The Adventure Pals PC preview - A super fun platformer

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Less than one week ago Massive Monster contacted us and asked me (Robin Ek, TGG) if I wanted to check out the demo for their upcoming action/adventure/RPG platformer “The Adventure Pals”. Well, I got really interested in the game. As the game is said to be inspired by games such as “Zelda 2”, “Adventure Time“, Castle Crashers” and “Banjo Kozooie” (I like every single one of those IP´s). So I started by watching a trailer for the game. And I got blown away by what I saw. As “The Adventure Pals” indeed looked like a mix of the titles that I mentioned earlier.

These foxes know how to kick-out the jams like there is no tomorrow.

Furthermore, “The Adventure Pals” also made me think about other awesome game titles such as “Wonder Boy III“, “Bob”, “Kirby”, “Sonic 3” and “Mega Man 3”. So naturally I couldn´t resist the great urge to try the demo out. And I wouldn´t regret that decision, as “The Adventure Pals” made me smile from the inside and out. You see, the game´s graphics (and the world in general) look like a mix of “Adventure Time” and the remake of “Wonder Boy III”. And since you get tossed into the plot of the game as soon as the demo kicks-off (kind of like in the same way that you get introduced to the world of “Hotline Miami“). You literally get injected into the world of “The Adventure Pals” from the very first second that you get to control the hero of the game.

There are plenty of enemies and battles to be fought in the world of “The Adventure Pals”.

And speaking of which, the plot is like something from a fever dream or an acid trip. And please allow me to explain why that is the case. Long story short, your dad gets kidnapped by a bad guy called “Mr. B”. And why is that? Well, Mr.B wants to turn all the old folks in the world of “The Adventure Pals” into sausages (don´t ask, because I have no idea what that is all about). So it´s up to you (the young adventure boy, his magical rock and flying giraffe) to safe your dad. That is of course easier said than done, since you have to pay a ransom for your dads release.

Once you gain enough experience points, you will level-up. And that allows you to upgrade some of your skills (health, damage and so on).

So you´re sent out on an epic adventure by your mother (she can´t go out and save her husband, as she has to stay around and guard the lighthouse from any potential zombie cat pirates who´s up to no good). And the first thing you do is to check the world map after the spot that your mom has marked out for you (that´s where you’re supposed to go and look for some rubies). And this is also where the adventure kicks-off for real (you just go through and very cleaver and basic tutorial at the very beginning of the demo). As you finally get the chance to explore your environment, look for loot and fight some real enemies.

And due to the fact that the controls are very simple (keyboard or gamepad controls), it´s like in the old-school platform games. You simply have to focus on slaying everything that comes in your way, and collecting everything that might be worthy of your time and attention (there are gold coins, bags, magic cupcakes and tons of other items to be found throughout the demo). It´s also extremely satisfying that you can do a lot of combos with your sword (which is your basic weapon in the demo), as it made me think about the combos which you could do in games such as “Streets of Rage” and “Double Dragon” (I don´t think that you can do any grip moves in “The Adventure Pals” though).

This boss fight (it´s the only boss whom you can fight and win over in the demo) made me think about that tree boss from the “Kirby” series.

That´s really awesome of course. However, there were some down sides to the demo of “The Adventure Pals” as well. Such as the fact that the controls can be stiff at times, or that most of the enemies are somewhat stupid and easy to beat. I also stumbled up on a serious sound and music bug while I was playing the demo. Because if you´re truly unlucky, then the music and the sound effects can go mute on you (this happens when you go back and forth between the world map and some location on the map). Even so, that still doesn´t take away the fact that “The Adventure Pals” is a really good and entertaining action/RPG/adventure platform game. I would also like to point out that I enjoyed the boss fight in the demo a whole lot, as the boss battle made me laugh more than one time during (and after) my fight with the giant monster tree.

So I would most definitely recommend “The Adventure Pals” to anyone whom loves awesome platform and adventure games. Trust me, you´re not going to be disappointed with the demo!

Pros:
+ Epic graphics
+ Funny dialogs and comments
+Tons of awesome gameplay content
+ Very nice music and sound effects
+ Colorful and memorable characters
+Plenty of stuff for you to collect (coins and whatnot)

Cons:
– The controls can be stiff at times
– Most of the enemies are rather stupid and easy to beat
– Audio and music bugs (the music or the sound effects can go mute on you)