with only a difference of three character points. Also, size only seems to address height. Without any reference to general mass in the game, an 100,000-foot tall character is difficult to visualize. Further, how this size relates to other traits, such as Body or Co-ordination, is left up to the GM.

The last three, Oomph, Stunt Points, and Hurt Points, relate to the metagame portions of the character. Oomph is described as a character's "star status". It is added to the roll when a 12 comes up for action checks, and is used as a modifier to initiative rolls. Stunt Points are a discretionary pool to modify action checks, but regenerate slowly. Spending a Stunt Point on an action check automatically adds your Oomph score. Each point thus spent adds the Oomph rating, so spending two Stunt Points doubles the Oomph score. Once used, they are not replenished until the next episode, except when "giving it your all". A single stunt point is spent, but is not regained until the next season. In that case, Oomph is multiplied by four for that attempt. Lastly, Hurt Points are how much damage a character can tolerate before being out of the fight.

The remainder of the rules in the channel detail the Special Abilities section, of which Animal Companions and Vehicles are considered sub-categories. The Special Abilities system looks pretty robust, and covers superpowers, magic, weapons, and so on. The four steps to creating a Special Ability are: Define, Power Level, Components, and Modifiers.

The Define part is freeform, describing what the Special Ability is intended to do, while the power level has three categories, Low, Medium and High. The categories are assigned Character Point costs, but their implementation as to how they affect the game is up to the GM or players to decide. A guideline of how much damage or at what range the Special Ability is effective for each category would have been helpful. A description of "extremely powerful and will often affect the outcome of the story" doesn't really say much, as something that radically affected a story on one occasion may be completely unused in the next. Occasions for using a Special Ability are more the GM's purview. Deciding what will "often affect the outcome" of a story can be exceedingly difficult at the time the character is created.

After the summary of the steps, the Components list takes up the next three pages, and determines what the Special Ability will do in mechanical terms. The switch from the summaries to the list is sudden, as there is no heading to indicate the change. While not game stopping, it does cause a bit of confusion the first time through. The list for Components is comprehensive, covering most of the effects one would need to create a Special Ability, such as Damage Rating, Healing, Protection, and Range. All Components cost Character Points, except the Range Component of Point Blank. You get two Character Points back for having a range of point blank, but the minimum cost for a Special Ability is always two Character Points, which prevents players from creating a huge amount of free Special Abilities. Here, again, the Rating component demonstrates the problem with the linear cost of superhuman scores. The difference between 4(4) and 4(5) is only two character points, but as in the listed example of using it as a Speed Rating for a Movement Special Ability, the rating of 4(4) would be "jet" speed, while 4(5) would be "faster than light". This is a very wide gulf for a difference of two character points.

The next section is the Modifiers list, and like the Components list, simply begins without a header. Again, this takes a couple of readings to notice the change, as the explanation text is the only place you will notice a change in terms from Components to Modifiers. There are two sections to this list, Bonuses, and Restrictions. There are an approximately equal number of Bonuses and Restrictions, and the descriptions are generally good. Some are vague, such as Collapsible. This allows an item to be collapsed into a smaller size so as to be easier to carry or hide. However, there are no guidelines as to how much smaller it can collapse, nor how this affects the carrying capacity of the character. In fact, there are no rules regarding how much a character would be able to carry in any circumstance.

The Super Scale Movement bonus has a sidebar regarding Speed, which breaks up the Bonuses list. This sidebar describes the difference between the two scales, Normal and Super. Such a division is important, as having one scale for all speeds would compress the range of scores available too much. Generally, Normal scale is for characters, and Super scale is for vehicles. A Super scale speed gets a bonus of three points when performing a pursuit check against a Normal scale speed. However, this raises a discrepancy. The highest rating for Normal scale is described as "Superhumanly fast", whereas the lowest speed for Super scale has "Aircraft carrier" for an example. This leads to a tortoise and hare situation, where the tortoise has Super scale speed, and the hare has Normal scale. The pursuing hare moves far in excess of anyone else, yet the tortoise simply ambles along, with an increased chance of eluding the hare.

In the Restrictions list, there are a good number and variety of disads for a Special Ability, which all reduce the cost of purchasing it. There is even a restriction, Rare Recharge, which modifies other restrictions, Charges. The Charges are already divided into Major, Minor, Moderate, One Shot, and Single. Rare Recharge probably would have been better placed with the other Charges, instead of as a separate Restriction. Other than that, the list is comprehensive, though by no means exhaustive. Both Restrictions and Bonuses have quite a bit of room for addition, while still retaining enough choices for a very large number of Special Abilities.

