Adventure Pals | Switch Review
Adventure Pals is a colorful and comical platform adventure developed by Massive Monster. Just imagine: it is your birthday, and you are getting ready to have your birthday cake. All of a sudden, a villain who is turning people into hot dogs for “reasons” kidnaps your parents. Yes, you read that right, hot dogs. You embark on a quest with your two pals, Mr. Sparkles (a giraffe) and Mr. Rock (who is indeed a rock), to save your parents and ultimately the world.
On your adventure, you journey through 105 levels spanning five curiously bizarre worlds. You’ll hack and slash your way through swarms of evil deer, vats of jelly, and other strange characters in order to stop Mr. B from conquering the world. Along the way, you meet some of the weirdest characters that need your help. There’s a “butt-naked” whale in search of clothing, a cantankerous postman, and so many more. The dialogue is full of sarcastic, punny jokes that had me giggling throughout the entire game.
As you play through each level of Adventure Pals, you collect stickers and cupcakes as well as coins. Similar to the shops in Zelda, you meet merchants in each world that sell you vials of life potion, bombs, and specialty bombs. You also level up your experience in order to carry more items, increase your skill level, or increase your booty that you get from the monsters you defeat. Because let’s face it who wants to be stuck with a “teeny-weeny bag”?
The mechanics of the game are quite simple. Even if you have never played a platformer, you could easily pick this up and have a blast while Mr. Sparkles propels you through the air or sea. Mr. Sparkles also saves the day by letting you use his neck to zipline over spike traps. Mr. Rock assists by whacking the monsters during the fights. I played using the Nintendo Switch and in my opinion, it was the perfect console for this game. The controls simply felt natural. Fighting off the monsters, bosses, and Mr. B increased in difficulty throughout the game, but it was never too frustratingly difficult. After each boss battle, you have a feeling of satisfaction.
I did experience a couple glitches towards the very end of the game. In one instance, the game shut down, and when I restarted it I was not quite on the map anymore. Fortunately, I easily found my way back to where I was supposed to go, even if it felt disjointed.
The second glitch was quite frustrating, because it happened during the final battle against Mr. B. I received an error, and the game shutdown when I was so close to the finish. Even though I was playing the Switch handheld, it had gotten warm. Suspecting it might have overheated, I let it cool down before finishing the game. It was maddening knowing how close I was to victory and yet had to complete some of the gameplay all over again. There were a couple other moments where I had missed collecting a sticker or cupcake, and I advanced too far through the level to be able to go back and collect them. While that’s certainly not a deal breaker by any means since you can go back and play the levels again, it is something to note.
I did not get the chance to play the two-player mode, but I absolutely plan on it since my son, who had been watching me play, picked it up and loved it right away. I think we will have a great time experiencing the silliness together.
Overall, Adventure Pals is everything I would like in a platformer. It was fun, humorous, and downright wacky. It filled the void I felt after being disappointed with Super Mario Odyssey.
Adventure Pals Final Verdict
Despite the few noted challenges, I would absolutely recommend this to anyone wanting to have a good time. It is certainly worth the price, if not more. The game ended with a teaser to a second adventure. I’m waiting in anxious anticipation, and I think you will too when you finish it. OK, I’m off to go find the rest of the stickers that I missed so I can finish my collection. Enjoy!
This review is based of of a Nintendo Switch review copy provided by Armor Game Studios and Sandbox Strategies for coverage purposes.
Adventure Pals
$14.99
Pros
- Approachable Platformer
- Quirky Humor
Cons
- Minor Technical Difficulties
