What time is it? Time to play a decent Adventure Time-themed action title by Twin Sky Games. Adventure Time: Time Tangle is a mission-based running game that respects its source material, making for a goofy, laid-back adventure. That said, its …
What time is it? Time to play a decent Adventure Time-themed action title by Twin Sky Games. Adventure Time: Time Tangle is a mission-based running game that respects its source material, making for a goofy, laid-back adventure. That said, its controls are slipshod at times, which is … unacceptable.
Here’s the deets. Time and space have been knocked out of whack, which is exactly the sort of thing that happens in the land of Ooo every second Friday or so. Finn and Jake come face-to-face with the Time Totem (“TT” for short) and agree to punch things back into their proper order.
Adventure Time: Time Tangle offers several environments to tear through, including forests, caves, the insides of a beast-thing, and the Candy Kingdom. As is typical for a running game, the character on-screen barges forth automatically, and it’s up to you to make sure the path remains clear and safe. Requirements for unmolested progress include jumping over obstacles, punching objects and enemies, and swerving around everything else.
Adventure Time: Time Tangle spices things up by randomly issuing goals for you to complete. Sometimes there’s a certain number of items that need to be collected (including royal tarts and, of course, bacon pancakes). Sometimes you need to collect one character and deliver them to another. And sometimes you need to overtake some bad guys by running up from behind and whacking them upside the head.
When you succeed at a mission, you’re rewarded with shards of the Deus ex machina device that’s supposed to set things back in order. Once you gather enough shards, you’re pitted against a boss . If you successfully conquer that, you progress to the next collection of worlds.
The mixed missions in Adventure Time: Time Tangle are a good idea, and they help keep things interesting. Not all missions are created equal, however. It’s easy enough to deliver one character to another (if you don’t bother to think about why you need to deliver Lumpy Space Princess to Lady Rainicorn), but the chase-down missions are tedious. They can also be difficult to complete if you’re up against airborne enemies, as jumping and punching at the same time in Adventure Time: Time Tangle is tricky business.
The game uses the accelerometer for its default controls. Tilting left or right moves the character thusly. Tapping the left side of the screen makes them jump, and tapping the right side executes a punch. It works after some practice, which is good, because the touch-based alternative is pretty terrible and features small, crowded buttons.
Adventure Time: Time Tangle isn’t perfect, but there’s enough here to bring a smile to fans’ faces. Granted, it’s not hard to grin at a game that features cameos from James Baxter the Horse. Man, that guy is so awesome.
