Game played on: PlayStation 3
Also available on: Wii, Xbox 360
Is a remake of a game for: 3DS
When a mascot fighter game comes out, such as Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL, I always hear many legions of gamers cry out that the game is obviously a rip-off and no one should buy it. All this says to me is that there are not enough mascot fighters yet for everyone to realize this is in fact a genre, not just something done by Super Smash Bros. and not allowed by PlayStation or Cartoon Network or Small Arms or any other game companies and titles I can't remember right now. What I'm getting at, is that when this game was first announced, I had no problem with what the promise was. Personally, I'm a fan of Cartoon Network's programming, and earlier this year I finally bought the game and tried it for myself.
It's alright.
I spoil that now as the common opinions of the game tend to only be in two camps: You hate it or you think it's okay. For the same reasons, actually.
First let's get into what the game is supposed to be. Punch Time is meant to be a crossover fighting game for many of the popular cartoons from Cartoon Network. Most of the shows featured were no longer airing at the time, the only exception being Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. With that in mind, the game sort of feels like a celebration of Cartoon Network's past, their successes all coming together and letting us know how much they've appreciated our love for them.
However, not every former show received the love. It has been pointed out by many fans before me that both Courage the Cowardly Dog and Ed, Edd n' Eddy were not in the game. I've heard there were trademark or copyright reasons behind this, the Eds couldn't join in because they technically belong to AKA Studios for example, but I have no idea if this is true or not. They could have just glanced over them, or felt they had enough characters already.
I read one forum post about someone being infuriated that Flapjack and Chowder were playable when the Eds and Courage were not. I like those latter shows more as well, but, come on, it's nothing to be that riled up about. Granted I think this person didn't like Chowder or The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, but this is a forum post, they may normally be okay with those shows as far as I know. Even if I didn't like those shows, which I do, even more than I did when they originally premiered now that I've gone back to them, again, I still would not think it's worth getting riled up about.
You know what I'm riled up about? Every stage in this game is related to a show, baring the final stage, typical for these types of games. However, all of the shows related to the stages, also have characters you can play as. This is a missed opportunity. In Smash Bros. or PlayStation All-Stars, stages could be used to represent franchises that didn't get a character to represent them. Here, that is not the case. Not only that, but out of all the characters, only two of them are from franchises that are not also represented by a stage. Captain Planet and Johnny Bravo (Let's not count the also unlockable younger Ben Tennyson, I'm counting Ben 10 as it's own franchise and we also had Vilgax, older Ben, Kevin 11, and some stages). Bravo was an assist in the 3DS version, meaning in that version, the assists had one character to represent something different from the stages, but we'll talk about assists in a second.
Imagine how many more shows we could have gotten from stages. Picture it: Camp Kidney. Charles Darwin middle school. If you didn't want the Eds, I would have been happy fighting in the Cul de Sac, or Nowhere Kansas would have quelled some complaints as well. Some of you may say that Camp Lazlo or My Gym Partner's a Monkey don't need to be represented in this game, but I fully think they should. This is a celebration of the channel, put everything in that you can. Put in the live-action shows no one liked, put in Out of Jimmy's Head, get Hanna-Barbera characters, get the dubbed anime you used to air on Toonami, get Tom. Tom could be the next narrator, and that's not saying Space Ghost was a bad narrator nor a bad idea, just a thought in case they go somewhere different. Make the cross-over big enough that you add in Kid's WB characters. People would lose their minds if you did that, and everyone knows Warner owns both, I can imagine this happening. Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes air on CN, and I've already seen how open to Warner is with cross-overs thanks to LEGO Dimensions.
What I can't imagine happening is a cross-over with Nickelodeon or Disney Channel. Disney and Viacom aren't part of Warner, stop acting like it in forum posts. It won't happen. I did see someone say they'd like to see Ash Ketchum on, and I can picture that considering where Pokemon played on both CN and Kid's WB. It'd be weird as I'm almost positive a lawyer or someone would prevent Pikachu from appearing as well, but hey, I'd still be for an Ash Ketchum without his Pokemon in a fighting game. It'll work or it won't, and I'm fine with either due to how cool and hilarious it would me.
