Nintendo Switch is already home to some pretty impressive platforming goodness; you may have heard of a certain little game called Super Mario Odyssey, and the eShop offers up an entire feast of delights with the likes of Shovel Knight, Sonic Mania, and Celeste to name just a few. Standing out from this stellar crowd is, therefore, no easy task, but by reminding us of why we fell in love with video games in the first place, The Adventure Pals developer Massive Monster has managed to do just that.
The game sees you and your best friends (Sparkles the giraffe and a rock called Mr. Rock) trying to save the world. You’re not saving the day in any fashion you’ve likely become accustomed to, though, as this time a super villain is threatening a weird kind of domination by turning old people into hot dogs. You’ll be travelling through five platforming worlds, fighting your way through enemies and boss fights, all while soaking in the game’s beautifully bonkers – and absolutely adorable - approach to script writing and character design.
The controls are simple: you jump with a quick press of the ‘B’ button; hold that button down to glide, using your giraffe’s tongue like a helicopter (which is as utterly glorious as it sounds); use your sword with ‘Y’, allowing you to rack up combos as you hack and slash your way through enemies; and make use of special items like bombs or health potions with ‘A’. You’ll also be interacting with scenery dotted around each stage with the ‘R’ button, usually to blow up targets or open gates to progress through the level, or sometimes to open treasure chests containing life-saving items.
Every jump and scenery interaction feels great to perform, with precise platforming and a satisfying control scheme allowing you to swing around each stage with ease. The difficulty level rarely reaches anything higher than being just a tad troublesome, with any slightly harder stuff saved for boss fights and levels near the end of the story, but this works well here, allowing you to focus on finding the hidden collectibles and enjoying a stress-free adventure.
The combat is a similar affair, although you will have to learn the behaviours of the different enemy types unless you’re happy to take some damage. Beating enemies provides you with experience points, making you level up and learn new abilities along the way, and these abilities will aid you in your fighting. This system is part of the game’s light-RPG side, which also offers shops with purchasable items (such as bombs, special bombs, and a variety of potions) to see you through even the toughest of enemy clusters.
While all of this is great, and feels like a perfectly good platformer in its own right, the game is undoubtedly enhanced by the world around it. Everything is colourful and cutesy, with numerous characters making us melt with adoration throughout the story, and a script that is full of breaking-the-fourth-wall jokes and shameful puns that had us sniggering from start to finish.
The whole presentation is obviously very child-friendly, but in a way that also allows light-hearted adults to get just as much – if not more – enjoyment from it; not many games have us jumping out of a friendly toaster, gliding in the air with our giraffe’s tongue-helicopter, before picking up a sleepy kitten and throwing our rock friend at explosive mines that have just been pooped out by a walking hot dog. It’s hilariously brilliant and full of imagination and, for that, Massive Monster, we salute you.
The soundtrack is a similarly delightful experience, with one particular overworld theme sticking with us whenever we took some time out to find any missing collectible cupcakes, talked to town folk, or looked for any missing stickers to complete our in-game sticker album. You can enjoy the adventure with a friend if you like, as co-op play is supported throughout, but we opted to play through the majority of the campaign solo – mostly down to personal preference. Joining up with a buddy allows the two of you to tackle enemies from both sides and figure out the way together so, if you’re up for some teamwork, that option is always available.
Sadly, there are just a couple of little niggles that stop The Adventure Pals from being a true masterpiece. On a couple of occasions, usually thanks to turning back and re-exploring a level for any missed collectibles, we ended up getting stuck and having to restart that particular level. The interactive scenery in each level will change positions depending on your actions, and sometimes (perhaps because the game doesn’t expect you to go back through to the start of the level) the switches to open a gate, for example, can become inaccessible. As mentioned, though, this only happened once or twice during our adventure.
The bigger issue comes in the five arena levels that appear once in each world. The premise is great; instead of completing five levels of platforming, you’re placed inside a small arena and have to fend off five waves of enemies, using up your supply of potions to stay alive whenever possible. The problem here is that whenever too many enemies come flying on to the screen at any one time, the game suffers from some pretty nasty slow-down; as you try to fight off your opponents, you’ll actually end up fighting the stuttering framerate to guess when each button press should be performed.
Despite these niggles, though, which we’d love to see fixed in a future patch if possible, we couldn’t help but fall in love with the game as a whole. There’s an undeniable charm present throughout and, for the most part, the game runs really smoothly and offers some very enjoyable platforming fun that deserves to be played.
Conclusion
The Adventure Pals is a truly wonderful experience that had us grinning from the moment we launched the game, right up until the credits. The platforming is tight and precise, yet relatively relaxed and easy-going on the whole, and the game’s perfect cast of bonkers characters provides humour, wit, and a genuinely loveable world to explore. A couple of little niggles stop the game from hitting the true heights that it deserves to reach, but we’d urge you to look past these and dive into the fun. If you’re a fan of platformers and cute things, you need to play this game.
Comments 41
WHEEEE!
8/10! And to think that this was once a browser game!
This game is very very fun. Downloaded it last night and was playing with my kids. Good humor and solid gameplay. Well worth the asking price!