The next two sections, Animal Companions and Vehicles, are both considered Special Abilities, but they are created in a different manner than a standard Special Ability. Considering the genre, this was a logical decision. Many animals or vehicles were part of a given character's persona, rather than a separate creature or item. It also removes the need for a separate section dealing with vehicles or animals, which can be a complex set of rules in most games.

Animal Companions are created almost exactly like another character. This makes sense, as they would be a henchman of sorts, and so would need to have a set of stats similar to a regular character. This section could have been shortened to just Companions, as the rules also fit pretty well for making a normal sidekick. The rules themselves, however, do have some rather serious problems. The first step in creating an Animal Companion is to use Character Points to buy Special Character Points that will be used to define the Animal Companion. The rest of the Traits for the Animal Companion are purchased from this amount. The problem here lies in how many Special Character Points are purchased for each Character Point. An expenditure of Character Points always results in a higher amount of Special Character Points. At the bottom, an expenditure of four character points only gets five Special Character Points. However, as the table progresses, the ratio gets substantially larger. At the top, every 20 special character points above 100 costs 10 more character points. Spending 20 Character Points, nets 100 Special Character Points. In effect, the purchase of an entire other player character, for one-fifth the cost. 70 Character Points earns 200 Special Character Points, or what amounts to two regular characters.

To illustrate, a 150-point character (somewhat above normal) could purchase two 200-point Animal Companions, and still have 10 Character Points left over. The Animal Companions not only have a third again the number of points to build individually, there are two of them. Further, the Animal Companion can also have Special Abilities, so these points could be used to buy further Animal Companions. While this may sound ridiculous on the surface, there is an option for an Animal Companion to have sentience. In short order, a character could have a geometrically larger chain of ever increasing power level Animal Companions that encompasses more animals than currently exist, eventually reaching a point where they have infinite Special Character Points. Preventing this is up to the GM and the players. While the admittedly extreme condition mentioned above is likely not going to occur, there is still a problem with having more than one Animal Companion. It would have been beneficial to limit the number of Special Character Points available to purchase, based on the Character Point level of the character. Perhaps some percentage, or a one-to-one ratio as a limiting factor. As it stands, the GM and the players will have to work rather closely to keep things from getting out of hand. This is often a good idea, for any game, as the GM will be able to insure players adhere to the setting tropes, and create appropriate characters that are balanced in comparison to the other players.

Vehicles are the mechanical counter parts to Animal Companions. The rules for creation are very similar. Where Animal Companions choose only one form of movement, Vehicles have the option to buy any or all of them. While the costs for each of the five forms are different, purchasing all five is only a matter of sixteen character points. Each mode also requires a purchase of a Speed Rating, but it is Super scale, by default. The lowest rating is -4, which costs one Special Character Point. This brings the total up to 21 character points, for a vehicle that can travel through space, air, underground, on land or at sea, at about the speed of "an aircraft carrier". And, being a Super scale speed, it gets to add three to any pursuit checks. This level of flexibility would be a good deal more useful, even with the minimum speed, than the 21 Special Character Point cost would suggest. However, the list of Traits that a non-sentient vehicle has to choose from is more sensibly limited than for Animal Companions.

Next are the rules for purchasing weapons for the vehicle, how many passengers it can accommodate, its size, structure points, calculating Vehicle Damage Modifier, and Story Hooks. The size that is purchased has a direct bearing on the following step, determining Structure Points. Vehicles switch back to using the size rules as laid out for characters. The default size is Large, and any change in category, up or down, costs three Special Character Points. Why the Animal Companion rules differ in this regard is not explained. There is a provision that some Series Guides may have a different default size for vehicles. This is another difference from the Animal Companions corresponding section. It leads to a peculiarity with the rules, in that the default size for characters and vehicles may be microscopic, so those size categories are free in regards to purchasing size, but a microscopic Animal Companion in such a series would automatically cost 20 Special Character Points. A medium Animal Companion would cost zero Special Character Points, but it would be hard to imagine how a microscopic character would interact with a medium sized Animal Companion.

Structure points are determined by size, from .5 for a Tiny or smaller vehicle, up to 100 for a Gargantuan vehicle. The Vehicle Damage Modifier is calculated by adding Body and Armour, if those traits were purchased, and adding the super ratings to that, then doubling it. Like other traits, a default of zero is assumed if they were not specifically purchased. Finally, Story Hooks are assigned, exactly as with characters.

