( by Jonah)
Game: The Adventure Pals
System: Nintendo Switch
Publisher: Armor Games
Developer: Massive Monster
Price: £10.79 GBP/$14.99 USD/€11.99 Eur
The Adventure Pals focuses on Wilton’s quest to rescue his parents from the infamous Mr. B. Assisting Wilton is his best friend (a giraffe) called Sparkles and a pet rock called Mr. Rock. Mr. B’s plan is world domination; a plan he seeks to carry out by kidnapping and transforming old age pensioners into hot dogs. Can Wilton rescue his father and others from this terrible fate? Well, he can if you take the helm and battle your way through five stages of colourful platforming action.
Gameplay
The Adventure Pals is a well-designed platformer with tight controls and smooth animation. Wilton must make his way through each stage, complete various quests, solve puzzles, interact with and obtain items, and defeat the varied number of enemies by using a variety of attacks . You can overcome enemies simply by using your sword, or by using a variety of bombs and other items. Mr. Rock is also constantly at your side, pounding all that seek to harm you; and Sparkles too proves useful in that he’s able to latch onto enemies (with his teeth no less), and drag Wilton into close proximity of his foes, which leaves them open to attack.
It must be noted that not all mentioned forms of attack are available at the start of the game. The game boasts basic RPG elements that help to boost Wilton and Co’s attacks. As Wilton battles his way through each stage, he levels up, which in turn bolsters the trio’s strength and abilities. Each time Wilton levels up, the gamer can choose from one of three upgrades. Eventually, the gamer will enjoy every power–up the game has to offer.
In terms of difficulty, the game starts with a low level of challenge that gradually increases as progress is made. Wilton has unlimited lives, but each death results in coin loss , which may sting a little if you need to purchase extra potions, etc.
Game Time
This is the type of game that can be rushed and completed very quickly, but completionists can clock more than 10 hours of game time. To 100% each stage, Wilton must collect five strategically placed cupcakes and one sticker, as well as seeking to play through each stage without losing a life.
Bugs and glitches
Sadly, some arena stages suffer with frame-rate issues, and I also encountered a bug that broke one level, but thankfully none of these issues are game breaking. I’m confident these issues will be amended in a future patch.
Overall
Overall, I’ve had a great time with Adventure Pals and I highly recommend it to all 2D platforming enthusiasts. I’m happy to label it great and award it 8/10.
P.S. The game does boast a co-op mode but I haven’t been able to try it due to time restrictions. From what I’ve seen, it’s basically the same game but for two players and provides a great experience, but I can’t include it in my overall score.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpCBxkYmTo&w=560&h=315]