Combining two good things should at least result in another good thing.
It might not be better, but at least of equal goodness.
And that’s why I really want to like this game.
It’s Smash Bros. with Cartoon Network characters.
How can that not be awesome?
Well, just ask Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL.
The only thing this game excels at is disappointment.
And the sad thing is this is the second attempt.
The original Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion was released for the Nintendo 3DS in June
2011.
This XL version was brought to consoles just five months later, and in addition to being
played on a bigger screen, the selling point here is that it has extra stuff—you get
eight new characters, most notably.
But unfortunately, you don’t get any added quality.
Like the original, the idea in Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL is to put the stars
of Cartoon Network into a Smash Bros. clone.
This is a 2D fighting game with an emphasis on knocking your enemies off the screen, which
you do by increasing their damage meters.
The higher the number, the further they fly when struck.
My problem with this game has never been the idea.
The idea is amazing.
But where Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion lets you down is execution.
The tight controls and refined gameplay that makes Smash Bros. so addictive is nowhere
to be found in this one.
Everything feels loose and slow.
It’s like Smash Bros. without the smash.
I’m also not a fan of the structure here.
The game has the standard multiplayer modes and an adventure mode somewhat similar to
those in Smash Bros. That said, the single player mode is usually the least enjoyable
part of a Smash Bros. game.
So what does Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL force you to do?
It forces you to play its weakest part first to unlock stuff for multiplayer.
For a game that’s clearly intended for an audience even younger than a Smash Bros. game,
this decision baffles me.
Why not have the entire roster available from the onset?
Or at least more than a handful.
It takes a long time to unlock them in the single-player mode, and by that point, you’ll
be so bored with the game that you won’t even care about the multiplayer.
It’s not good enough to save this thing, anyway.
But I guess in a sense, the console version is the better of the two.
It has more characters, more content...you can even unlock cartoon clips, so that’s
a plus.
Still, I don’t want to call this a bad game, but it’s a really disappointing one.
Like other Smash Bros. clones on Wii—such as TMNT: Smash-Up, for example—there’s
a terrific idea at the core of Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL.
And if the actual game were half as good as the concept, this might’ve been a fantastic
kids games.
As it is, well...at least Space Ghost narrates the thing.