How to play Bugs Bunny online
- Move Bugs: arrow keys
- Steal a carrot: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the consoleās Reset switch)
- Change the width of the holes: F4 (the left difficulty switch)
- Change how fast Elmer shoots: F9 (the right difficulty switch)
Gameplay
The screen is split into three levels, worth 70, 60 and 50 points. You pick a level and press the button to steal a carrot from below ground. Elmerās hound then digs where the carrot was and forces Bugs up into the open, and Bugs has to run and jump into the hole before Elmer shoots him. Once all three levels are cleared, the next board is harder.
Why it was never released
According to Polaro, Atari play-tested Bugs Bunny against Snoopy and the Red Baron with groups of teenage boys, who preferred the Snoopy shooting game, so Bugs was shelved. Polaro says younger players liked Bugs better. He went on to add a simultaneous two-player mode, with the second player as Elmer, plus the bullet-stealing and Elmerās hunting lodge, but the game was shelved again. The version you can play on this page is the incomplete prototype, which circulated among collectors for years, so it lacks those later additions. In 2002 Polaro released the finished version himself at the PhillyClassic show, in a limited boxed run, and it was named prototype release of the year in the 2002 Stanās Atari Excellence Awards on AtariAge. The finished version also hides an Easter egg with the initials of Polaro and Murphy.
