Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Well, you know me. My love for Disney is strong, but...it�s pretty much based on the classic
animated films, the 90s renaissance and the cartoons from the 30s. Hannah freaking Montana,
not so much. Point is I don�t know much about this. I guess it�s a thing, on that
other thing called the Disney Channel.
Or was. Or theoretically could be. I don�t know.
It�s American Dragon: Jake Long: Rise of the Huntsclan. Long name, lots of colons,
basically means, �Oh, look at this! It�s another freaking licensed game.�
I do like the new Mickey Mouse shorts, though.
So...you win this one, Disney Channel.
So this game was released to the Game Boy Advance back in 2006. And if you�re anything
like us, you be excited to know...this game was developed by WayForward. One of our personal
favorite things. But the problem is, this feels more like a game made by someone pretending
to be WayForward. It�s like a cover band.
It�s playing the right parts, but...they�re out of tune.
And the beer�s expensive.
You play as Jake Long, which is a guy I�m still trying to figure out. I guess he�s
like Ben Tennyson, only he�s more like...Jake One-yson. He can only turn into one thing,
but that one thing happens to be a freaking dragon. So...I guess quality over quantity.
Anyway, he has to save the world or something. Honestly, I already forgot.
I hope the show was better than this.
Oh, it only had two seasons? Well, that explains a lot.
So I mean, this is a WayForward game, so it at least looks good. Those guys do 2D better
than almost anyone, so this game has lots of nice-looking sprites. The settings leave
a bit to be desired, but...it�s a game based on a television show. You can�t be expecting
much more than this. Unless you like to lie to yourself.
In which case, you might love this game.
No, the thing about American Dragon is...it�s just not any fun. It�s a beat �em up that�s
about as simple as it gets. There�s just not much going on here. You can mash attacks,
but they�re boring attacks. Once you�ve filled up a power gauge, you can turn into
the dragon...but it�s kind of a boring dragon, that never feels all that powerful. Again,
it�s like...all the ingredients are here for a really solid little brawler.
The game just never quite gets there.
Enemies randomly drop power-ups, which bring help from one of your friends. Some take out
enemies, some drop helpful items...the thing about that is, it�s random to the point
of uselessness. You rarely get the health power-up when you need it, or the powerful
attacks when you�re outnumbered.
Not that you�re ever that outnumbered. This is a really simple game, and you can probably
beat the whole thing in just a few hours. At which point, you�ve seen pretty much
everything American Dragon: Jake Long: Rise of the Huntsclan has to offer. There�s definitely
worse licensed games�I mean, this one isn�t bad.
It�s just...really boring.
How can dragons be boring?