The rules for Vehicles are quite flexible, however, the nuts and bolts of how it works are left up to the GM and players. There are no rules for propulsion, as an example, or what mass a given level of armour would correspond to. While this is fitting for the fast and loose physics of a cartoon world, the GM is rather left without any guidelines on whether or not a given character could lift a vehicle, nor how often it would need to be refueled.

Overall, making the Animal Companions and Vehicles sections a part of the Special Abilities is a good idea. There were some implementation problems, although the severity likely depends on how close to genre a particular group adheres, and the level of graininess that group prefers. A set of guidelines regarding weights and measures would have been helpful, in any case.

The remainder of the channel deals with some sample Special Abilities, Vehicles, Animal Companions, and Sample Characters. They cover the spectrum well, from the mundane to super powered, and list the total Character Points spent at each step, plus the total spent for the character overall, making it easier to follow along.

Chapter 3: Using the Rules

This chapter is the smallest in the book, consisting of three sections across two pages. The first section is the introduction, and the next two sections, Action Checks, and Opposed Action Checks, are the sum total of the listed rules. This section and the next, Combat, likely could have been combined, with Combat being a subsection. Difficulty Numbers are detailed, and the results of rolling a one or a twelve are explained. The use of Stunt Points, "Giving it your all", and how Opposed Action Checks are handled make up the rest of the channel.

The rules are clean, straightforward, and simple. The results of an Action Check are binary; there are no rules for degrees of success. Considering the simplicity of the rules, implementing a degree of success is not difficult in the least. Comparing a roll plus modifiers to a difficulty number allows for a fair degree of leeway in interpreting the result.

Channel 4: Combat

This channel consists of ten pages, the last three of which are an example of combat using an example from a game session. Other aspects of combat, from close combat to vehicle combat, are laid out in a logical manner. Starting with initiative at the beginning of a round, to damage, healing, and recovery, the combat rules are easy to follow, and easy to understand.

However, this is also where the changes in focus start to become a bit more noticeable. In the section on movement, a character is able to move a distance equal to the Athletics rating plus five. If the character has access to some mode of Super scale movement, twenty is instead added to the Athletics trait. No adjustment for the level of the Super scale movement. A rating of -4 -about as fast as an aircraft carrier- will get the same bonus as a rating of 4(5) -faster than light. Further, the section on Range describes some exacting distances for weapons. Considering earlier sections didn't even assign a distance a given Speed rating could travel, this demonstrates a somewhat jarring discontinuity in the rules.

Another problem is where the Parry rule directly contradicts itself. At the beginning of the section, it states that once a parry is declared, no attacks are possible for the parrying character, although any other number of attacks may be parried. The last paragraph, however, allows for an immediate attack at -2, if the parry was successful. The attack itself gets a bonus of one, but there is a penalty of three for taking a second action. The example at the end even demonstrates a parrying character making an attack. After the opponent has made their Attack, the parrying character can decide whether or not to parry. If successful, the attacker has to re-roll the attack check. Each additional attack that is parried beyond the first has a cumulative bonus of one to the attackers re-roll. This would seem to discourage parrying, as attacks for that turn are lost - which is sensible - and the attackers get bonuses to attack. The idea that continued parrying is increasingly difficult is a sound one, but the implementation in this case penalizes the defender.

The rest of the combat rules are well laid out, and include three options for healing damage from transforming, regular healing, called shots, charging, and vehicle combat. The vehicle damage table is based on the amount of damage done after the Armour rating is deducted, and then compared to the Vehicle Damage Modifier, so there are no random results. Additionally, weapons that don't have the Vehicle Class modifier do only 1d12 in damage, rather than the 2d12 of Vehicle Class Weapons, further limiting the odds that a lucky shot from a small pistol will utterly destroy a heavy tank.

An example of combat rounds out the channel, which is well written and easy to follow. The players describe their actions, and the mechanical effects are set apart in italics and brackets. After reading through the rules and the example, combat shouldn't pose any problem for Cartoon Action Hour players.

Channel 5: GameMaster Rules

This section covers the rules a GM will need to know to run a Cartoon Action Hour session. How to structure an episode, series and season are covered, awarding and spending experience points, wealth, and goons are all described. Some sections, such as the character advancement, wealth, and lifting portions probably should have been in the channels relevant to the characters earlier in the book.

Experience points are awarded based on a variety of factors, including participation, confrontation of story hooks, victory conditions, and an after show message. The biggest break from common advancement rules is the window in which characters can be improved. In keeping with the genre, advancement is allowed only between seasons. A season is generally 10-15 episodes, so advancement is not rapid. However, considering the highly structured and fast paced nature of episodes, advancement won't be glacial.

