Hello gamers, welcome to my retro review of Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider, a peculiar adventure game I played in PS1 during my childhood.

Long ago, there was a time in which Looney Tunes games where limited to platform or racing games to compete against Mario, Sonic and Crash. When Sheep Raider was released, it was a nice surprise because the game’s mechanics tried to recreate the peculiar humor of the cartoons that I and many others grew up with.

This story begins with Ralph Wolf, a first cousin of the famous Coyote, the very same one that’s always chasing the famous roadrunner. Ralph looks exactly like the coyote but he is dedicated to something else entirely, stealing sheep guarded by a big bobtail dog called Sam. In this playable version we are introduced to Daffy Duck as the host of a TV contest to which Ralph was invited. Logically, the objective of the contest is to steal one sheep from Sam in every level without being discovered and to put them in a specific spot marked in the map, until we leave the dog without any sheep left.

Stealing these animals is not an easy task, since we have to solve some puzzles in every level to be able to transport the sheep. It’s obvious that the developers racked their brains to make the process fun without making it repetitive, and thanks to the variety in obstacles and the objects of which we make use of, they managed it. There are flutes that hypnotize Sam, perfumes and lettuces to get the attention of the sheep. To get most of these items we only have to ask for them in the Acme mailboxes that are in the different levels.

While the development of the adventure never becomes repetitive, unfortunately the levels start getting more and more difficult and we can encounter some that are quite frustrating. The positive side is that the matchless sense of humor that represent the Looney Tunes is present perfectly in every corner of this game, from the hits we take, to the falls and absurd dialogues. For example, if you use an object incorrectly or you are intercepted by Sam, the game ends in a typical gag in the same style of the ones in the cartoon, in which Ralph Wolf gets more hits than a Piñata.

When it comes to the aesthetic of the animated cartoon, I think the game recreated it well, with good characters animations and facial expressions, taking in consideration that this game was for the PS1. The sceneries are varied but not very pretty like in other titles of that time, they are too foggy and some decorations look too simple. Another issue is that the game needs more objectives in each level, once you have stolen the sheep that you have to take, there’s no point in playing that level again because the game doesn’t offer any reward for doing so.

In conclusion, this classic adventure offers a good amount of funny and entertaining moments even to those that are not big fans of Looney Tunes’ world. The mechanics are simple, but test your ingenuity to discover how to help the wolf in stealing the sheep away to the goal. It can get quite difficult at some parts; I think that the dialogues and sense of humor make it less frustrating. It would be great if with the trend of reviving old titles, this game got a remaster or a new version to correct these issues.