This looks utterly fantastic. It is a real shame it suffers from slowdown during arena mode, but something that simple would never deter me from a purchase of a good game.
I've been trying to resist this game since all I've been hearing is good things. Too many good to great games on the Switch!
Definitely picking this up, there is a developer AMA for this on the NintendoSwitch sub reddit if anyone’s interested.
Giraffe tongue helicopter? I’m in!
It completely copies Adventure Time’s art style and other Cartoon Network stuff. I’m out.
Wishlist activated!
Had no interest in this, but actually sounds fun, (and Mr Rock sounds like a classic games character). Must investigate further.
Looks delightful!
NL: Can we get a bullet point list of pros and cons at the end of reviews?
Sold on this game.
@Rafke Why not just pay the amount needed with a debit/credit card? I’ve never understood the need for those cards you buy in stores.
I'll pick this game up tomorrow. I was waiting for a review to confirm my decision.
@justin233 Maybe this person doesn't have a credit or debit card?
This sounds a lot better than I expected. Any word on length? Not that I need to be buying anything since Yakuza 4 has stolen my soul...
@Rafke @justin233 I'm (sort of) in the same boat. Don't have a credit card or PayPal or anything, so I frequently invest in eShop Cards.
Rafke, I haven't seen you on this site before. Are you new? (just asking, sorry if I sound rude)
@MH4 @Rafke @Oat I was just curious as to the purpose of them in this day and age. It just seems easier to use a debit card to me but to each their own.
@Rafke My bad, then. 😅
@justin233 I understand! 😊
@justin233 It's a whole lot easier not to be in debt with creditcards if you're buying eShop cards up front though
We'll definitely be getting this game at some point. Hopefully they will have released patches by the time I buy it.
keep almost buying the game - keep hearing good things - guess this seals it
@gloom Yeah, gotta agree with you there. That part is what turns me off. I'm totally cool with using existing art as inspiration (that's how art works), but there comes this line where it crosses into plagiarism, and for me this crosses that line. Might not even have felt that way if it literally didn't call itself Adventure Pals, so much like Adventure Time. Too similar for my tastes.
Looks like a fun one. Any idea on legth? If it’s more than 6 or 7 hours it may be a no brainer for me.
@Whopper744 I saw on Reddit that several people are saying it's easily 10-15 hours. 12 on average.
I have a 6 hour flight on Sunday which this will be perfect for! Now I just need to complete Slime-San before then!
Another game added to my ever-expanding wishlist.
Sounds good to me!
This game certainly sounds nice. I will have to remember it.
@Megal0maniac That’s what debit cards are for.
@JKRiki yeah I agree. And it’s the boy with a hat and sword and has a yellow pet that wraps around him? It’s wayyy too obvious and uncreative looks lolol
This looks good. Cheap too
@JKRiki @gloom
Well, I read in the comments of the announcement of this by several people that the game "The Adventure Pals" used to be a browser game way before "Adventure Time" was even a thing.
So there's that.
Nonetheless agree that there are some confusing similarities in style between the two.
Wow... looks neat! Need more info on length tho, my backlog is already too deep
@justin233 Maybe in the US. In Europe debit cards aren't that common for the purpose of using them as credit cards, can usually only pay by creditcard or Paypal in the eShop. Can't do anything with my bank card (unless linked to Paypal, but that has age restrictions I think and not that popular). So I understand people wanting to pay by eShop cards, since they can be bought up front conveniently and you don't need to be in debt as a standard.
@Tiefseemiez
It seems like they're definitely copying a lot of Adventure Time's style in this iteration of the game, anyway.
The giraffe has "poo-brain", like that one horse.
The whale in that screenshot is also quite similar to Bubby from The Misadventures of Flapjack, in the way it's drawn and angled and such.
@Megal0maniac Do people still use checks there or how do the majority of people pay? It seems like debit cards are prevelant in the US. It just takes the payment out of your checking account. I’m genuinely curious.
@Tiefseemiez Some quick research says the first Adventure Time episode aired April 5, 2010. Original "Super Adventure Pals" browser Flash game released Summer of 2012.
So whomever gave you the info that Adventure Pals came out before Adventure Time was either wrong or misleading you, it seems. Of course, I could be wrong, as that was just 60 seconds of quick research on the topic via Google of both the game and the show. Still, Adventure Pals seems to have been made right when Adventure Time was in its heyday.
I bought this couple of weeks ago and it really is a fantastic game. Like the review said as soon as I put it on I had a big grin on my face. One of the best action platformers I've ever played. Really hope the sequel comes out!
@JKRiki Google reveals plenty of pages mentioning "Super Adventure Pals" from way before 2010 (even pages in like 2007), so I wouldn't jump to any conclusions.
Maybe the creators of Adventure Pals would comment on it, but at the very least thing this has been in development for ages and has plenty of original charm, no matter the origins.
In any case, we haven't had a great Adventure Time game yet, so if this is an Adventure Time ripoff... it's really the first universally acclaimed Adventure Time title. Yeah there's a couple of mobile games with pretty-decent reception, but most of those have the depth of minigames.
@citizenerased
"we haven't had a great Adventure Time game yet"
Hey Ice King! Why'd you Steal our Garbage?!! was good.
Good, not great.
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