Reviewed: January 5, 2006
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Midway
Developer
A2M
Released: November 3, 2005
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
6
6
6
6
6.0
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
If I learned one thing while reviewing Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures it’s that every review site and magazine needs an eight-year old reviewer on staff. I had this game for several weeks and simply could not grasp what it was that was supposed to be fun or remotely entertaining. I even forced myself to sit down and watch the show, which I found to be as uninteresting as the game.
The game, much like the show follows the adventures of three extremely stupid boys totally obsessed with jawbreakers. Each boy has their own unique traits and abilities that allow you to experiment with various combinations by switching out the lead Ed. The game is light on story but it does manage to recreate the wacky and slightly disturbing visuals from the show.
Once you start a new game you are put in control of “The Eds” as they explore their home base, the Cul-de-Sac, which basically serves as the hub to the various levels in the game. The game starts you off with a brief in-game tutorial that showcases each of “The Eds”, their basic moves, and how they all come together to create some interesting combo formations.
The levels are really nothing more than a series of “scams”, each with numerous objectives that need to be completed to win the level. Most of the gameplay is puzzle-solving and item collection. There is limited combat using Edd’s Slingshot or Eddy’s Stink Bomb, but it’s pretty innocent and well within the spirit of the show.
There are six main levels (or scams) and each focus on a certain style or styles of gameplay. The Standard scam has “The Eds” working together toward the final goal while the Stealth scam require “The Eds” to get through an area unseen. Rescue puts you in control of one or two of “The Eds” and you must find the missing member(s) of the trio. Chase/Race has “The Eds” trying to complete the scam before the timer runs our or before another group completes the same scam.
As previously mentioned, your goal is to collect jawbreakers and coins to buy more jawbreakers. There are also blue pick-ups that will refill “The Eds” cool meter, which depletes as they take damage. You’ll also find plenty of sandboxes, which Ed must dig in to discover secret bonus levels. These work in conjunction with the many costumes and props you will find during your adventure. The final pick-up is chickens and when you collect enough of these you will get an Easter Egg that will unlock a special game mode, video, or bonus item.
The game allows you to switch to any of “The Eds” on the fly using their own specific ability or a special formation move that varies based on the lead character. The puzzles rely on knowing which ability to use and when to use it, but this quickly becomes second nature about a third of the way through the game and then it just gets repetitive.
While most of the solutions are either obvious or can be figured out with minor trial and error, the designers do provide you with hints to all six scams in the game manual. Oddly enough, what proved to be quite challenging for me was scarily easy for my 8-year old game tester who ended up playing this game.
Visually, this game is a spot-on match for the TV show. It features some interesting cel-shaded character designs and traditional animation. Even though the game is in 3D they try really hard to make it look like old-school 2D. “The Eds” all have that quirky jaggy art style that is quickly dominating toon world. You’ll either love it or hate it.
The cutscenes are nicely done and there is usually a short movie to introduce each of the scams. The HUD is pretty fun with wacky art and fun icons that stick to the corners of the screen. Menus are simple and easy to navigate and the entire package is definitely targeted to the 12-and-under crowd.
The music is pretty good, mainly a lot of instrumental background tunes that fit with the shows theme song. It could have gotten repetitive if the game had been any longer, but it simply blends into the background after an hour and you forget about it.
Sound effects are pretty standard and match the sounds from the show and accurate enhance the comical action on the screen. The voice work is a love/hate thing. I enjoyed the funny dialogue during the cutscenes and the various moments of speech during the gameplay but each of “The Eds” has very limited in-game dialogue, usually a one-liner associated with a specific action, and you will hear it every time you do that action.
The game is short, even by kid standards clocking in at 6-8 hours for young players and 4-6 hours for adults. You can go back and replay the levels using the hub system to find anything you missed on the first pass, but there is little incentive to replay the entire game anytime soon.
Personally, I merely tolerated the game and probably wouldn’t have scored it nearly as high as I did if I hadn’t offered my 8-year old niece the chance to play this while I observed. After seeing how quickly she caught on to the gameplay and mastered the various moves of “The Eds”, all the while laughing and having a lot of fun, I was convinced this is a game that is targeted towards kids and probably should be reviewed by kids.
Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures will certainly delight fans of the show and younger gamers. Parents who are looking for a kid-friendly game will find a nice alternative to the rest of the teen and mature games piling up on software shelves these days.