Street Smarts — Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! Review

Posted on Jun 03 2013

Street Smarts Adventure Time

“WHAT TIME IS IT?!”

“ADVENTURE TIME!”

In this day and age, most people have seen or heard of Adventure Time, or at least caught some reference to it that they may not have associated with the show. For those who have never seen a full episode, Adventure Time is a TV show that airs on Cartoon Network and, in the three years of its existence, it’s gathered a large enough following that it warrants a game on the 3DS.

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! is a title that gives a fantastic idea on what to expect from the game. Immediately upon finishing the tutorial, Ice King sweeps in and steals Finn and Jake’s garbage, at which point they say to him: “Hey Ice King! Why’d you steal our garbage?!” As you might expect, the game is strongly geared for people who watch the show, as it’s littered with references and inside jokes. The dialogue, plot, and visuals are so well adapted that the game could have been picked up and snatched from an episode of the show.

Hey Ice King Why'd You Steal Our Garbage

Adventure Time isn’t an extremely large or complex game. If anything, the gameplay is one layer deep but gives a nostalgic feel for old-style gameplay, back in the days where we had beautifully pixelated, classic RPGs. The initial controls are rather simple: one button to jump, another for a ranged attack, and another for a close up attack. Later on, new abilities and new moves are unlocked which allow for new regions to be explored. Monsters drop plenty of food and condiments that can be used to replenish health. The game also allows you to distribute skill points.

However, the game falls short in content. Adventure Time can be completed very quickly for a number of reasons, one of them being the minimal grinding in the game. Monsters spawn on the map and move at a slow, easily avoidable pace. The difficulty is set on low, largely due to the mass of items that are dropped by monsters. Skill points aren’t obtained through leveling because there is no leveling at all; instead, they’re obtained through stars which are found throughout the game. With little content to begin with, the game can be finished in less than twenty hours.

Adventure Time

This doesn’t mean Adventure Time can’t be enjoyed by all gamers. It’s aimed more at casual players, but it’s short and sweet and a good entry to the show for anyone who has never watched it. The graphics are sound and greatly resemble the graphics in the TV show, and while the 3D isn’t spectacular it is not at all awful to look at. The music is charming and the gameplay is easy and simple to use.

The one major problem with Adventure Time, aside from the lack of content, is the few moments in which the next objective isn’t clear. Upon completing one quest, the next quest doesn’t magically appear for you to complete. It takes a bit of searching and walking around before stumbling into the next objective. While this can lead to some time wasted walking from town to town and talking to everyone – sometimes more than once – keep in mind that as the title says, this is adventure time, and you’re meant to go through the game adventuring.

Upon completing the game, Adventure Time has a plus mode that has harder enemies. While this is the only additional content to the game, it’s not much additional content. The enemies are more difficult but not overly so, and the same storyline makes things a bit tedious the second time around. That being said, there isn’t much replay value to Adventure Time, which is a shame given it’s already short life. Nevertheless, it’s still fun in terms of one-shot games, and it does its job well at appealing to a large audience.

  • Pros: Great adaptation of the TV series. Knowledge of the show isn’t necessary to enjoy the game. Graphics, soundtrack, and gameplay are above average. Little grinding.
  • Cons: Short game. Difficulty might be too low for some players. Additional content doesn’t add to the game. Minimal replay value.

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