Taz: Wanted

Animation logs Concept Art

These documents interestingly mention "Dolphin", the codename for the then-unreleased GameCube.

Milestone #8#

This document has large differences to the final, having a almost completely different plot.

• According to the document, the game was known as "Tasmanian Devil" or "Taz: The Tasmanian Devil" before it was changed to "Taz: Wanted".

Summaries#

• The game was intended to release on Q1 2002, which is a close match to the final version's release. The final version was released in Autumn (Q3), rather than the first quarter of 2002.
• The game was supposed to be released for the PS2. The PC and PS2 versions were developed first, as the PC version was primarily developed, then the PS2 console.
• The basic concept was "Combines the speed of Sonic the Hedgehog with the playability of Crash Bandicoot".
• The objective is different. It would've been taking place in Yosemite's Park & Zoo, and battle through five strange worlds on your journey back to Tasmania to rescue She-Devil.

Game Structure#

• The level order is structured differently with completely different naming. It would originally start in "Yosemite Park & Zoo Hub", before it was changed to Yosemite Zoo.
  • Additionally, the game was going to have 15 levels and 5 worlds. The worlds are split into three levels.
• Taz will wear a disguise for each level, accordingly. The disguises would have a feature where the Taz Chasers were less likely to "attack on sight".
  • Concept art of the disguise shows that there are 6 disguises that Taz would wear: Construction Taz, Miner Taz, Fishing Taz, Tribal Taz, Bermuda Taz and Safari Taz

• The game would have a scrapped collectible item that were spinning tops known as "Taz Tops", as it would grant some bonus power-ups never made into the final:
  • Magnificent Magnetic Taz - likely intended to be supercharged for a while.
  • Unexplainable Shower of Food - likely intended to replenish energy.
  • Uncontrollable Earthquake Hiccup Taz - likely to create earthquakes knocking out all those caught in the blast radius, stunning them on impact.
  • The Amazing Super Taz - unknown what effect could have. Probably had to do something with invincibility.
  • Incredible Invisible Taz - likely to turn invisible for a short amount of time. The black outline (or cel-shading) on his model would remain.
  • ACME Booby Prize - likely to drop one of the falling items seen in the classic Looney Tunes series (Such as a anvil, a grand piano, etc.).
• The Taz Top spinning tops were almost close to being scrapped, as there was a developer comment saying that it is too childish for the target audience.

Milestone #10#

Differences from Milestone #8#

• Taz Tops were changed to "Eye-Spy".
  • The power-ups that were in Taz Tops were moved to the all-new Phone Booth.
• The "Taz Wanted" sign is changed, from a concept art to a prototype design.

Milestone #8	Milestone #10

• Two-player splitscreen mode is also changed.
• The normal two-player game types are also changed, too, following with the removal of Taz Tops.

Milestone #15#

Differences from Milestone #8#

• The level, Daffy Docks was removed from the game, reducing it to a 12 level count. This resulted in Daffy being scrapped as a boss, but not entirely.
• Telephone booth and disguises were reworked.
• Taz Tops/Eye-Spy were scrapped at the time, instead, Special Pick-ups were in place.
  • "Incredible Invisible Taz" was changed to "Invisible Ink" and would have the same function.
  • The "Uncontrollable Earthquake Hiccup Taz" powerup was changed to "Hiccup Soda", but will have similar functionality, without earthquakes.

Scrapped Concepts#

Disguises:

• Sergeant Taz - described as "military/police".
• Monsieur Taz - described as "French".
• Senor Diablo - described as "Spanish/Latin American".
• Father Taz - described as "priest".
• Dancing Devil - described as "indian chef".
• Sir Taz (concept 1) - described as "Knight in shining armour".
• Sir Taz (concept 2) - described as "British upper class gentleman (umbrella + bowler hat)".
• Lord Taz - described as "Napoleonic era general".
• King Taz - described as "King Tut style pharaoh".
• Spacecadet Taz - described as "'50ies style astronaut".
• Dr. Devil and Mr. Taz - self-explanatory.
• FrankenTaz - self-explanatory.
• Taz Tornado - described as "athlete".
• Taz "[whatever demeaning nickname]" Devil - described as "the archetypical computer geek / nerd".
• TazFace / Don Diavolo - described as "gangster / mafioso".
• Santa Taz - self-explanatory.
• Stereo Typical Tourist - described as "Baseball hat and camera".

There are a whopping rejected 17 disguises, but one of the disguises had two concepts, resulting in 16 rejected disguises.