On the surface, it seems like Funk of Titans might be crazy enough to work. Take a jive-talkin', funk-lovin' interpretation of Perseus, toss him in a Mount Olympus setting occupied by an Aretha Franklin-inspired goddess, add a dash of hop-and-bop auto-running and stir vigorously. This project had the recipe for cheesy goodness, but the final product is only half-baked. Repetitive gameplay, poor performance and lame boss battles hold it back from its potential as a camp classic.
As previously mentioned, Funk of Titans is an automatic runner. Like a lot of games in this genre its biggest limitation is a lack of interesting elements to keep you playing. After just a few stages you'll have experienced just about everything there is to see; because the game is so repetitive, tackling too many levels in a row can feel exhausting. That's not to say the basic formula is broken in any way - on the contrary, there's a nice rhythm to the proceedings: running, hopping, smacking enemies and wall-jumping all feel smooth and effortless.
Given how fun and quirky the game's aesthetic could have been, though, a lot of it still feels like a missed opportunity. This includes the aforementioned repetition, as well as a couple of significant missteps in the design department. Notably, the game's difficulty is undemanding at best and never increases to a notable degree. Most skilled players will be able to reach the credits after just a few hours, and can collect all the extras with a few more. On one hand, this means the levels are appealingly short, clocking in at one or two minutes each. On the other, part of the monotony is that these levels often feel like going through the motions without much of a challenge.
Beyond that, there's also a nagging sense that the the title's themes could have been put to much better use. Visually, the game makes a minimal effort to remind you that it's a blend of funk and Greek mythology - to check these boxes, a couple of neon signs and other such backdrops are tossed into the levels seemingly at random.
Worse yet, the ball is dropped in the worst possible way on the actual music element. Not only are these tunes forgettable and bad, but they're also not incorporated into the gameplay. This includes the duel-esque boss battles, which essentially amount to shallow quick time events. There's really no reason these enemies - who represent three different rival genres of music - couldn't have been fleshed out a little more to both explain their role in the plot as well as integrate some sort of rhythm to match the funky themes.
It's also important to note that the performance of the game dips significantly at certain junctions. Many of these framerate issues and graphical glitches are present only in the Wii U version of the game, making it the least preferable choice for owners of multiple devices.
Conclusion
Funk of Titans wants to draw players in with an outlandish, seemingly arbitrary aesthetic that mixes Greek mythology with funk music. Unfortunately, it fails to go all the way with this theme, and ends up a tedious and surprisingly generic auto-runner.
Comments 5
Ain't no rest for the bad games.
Character looks way too similar to Marvel's Power Man/Luke Cage!
I actually liked this game after not liking too many runners. I think the main reason was the variation in direction instead of just left to right there is pretty much everything.
The bosses are lame as hell though. I did like the main music that is funk. But the backgrounds are actually very varied and not just the looping crap I was expecting. Too bad it doesn't have a demo so people could try out a few stages.
Disappointing! The trailer looked surprisingly decent.
dafunk did this come from?!
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