Game Reviews

Time Tangle - Adventure Time

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
Get
Time Tangle - Adventure Time

Cartoon Network's games have been a little hit and miss of late. They've all been as jolly and bright as you'd expect, but IAP issues and a lack of polish have meant they haven't reached the heights of the studio's earlier output.

But Time Tangle - Adventure Time is different. It has the cocky swagger we've come to expect from Cartoon Network, but it's got the gaming chops to back it up as well.

It might be an over-the-shoulder auto-runner, but there are enough fresh ideas here that you don't feel like you're re-treading old ground.

And on top of that there's some impressive voice work, a gorgeous 3D art-style, and more than enough quests to make sure you've always got something else to do.

Chrono-smacker

The game sees you tearing down a linear path as Finn. It's not an endless-runner as such though, because you've got quests to complete.

Tilting your device lets you move around the track, tapping on the left of the screen performs a jump, and tapping on the right lets you punch things. Holding down your thumb charges up a super punch.

The quests vary from collecting a set number of things (sandwiches, penguins, vials of potion), to carrying a character from the show to a meeting with another character from the show.

Completing these quests gives you chunks of purple crystal. Once you've collected enough of these you get to try and hit a boss in the face with a special sword.

Adventurous

But you only get three lives per run. These can be lost by bashing into obstacles or taking a smack from one of the many bad guys wandering around in front of you. Once you lose all three you start from the beginning of the quest chain again.

Quests are randomly generated so things don't get too repetitive, and the aim of the game is to preserve your lives for as long as you can. The more quests you complete in a single run, the better the purple crystal-based rewards.

You can collect all you need by finishing single quests, dying, and repeating the process, but things are much quicker if you complete bundles of quests, with extra crystals added to your coffers as you run.

The boss fights are simple pattern-following affairs, but they break up the running sections pretty well. Don't let the cartoon stylings fool you though - there are some real challenges to overcome here.

It can be a little frustrating, especially when you keep hitting a wall at the second quest and have to grind all the crystals you need one-by-one.

Time to run

Fans of the series will lap up the solid voice work, and there's a decent chunk of fan-service in the chronology-bumping storyline that treads through the game.

Things do get a little repetitive here and there, and some of the quests and boss fights can feel a little unfair until you work out the patterns you have to follow.

But all-in-all Time Tangle - Adventure Time is an enjoyable, snappy experience. There's a beat to the running that's pretty unique, and the punching mechanic adds a sprig of silly violence to proceedings.

It's not perfect, and it doesn't pop in the same way as some other Cartoon Network games, but if you've got room for another endless-runner in your life, you could do a lot worse than giving this a go.

Time Tangle - Adventure Time

A fast-paced runner with some fresh ideas, Time Tangle - Adventure Time isn't perfect, but it's got a lot going for it
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.