To get back on track, let's discuss the assist characters. They are, hands down, the best use of assist characters I've seen in a mascot fighter. Each one either does a lot of damage, or heals a lot of damage. Sometimes, they screw you, because they can damage anyone in the area including you, but they can still be worth it. Now, where they really shine, is when you activate a certain assist with a certain character. Their powers combine and they unleash an incredibly powerful attack. Many of these do better damage than the character's special move, and most of them outshine what the assist would normally do. Some of them made sense, other combinations came out of nowhere, and that only added to the joy of what was happening.
Speaking of, I never realized how much the candy pirates from Codename: Kids Next Door and the characters of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack had in common until this game realized it and had the two meet. It was one of those "OH!" moments that made this game worth playing as a CN fan.
Now, mechanically, as a game. Here's the problems:
Many characters control fine, but there is no balancing. This game, while having a local multiplayer (no online but I don't consider that a downside), was clearly built with single player in mind only. Some characters just don't do much damage, and others are practically unstoppable. I found I liked playing with Flapjack a lot, but once I played again in hard mode, I never really used anybody other than Aku and HIM. Kevin 11 is overpowered and recommended by many for hard mode as well, and I saw why. Granted, yes this means the characters you figured would be powerful are hilariously fun in how overpowered they are, but this is a game I would like to play with other people, and all that would happen (I assume) is that whoever picks Aku or HIM would be the winner by default. Monkey was the only exception, in my opinion. I figured a superhero would be really useful, but I ended up hating this control scheme and just kept playing as Flapjack.
One small grip I found was with a section of the unlockables. Stages and characters were fine, minus the previous complaints, it was the bonus videos. All short, which is fine, but the one for Johnny Bravo was just the the opening theme, and that made me wish each show had that as an unlockable as well. That's the kind of thing people scour YouTube for, it's nice to have an official source for it. Ever hear the Ben 10 theme? If you have you'll know why I'd consider that a great unlockable.
On the opposite end, the unlockable costumes were fantastic. For some, it unlocked an outfit that character has worn in a certain episode. For example, HIM gets his exercise clothes, or Numbah 1 in a tuxedo. For others, it lets you play as other characters. For example, each Powerpuff Girl has a costume that turns them into the Rowdyruff Boy equivalent. Or Captain Planet becoming Captain Pollution. Alternate costumes are usually fun, and this extra bit of care did not go unnoticed by me or the other fans.
It's funny how really, I only mentioned one major actual problem, a few minor grips, and many things I loved, but I still only thought the game was alright. If anything, this game needs a sequel so it can try again. Some games get it so right the second time, and this one needs a look back at. Like I said, vary up the stages so they can represent other franchises the characters didn't. Don't be afraid to give some love to the shows you are sure we don't care about, we'll appreciate the effort to attention.
And fix the balancing. If you do this right, you could finally be the ones to say "We beat Smash Bros. at their own game". Every company wants that, no one's done it just yet. We'll all be better off for it. Including Nintendo really, having a strong game to compete against can start the coals burning and the capitalism running through their veins.
So yeah. This game's okay. Would love a much better sequel. I think Cartoon Network has earned a stab at a great crossover game (and yes I did already mention LEGO Dimensions, which I like, I mean one that is just CN, versus everything under the sun like Dimensions pulls off surprisingly well), to show to the gaming world they have a great legacy that people would love to really dive deep into. After all, this game unlocks bios for everyone if you beat arcade mode and they put in information you wouldn't know off hand. They know their fan base, I do think they can deliver if they try again.
But it won't involve characters from Nickelodeon or Disney channel or Nintendo barring maybe an anime-only character, so stop guessing that TVTropes Wild Mass Guessing page!
6/10
Better than completely average, will play again with friends despite balancing issues.
Also, easy Platinum/1000 gamerscore, if you care.