There are guidelines for degrees of success, which can help describing the success or failure of an action check. There is a bit of a conflict with previous critical rules, and shouldn't be consulted in those cases, but these are a good supplement for situations involving non-critical results.

Rather than keeping track of specific denominations on-hand, Wealth is handled by a trait. This seems to be the best way to handle money in supers type games. Wealth also plays a part in inventing new items, or purchasing items. However, the difficulty numbers are left entirely up to the GM in both cases. Even a short table listing what dollar value, or type of item could be purchased for a given Wealth rank would have been quite helpful. This would have been especially helpful with Inventions. The responsibility for both the Wealth check, and the Inventor check are entirely left to the GM. This is another example of the wavering focus noticeable in some sections. The previous Degrees of Success section is something more commonsensical, while these two sections could use more of a breakdown in mechanical terms.

Lifting is the following section, and would have been better placed earlier in the book, so the players would have a better idea of what their characters are capable of. The chart describes the maximum amount a character can lift to their waist, without incurring an action check. This is also the first time a rating is explained with the caveat that the super ratings, 4(2) through 4(5), are open to the GM's interpretation. The example for lifting 4(4) is a passenger jet, while the example for 4(5) is a mountain. Again, there is an enormous rift between the linear ratings. For a paltry two character points, a character can go from lifting an Airbus about three feet, to lifting Mt. Everest about three feet, without having to check.

Falling, Drowning, and Fire explain the effects of damage taken from these unusual conditions. The distance in the Falling damage table seems to be based on terminal velocities:

The damage for more than 113 feet is "every additional 20' above 113 add an extra d12". This would have been greatly simplified by stating that no damage is taken under ten feet, 1d12 is taken at twenty feet, and an additional d12 for every 20 feet thereafter, with a non-cumulative six points added to the roll.

Last come the rules for handling goons, which are treated as a single challenge, rather than individual action checks. Cartoon characters go through underlings by the score, so this is appropriate. Using the Goon Factor from the Goon Table, a character makes their combat check, and describes how the goons are dispatched, if successful. If the roll is failed, the character is allowed an additional check at -2, but if this is also failed, the character is captured and loses Hurt Points. The rules suggest 1d12+6, or being reduced to zero Hurt Points immediately. Being captured after failing two action checks seems a bit random, so having the character reduced in Hurt Points and having to deal with the same group in the next turn seems more fair to the players.

The next section is a sub-channel on Game Mastering. What a GM should be expected to do during a session and what skills are important to focus on are discussed, and are a good set of general guidelines for any game. The section on embracing the genre is very comprehensive, although obviously more specific to Cartoon Action Hour, and includes a sidebar on genre conventions. The conventions discussed in the body of the text give a short thesis, and explain how to use that convention in a game. Following this is a list of some narrative tricks to use, which also come in handy for GMing in any game.

The next sub-channel describes some common genres addressed by action cartoons. It is a short treatise, but manages to capture the major settings one would expect to find in a cartoon of the era. This segues into an explanation of the series guide, and how to implement it when planning a series. The Series Guide is very thorough, explaining the major points needed to get a series started, and keep it on track. General information for the series and the parameters for characters created for the series are covered in detail. This is another section that can be used in any game to get started on the right foot, and keep things running smoothly. The last section is about the bad guys, and gives a basic rundown of what makes them tick. Good information, if a bit sparse. There have been whole books written about running villains, so two pages isn't going to cover everything. A bit more elaboration would have been beneficial. Finally, several villainous NPCs to show the rules in action.

The last sub-channel delves into running an episode. It gives a basic breakdown of four steps: Establish the situation, present the problem, confront the problem, climax and resolution. Basic literary theory at work. The steps are explained, and examples presented, but nothing fancy. Nothing fancy is required, however, as the cartoons of the time were pretty light on plot, with few twists.

Channel 6: The Line Up

This section has five series backgrounds, and twenty-three series seeds. Some will be easily recognized as 80's cartoons, however, there are some good ideas in here to get started with. With a little mixing and matching, there shouldn't be any problem with lack of ideas for a Cartoon Action Hour session, or several seasons worth of ideas, for that matter. A very good section that is conspicuous in its absence from other games.

Appendix 1: Dials

Many good alternate rules here, including goons, experience, and Spell Cluster special abilities. Transforming robots, including gestalt teams, are also covered. The alternate rules can be inserted as desired, none of which will conflict with previous rules, nor with each other when used. There are very interesting options here, and once the previous rules are well in hand, these should definitely be studied for inclusion.

