Introduction

Toonstruck is a graphic adventure game from the late days of Windows 95, back when some games actually still ran natively in DOS. It probably would have languished in obscurity, like most games of its kind in that era, if not for a rather interesting concept. Instead of trying to make the bluescreen effects in its FMVs look realistic, Toonstruck simply placed its human main character in a cartoon world, using the limitations of the technology to its advantage. And who better to play that role than Christopher Lloyd, a man who already had experience acting alongside cartoons?

The cartoon setting pervades every aspect of the game - the puzzles are based on cartoon logic, almost everything is a joke, and almost nothing is what you expect it to be. Which really describes most adventure games, but in this case, it works really well. It's a shame that the same can't be said for my capture method, but I don't know how well any modern computer can be expected to run this game, and it just wouldn't be the same doing it in screenshots and leaving out the voice talents of Tim Curry, Dan Castellaneta, Dom Deluise, and many other names mostly too obscure to mention here. Also, a cameo appearance by Ben Stein. (I presume that Bob Hoskins didn't want to go anywhere near video games again after his brush with the Super Mario Bros.) The game attracted people for obvious reasons, but it didn't just try to survive on star power, like Ripper. It's fun, it's amusing, and gosh darn it, people like it.