 Pink Panther is one of those cartoon characters that got more than its fair share of airtime, but he wasn't hugely popular or anything. I mean, if you didn't know who he was, I wouldn't be too surprised. He first appeared in 1963 as part of the opening credit sequence for the film The Pink Panther, the comedy starring Peter Sellers as kind of a doofus detective who somehow stumbles into solving cases one way or another. The animated character at the beginning ended up getting his own theatrical shorts and later a spin-off television series in 1969. However, I should point out, the game, Pink Goes to Hollywood, is not based on the original incarnation of the character. Instead, it's based on the 1993 cartoon series Reboot, the one where Pink Panther actually talks. Yeah, originally he was totally silent, but in this reboot he was voiced by Matt Fruehr of all people, who you may remember as Max Headroom, who you also may or may not remember. So, how is the Super Nintendo game? Well, we've got a bad omen to start out with since it's developed by Manly and Associates. They also made the absolutely dreadful King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, a crappy top-down adventure game. I will say this one's at least not as bad as that game, but eh, it's still not that great either. It's not terrible, but it's got some big-time problems that hold it back from being worth seeking out. One major thing this game does have going for it right off the bat is the Pink Panther theme. It always amazes me how certain licensed games out there, like Inspector Gadget for Super Nintendo or even Superman for N64, do not have their own theme music featured. So at least the Pink Panther theme is here, and it sounds pretty good. So you start the game in kind of a main hub stage, so to speak, where you're able to choose which of the ten levels you want to play through. There's levels with a pirate motif, a Robin Hood theme, an Old West theme, levels based on old films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, You're Inside a Giant Refrigerator, You're, uh, Swimming in a Tank full of Pink Lemonade. There's a lot of variation in the settings here. It helps the game from getting old, and the art direction here is very much faithful to the original Pink Panther style. Everything looks really nice, and all the other music, in addition to the Pink Panther theme, all sounds really good, too. The actual gameplay here is where stuff starts to get a bit murky. There are some ideas here that I like and some that I don't. For starters, every level here is HUGE. Normally, you just make your way to the right, but sometimes it's like, where the hell is the exit? You do have these coins you collect that can help you out. You use them in these toll boxes that will either unlock a bridge, or some stairs, or an umbrella to help you float all the way to the top of the level, so that's kinda cool. Your health is represented as a hat, and the fancier the hat, the more health you have. But if you take damage without wearing a hat, you lose a life. You start out with 3 lives, but there's plenty of bonus areas you can find where you can get tons of extra points to earn extra lives. My biggest issue with Pink Ghost of Hollywood is the imbalance of speed between your character and your surroundings. The developers seem to be dead set on making Pink Panther some kind of Sonic type character because he's equipped with a run button that makes him sprint across the screen. And you have to use this because there are many, many jumps across these gigantic levels that require you to run to make them. The problem is that your character sprite is so big and lanky that it makes it easy to take damage from enemies. Too many times you just feel like you're flailing out of control, you'll start running and then all of a sudden you'll notice an enemy, you try and react and before you know it it's too late. It reminds me of how the Roadrunner controls in Death Valley Rally, it's just poorly done. There's also plenty of enemies that can hit you from off screen as well. There's also your secondary attack, which is to spray enemies with perfume using the A button. That seems pretty straightforward, right? The problem is, it's so slow to use. It's one of those attacks that's got like 2 or 3 extra frames in it just to try and make it look nice, I guess? So you'll be sprinting to make a jump, stop on a dime, then try and hit an enemy. It's awkward to say the least. Both the Pirate Stage and the Pink Lemonade Stage are also really awkward since you swim vertically, and because your sprite is so big, that makes it very easy to take damage. It should be noted that there is a Sega Genesis version of this game as well, and while it may have the same visual style and similar gameplay, the level layouts are completely different and the way the game is structured is different as well. As far as which game is better, it's a classic case of Sega's extra screen real estate thanks to the wider resolution, making this game much more manageable on the Genesis. But that's not to say that the Super Nintendo edition of Pink Goes to Hollywood isn't necessarily bad, it's got some solid ideas like tracking down coins to unlock certain areas, or searching for bonus areas. All the different settings look nice, and the music is well done. It's just that the run mechanic and your basic attacks are really rough around the edges and really could have used a bit more polish. I don't think it's quite as good as something like Inspector Gadget or even Super Widget, but it's definitely not as bad as some of the worst stuff on the system. It's not great, but it's not terrible either. I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day.