I’m a huge fan of cartoons in general, but Adventure Time is the bee’s knees to me. The art style, the voice acting, the music, and most importantly, the jokes are all superb. So, when I heard news about an Adventure Time game coming out, I did about two and a half back flips before falling down and picking up the collector’s edition copy of the game.
If you’re a big fan of the game, you’ll want to get a copy of the collector’s edition, even if you have to track it down and pay extra. This bad boy comes with a few special goodies, but the two best bits are the tin Enchiridion replica case and a stylus of Finn’s sword. The other two pieces of swag are a poster of Ooo and a booklet of the enemies in the game entitled “the Book of Beasts.”
After spending some time admiring the packaging, I finally got around to playing Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! From the get go, I was in love. The opening screen features a lovely chiptune song accompanied with some beautiful vocals and hilarious lyrics.
After listening to the song a few times through, I finally started the game, and rejoiced when I saw just how true to the show it was. It features the reoccurring cast with Finn and Jake, of course, Princess Bubblegum, BMO, Ice King, Tree Trunks, etc. but also has the housies and Donny from the episode where Finn confronts the ogre and a few more one shot characters. You control Finn and Jake with BMO acting as an inventory and menu on the bottom screen for use with your touchpad.
Music
The soundtrack is very retro with some wonderfully crafted chiptunes. I’m not sure who created the soundtrack, but it is very reminiscent of Anamanaguchi, meaning if you liked the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World game soundtrack, you’ll definitely love this one.
Graphics
The art style is amazing, of course, and very true to the show while giving it a bit of a retro game feel. The colors stand out quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can’t speak of the 3D features as my version was the plain DS copy, but that didn’t stop it from filling my eye sockets with some delicious graphical snacks.
Story
If you have ever seen the show, you know the bizarre, but cute brand of humor that comes along with Adventure Time. The game carries it over flawlessly. It handles like an episode of the show while never getting in the way of the gameplay. Many great lines are given in the game, making it as quotable as the show.
Gameplay
The game plays like an intro to the Metroidvania genre of games. You go through small areas and big dungeons, collecting both temporary and important quest items, obtaining new moves that help get you through previously explored areas, and leveling up Finn and his three stats. There’s a wide variety of items and upgrades, but my two favorites are the trail mix health item and Jake’s ear shield upgrade, a unique way to get through windy areas.
The Negatives
Although I hate to think that an Adventure Time game can have flaws, this one definitely does. They’re not game breaking, but they do leave a sense of longing when the game is done.
-The game is short. It only lasts a few hours and it won’t have too much replay value unless you want to go back and laugh at some of the dialogue, especially Jake’s lines.
-It’s very easy. There are some mildly challenging parts here and there, but overall, the game is meant for kids, so, it’s not very hard.
-Enemies are varied, but not by much. There are a lot of designs, but there are usually a few resprites of the same enemy type.
Final Words
In spite of its flaws, the game provides a good amount of enjoyment. The Adventure Time style translates naturally into game form, creating an interesting title that will hopefully get the younger generations of gamers interested in Metroidvania style games. I’d say this game is quite algebraic and I definitely recommend it to Adventure Time fans and Metroidvania fans alike.
Published: Dec 19, 2012 08:29 am