Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!
Publisher: D3Publisher Developer: WayForward Platform: 3DS Players: 1 Release: 2012 Genre: Action / Adventure Rating: 8.2 \ 10.0: Great
Above are Finn and Jake battling the King Worm
Based on the Adventure Time cartoon series, Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage is more than your typical licensed game-- its title, possibly the most humorous video game moniker ever conceived, makes that apparent. It's a full-blown action-adventure game inspired by some of the classics of its genre, such as Metroid and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. For those of you who have never heard of Adventure Time, it chronicles an adventurous teenage boy named Finn and his magic (anthropomorphic) dog, Jake, who can stretch himself into any shape, as they have odd ventures across the land of Ooo. The plot, as the title implies, has the Ice King, Finn and Jakes' mischievous nemesis, steal their garbage. Jake doesn't care, and he thinks it was nice of the Ice King to take out their garbage, but Finn explains that it's against the principle, and that they should rescue their trash from the Ice King's evil clutches. You traverse a top-down map of Ooo, entering dungeons (which, as well as most of the game, are 2D and side-scrolling) to get from place to place. You have array-like inventory that can hold up to 40 items. You can collect food, power-ups, and condiments. As in most games, food restores health. And it can restore even more health if you combine it a condiment. Even the most revolting of combinations (sea-salted pancakes or ketchup-covered cupcakes, anyone?) can result in your near-empty health becoming fully restored! But beware-- some combinations reduce your health! (So far, I only know that you do not want to put ketchup on an apple or syrup on a cupcake!) Food and condiments are usually dropped from foes, while power-ups are found in chests. Many of them are seen in the show such as the Tiger Claw, Vorpal Hand, and Beatious Wings from the episode The Wizard, the Stars of Frozen Rain from The Chamber of Frozen Blades, and the Spicy Serum from Too Young. Occasionally, you'll discover a chest that allows you to enhance one of your stats. In an amusing reference to Super Mario Bros., the Ice King has left a fake garbage princess before each boss battle. There are several faults, however. For example, Jake, while very useful in the show, is nearly useless in battle-- for awhile. Finn's attacks are overpowered in comparison, and even more so once you recover Finn's gold sword, Scarlett. Additionally, not all of the game's many quests can be completed immediately. For example, the Duke of Nuts has lost his second-born son, and asks you to bring his birth certificate to Peppermint Butler for some reason... and when I tried to do so, Peppermint Butler completely ignored the document, focused on the theft of pantyhose belonging to Princess Bubblegum, ruler of the aptly titled Candy Kingdom. This can lead to being stuck in some stretches of the game for a while. Despite its few flaws, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! is a fantastic game, and it's about as good as licensed titles get.
Ups
Quirky humor
Retro references
Faithful to show
Downs
Jake is useless in combat
Frustrating segments
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, and Comic Mischief Price: $19.99 (Retail / Download)
Based on the Adventure Time cartoon series, Adventure Time: Hey, Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage is more than your typical licensed game-- its title, possibly the most humorous video game moniker ever conceived, makes that apparent. It's a full-blown action-adventure game inspired by some of the classics of its genre, such as Metroid and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. For those of you who have never heard of Adventure Time, it chronicles an adventurous teenage boy named Finn and his magic (anthropomorphic) dog, Jake, who can stretch himself into any shape, as they have odd ventures across the land of Ooo. The plot, as the title implies, has the Ice King, Finn and Jakes' mischievous nemesis, steal their garbage. Jake doesn't care, and he thinks it was nice of the Ice King to take out their garbage, but Finn explains that it's against the principle, and that they should rescue their trash from the Ice King's evil clutches. You traverse a top-down map of Ooo, entering dungeons (which, as well as most of the game, are 2D and side-scrolling) to get from place to place. You have array-like inventory that can hold up to 40 items. You can collect food, power-ups, and condiments. As in most games, food restores health. And it can restore even more health if you combine it a condiment. Even the most revolting of combinations (sea-salted pancakes or ketchup-covered cupcakes, anyone?) can result in your near-empty health becoming fully restored! But beware-- some combinations reduce your health! (So far, I only know that you do not want to put ketchup on an apple or syrup on a cupcake!) Food and condiments are usually dropped from foes, while power-ups are found in chests. Many of them are seen in the show such as the Tiger Claw, Vorpal Hand, and Beatious Wings from the episode The Wizard, the Stars of Frozen Rain from The Chamber of Frozen Blades, and the Spicy Serum from Too Young. Occasionally, you'll discover a chest that allows you to enhance one of your stats. In an amusing reference to Super Mario Bros., the Ice King has left a fake garbage princess before each boss battle. There are several faults, however. For example, Jake, while very useful in the show, is nearly useless in battle-- for awhile. Finn's attacks are overpowered in comparison, and even more so once you recover Finn's gold sword, Scarlett. Additionally, not all of the game's many quests can be completed immediately. For example, the Duke of Nuts has lost his second-born son, and asks you to bring his birth certificate to Peppermint Butler for some reason... and when I tried to do so, Peppermint Butler completely ignored the document, focused on the theft of pantyhose belonging to Princess Bubblegum, ruler of the aptly titled Candy Kingdom. This can lead to being stuck in some stretches of the game for a while. Despite its few flaws, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!! is a fantastic game, and it's about as good as licensed titles get.
Ups
Quirky humor
Retro references
Faithful to show
Downs
Jake is useless in combat
Frustrating segments
ESRB: E 10+ Content: Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, and Comic Mischief Price: $19.99 (Retail / Download)
Ill make sure to tell Dillon about this game! Great review!
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