The section on Spell Clusters treats them as a Special Ability that is designed on the fly, more or less. There are seven types: Defensive, Offensive, Movement, Transformation, Miscellaneous, Animal Companion, or Vehicle. Some of these are a bit too specific, such as Animal Companion and Vehicle, while Defensive, Offensive, and Miscellaneous are a bit too vague. Movement and Transformation bridge the gap nicely, being a good balance of usefulness, and limitations. The conflicting nature of the categories normally wouldn't pose a problem, except for multispells, which draw from more than one category. With the first three categories being as vague as they are, there will be a large number of spells that will require the use of one of them. Animal Companion and Vehicle are more of a target of a spell, than a category for spells. Something like Healing or Creation should have taken their place, and Defensive and Offensive split into slightly more specific categories. This is another instance where there seems to be a lack of focus on what the rules are designed to emulate, or how to implement them.

There are some good alternatives for superhuman ratings, and an alternate experience point system that has an added feel for being cartoon characters, based on Fan Popularity. While a good option to the previous experience system, it also underscores the lack of focus in the game. It can't seem to decide if it is emulating being a cartoon character, or emulating the style of cartoon characters. Since the game is about action cartoons in the 80's, the experience system presented in this index should have been the primary experience system, and the one that is in the main rules should have been the alternate. The system in the appendix emulates being a cartoon character far better. But, it is good that the option is presented, and each group can decide which system they prefer for themselves.

Appendix 2: Glossaries

What is there to say? You get a glossary for Cartoon Action Hour terms, and one for 80's slang. The Cartoon Action Hour glossary is thorough, covering all the terms you will likely encounter in a typical session. The 80's glossary of slang is pretty basic, and composed largely of terms one would hear in a teen movie of the time.

Appendix 3: Recommended Viewing

A good list of cartoons that were the inspiration for the game, including a summary of the plot, and a bit of trivia here and there. The authour's impressions of the shows are interesting to read, but actually add little to the plot summaries. A favourite character from the series, and why, may have been more useful over all, although it can be entertaining to compare nostalgia. An excellent resource for these shows is Yesterdayland, which only gets mentioned once. This can be an invaluable resource, as many of these shows are no longer on the air anywhere, and some were shown in rather limited markets to begin with. Rather than mention it in passing, it deserves a blurb of its own, and emphasis on its importance.

The last couple of pages are the Designers' Notes, which provide an interesting peek into the creative process that went into Cartoon Action Hour. However, this could have been condensed into a forward for the game, or an afterward. Which isn't to say the forward by Mr. Jason L Blair isn't appropriate. Simply that these comments would have been better place in such a location.

Overall, this game promises hours of cartoony action fun, and it is sure to deliver. There are some parts where the game can't seem to decide on a definitive mechanic, and other parts that don't have a mechanic at all, such as the effect of carrying equipment. The top end of the traits needs to be reigned in quite a bit, as the difference of two or three character points is more like orders of magnitude in difference between the ratings. What was chosen to be specific about in the rules seems almost random. These combine to make Cartoon Action Hour seem to be trying to appeal to a beer and pretzels gamer, while still maintaining a detailed structure for dedicated role-players. This is far from rendering the game unplayable, however. It will simply take a bit more work by a GM and players to work out the inconsistencies to their own level of satisfaction. The Special Abilities section will need a good once over to keep things from getting out of hand. Sitting around a table with the GM while creating characters will help things in the long run.

An excellent resource for idea mining, with great tips on how to run a session, and how to structure a campaign. It certainly makes for a good pickup game, if your regular group can't all make it some nights, or feels like a change of pace for a couple of sessions. Set up is quick and simple, and there are copious notes for a series, or a whole season, replete with villains and plenty of complications. Considering the vast range of genres that were represented by the cartoons of the 80's, Cartoon Action Hour just skirts the edge of being a generic system. With a bit of minor tweaking, this would be an excellent choice to bridge the gap between dice lovers and story lovers, even if used for regular gaming.

If you are looking for something new, this is definitely worth your time and money. Simply as a resource to add spark to your existing game, or a change of pace from your regular game, Cartoon Action Hour is invaluable. As a game in itself, the nostalgia is a powerful draw, and the game delivers it nicely, if a bit bumpy in parts.

It really is more than meets the eye.

Next time, a tour of Iconia, the included setting for Cartoon Action Hour!

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