14 DAY TRIAL // 
If you grew up when Cartoon Network’s biggest hits were The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, or Courage the Cowardly Dog, it means you had an awesome childhood. One that stood out due to the over the top storytelling, dramatic cuts, and more mature characters was Samurai Jack. Now the series which received numerous praises and even won the Primetime Emmy Award invites us into a perilous journey through time to once again put an end to Aku’s schemes.
Although he moved on to other projects, arguably Genddy Tartakovsky’s most successful work remains Samurai Jack. Two years after the series final season we received a somewhat unexpected video game adaptation that picks up things where the cartoon has ended them. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time promises a new adventure in which the hero along with his well-known companions is forced in an alternate timeline. The narrative is built mainly through cutscenes and a few dialogues since the gameplay itself focuses on the battles.
The never-ending quest to defeat Aku serves more as an excuse to get lost in the slashing your way through the levels. During your perils, you will meet De Samurai, The Scottsman and his daughters, Rothchild, and many others. While your foes will try to hinder your advancement, your friends will serve as support characters scattered throughout the levels, offering you useful items or selling various upgrades.
The game itself, although is fresh story-wise, represents a trip down memory lane and awakes a lot of nostalgia among the fans. After watching the familiar intro, you will travel to the locations already seen in the cartoon, where you will stumble upon all the familiar characters. It is worth mentioning that all the whacky friends and foes are brought to life by the same voice actors who worked on the TV series. Also, the flow of the battle is as clean and stylish as it was in the cartoons. Although there were other games based on this franchise, not one came so close to revive the original atmosphere as Battle Through Time.
Basically, this new game can be best described as a third-person action game with sections in which the developers chose to spice things up by switching to a 2D perspective and adding platforming elements. The fights themselves are very fast, spectacular and quite varied thanks to the different weapons you can pick up. If you wish to remain true to the cartoons you can rely only on your sword, but the different close combat and ranged weapon are too fun not to try. You have to remember though that any other weapon other than your Magic Sword will break. You can use light and heavy attacks, which can also be chained into combos.
After collecting sufficient flame orbs you can also unleash a powerful charged attack that can be upgraded along with all your other abilities using a skill tree. Split into three categories, Physical, Combat and Spiritual a constant improvement of your abilities is required in front of the ever-growing adversities you have to face.
You can choose from three different difficulty levels, and while the first is truly a breeze, the last one makes difficult vanquishing even the basic foes. Choosing the Master of Masters difficulty level, the boss fights will make you sweat like a black-clad ninja in the middle of a desert. The level design although linear is quite fun, and each level has some hidden nooks and crannies. The developers went out of their way to hide different clues which will amplify the nostalgia towards the cartoons.
The main story of Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is somewhat short including only 9 levels, and towards halfway you will feel that you have seen everything that developers wanted to throw at you. This is the biggest flaw of this game: it sinks into a routine which takes away from the charm of the base material. There are no unexpected turns and even some of the later boss fights may seem a bit tedious.
The visual style is the one you would expect from Samurai Jack, cartoonish and not exactly demanding. The animations can feel a bit like a bottleneck since Jack cannot perform another action until an attack animation is completely finished. This makes it harder to catch the rhythm of the fights, which can lead to a snowball effect that makes it hard to break free from the continuous attacks of your enemies.
Another hard to explain nuisance is the painstakingly slow speed of wall climbing. It's worth mention that Jack’s condition can be evaluated at a simple glance: failing to parry incoming attacks will result in tears on your kimono and Jack’s expression will become more and more miserable. Finally, I'd like to add that the voice acting, paired with the tunes so familiar to the fans of the cartoon, amplifies the feeling that you are actively participating in the cartoons.
The Good
- Excellent atmosphere true to the cartoons
- The return of the original voice actors
- Fun and engaging battle system
The Bad
- Outdated platforming sections
- It becomes repetitive halfway through
- Battle flow issues caused by some animations
Conclusion
So although it may seem short, the game is packed with engaging action and enough content to justify its price. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a must-play title for fans of the cartoons, and it should be picked up by those looking for an action game too, even if they are not familiar with one of the most famous ninjas ever to grace recent pop culture.
