You have to wonder if the developers of The Adventure Pals wanted to make a game based on the Adventure Time cartoon, or were at least inspired by it.  You play as a boy who lives in a weird cartoon world and uses a sword to dispatch crazy enemies.  For your birthday you get a magical yellow giraffe with a stretchy neck, but soon after that, your grandpa gets kidnapped by Mr. B., who wants to turn all the senior citizens into hot dogs…for some reason.  So you and your giraffe set out on a 2-D platforming adventure to save him.  My brother Jeff says the game looks like something you could play on Newgrounds as well, which sounds about right.  Anyway, The Adventure Pals is available to download on PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Like any good 2-D platform hero, your character can run, jump, spring up walls, swing a sword to get rid of enemies (or jump on their heads), and use items like healing potions and bombs.  Your giraffe can somehow fit in your backpack and can help you out as well.  Slow your decent after a jump by holding down the button and the giraffe will spin its tongue around like a helicopter.  And you can use its stretchy neck to grapple enemies, pull levers, and swing on hooks.

As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain experience and level up, and when you do, you’ll learn a new skill or perk.  Collect coins to buy more items in the shop, and search for hidden items like cupcakes and stickers to unlock new outfits and other goodies.  Just make sure to stay fully stocked with the shop, because there will be parts of the story where you don’t have access to it right away.  Generally you’ll visit a town and talk with somebody for a quest, and then a new stage will open up on the world map for you to travel to in top down fashion.

I only had a few small problems with this game.  Hit detection when jumping on enemies seemed a little off sometimes, but other than the game not being very original or groundbreaking, it’s still a fun little 2-D platformer.  Play control is very tight and a second player can join in at any time for some co-op fun (they get a unicorn instead of a giraffe).  So if you like silly 2-D adventures, you may want to pal around with this game.

Kid Factor:

The Adventure Pals is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Fantasy Violence and Crude Humor.  You can smack around enemies with swords and bombs, but they just disappear when defeated.  There’s some rude humor in the text, like the boy asking if his cake has a naughty dancer in it, fox hippies talking about berries like they’re drugs, or a farmer taking a pig for a wife.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, and younger players may need help with some of the tougher jumps and obstacles.

Tags: Game Reviews