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I don’t like most modern cartoons and I hate Zelda II. Aside from illustrating that
I’m, for all intents and purposes, a bitter old man...these two statements would seem
to have no correlation. That is, unless you’ve played this...the strange and peculiar outcome
of a strange and peculiar experiment, one that combines a game I’ve never liked with
a cartoon I’ve never heard of.
Of course, when the people performing these dastardly deeds of dubious design are those
mad scientists at WayForward...expectations change. Based on the ingredients, I should’ve
hated this particular concoction. And yet minutes later, I was eating pancakes, punching
snakes, traversing great distances to retrieve my trash cans...
And loving every second of it.
Just released to the 3DS, this is an action-RPG with a long name...but a very simple description.
Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why’d You Steal Our Garbage? is just Zelda II with different
characters. It borrows almost every aspect of its design from Nintendo’s controversial
NES classic, picking up a baton that’s been sitting on the ground for about a quarter
century. So you play as Finn, a little boy with weird
limbs and a backpack. He also has a dog named Jake, who he keeps in the backpack. Strange
kid. Stranger yet is the Ice King, who one day steals Finn’s garbage...NEVER TO BE
FOUND AGAIN. Well, not quite.
And from there, it’s Zelda II. You explore this large overworld with all kinds of towns,
dungeons and pathways to access. Once you do, it turns into this side-scrolling action
platformer. If you’re having NES flashbacks, you should be. And again, it also really works
the show into the template, as well. Finn’s backpack, in particular, plays a huge role.
It stores all the goodies you find, and you can access it on the touch screen. Of course,
you can also combine items for greater effect. A pancake will restore some health, but if
you pour syrup on it...obviously, you get more hearts back. Just like real life.
I have to give credit to WayForward. They made a game based on a cartoon into a standout
3DS release. In fact, this is one of the most fun and unique side-scrollers on the system.
That’s a real accomplishment. And not only that, they made a fan out of a guy who doesn’t
like either of its ingredients. That’s almost impossible, yet...here we are. Right is wrong,
up is down...Adventure Time is a 3DS gem.
And that’s pretty math.