Adventure Time Game Wizard Review

Adventure Time Game Wizard easily has the charm to lure you in, but some irritating control issues mean that it won’t keep you hooked for as long as you’d like.

Essentially two games in one, Adventure Time Game Wizard is part platformer, part creation tool. The Adventure Mode is where the meat of the game resides, with you leaping from platform to platform and attacking enemies along the way. You switch between the likes of Finn, Jake, Ice King, Flame Princess, and BMO, each offering their own abilities and talents. Original voiceovers, as well as an appearance from ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, is a sweet move to endearing you more to the game.

A significant problem arises with the control scheme, though. While your left hand manipulates a sliding pad to move around, your right hand taps buttons to jump or attack. Neither fully works as well as you’d like. It’s too easy for your finger to slip and not tap the button you desire, and sliding just isn’t as effective as using a virtual d-pad or joystick. You’ll often find yourself fighting more with the controls than enjoying the action. That’s a shame as it’s a reasonably enjoyable romp with some nice fan service.

The other part of the game comes in the form of level creation. You can piece together your own stages before sharing them with others. It’s early days for the service but there’s a ton of potential here. It’s easy enough to slot together platforms, add hazards and enemies, and so forth. It gets even easier for those with an artistic flourish as you can draw your levels on paper before scanning them in. The Arcade, where such levels reside, is quiet at the moment as the game has only just come out, but in theory it could ensure you’ve always got something new to explore.

That doesn’t overrule the control issues, but it does make you feel slightly more forgiving of what Adventure Time Game Wizard is attempting to do. You’ll be infuriated at times, sure, but the charm of these characters does go some way to helping.