Review: Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion (3DS)

A very familiar fighter that’s still fun to play.

Developer: Papaya Studio
Publisher: Crave Games
Release Date: June 2, 2011
Score: 4 / 5

There’s no point in beating around the bush, so I’ll come out and say it: Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion is the most shameless Super Smash Bros. ripoff you’ll ever come across. The mechanics and controls are essentially identical, characters have similar moves, and many items can even be traced back to Nintendo’s hit fighter. Then again, if you’re going to steal, it might as well be from the best, and while it’s not the most original game ever made, Papaya Studio has made sure that this Cartoon Network title is still surprisingly fun.

The key to any successful fighting game is to have really solid controls, and while Punch Time Explosion doesn’t get it perfect, it’s generally pretty satisfying. Like in Smash Bros., you have normal attacks with the B button, which can be combined with a direction on the slide pad for four different ground attacks and four different aerial attacks; these are generally quick and dirty physical attacks. You also have four stronger and slightly slower special attacks, which work with the Y button in a similar fashion. A lets you grab enemies and then throw them, and you can jump multiple times with X; in addition to regular jumps, the upward special move usually gives you a bit more height.

Hitting enemies makes small blue cubes appear on the ground, which you’ll want to collect; get enough of them, and you can unleash a powerful Super Attack that can damage everyone on screen, make you invincible and super powerful, and more. The key to defeating an enemy is to increase their damage percentage until you can knock them off the edge of the arena. I am literally drowning in Smash Bros. comparisons here; anyone who’s played the former is quickly going to feel right at home with this game. The action feels very similar as well, right down to the speed of gameplay; other such Smash Bros. clones, like the one included in Super Monkey Ball 3D, feel like the physics and attack speed are all wrong, but Punch Time Explosion comes surprisingly close to emulating the Smash Bros. experience. It’s certainly not perfect, and I have my complaints about attack priority and the like that drove me a bit nuts at times.

What surprised me the most with this game, and what continues to impress me the most, is the variety of the character types. Every single character in the game plays differently from the others, even the three Powerpuff Girls. Some characters are small and fast, with quick but weaker attacks that let you get in and out fast; others are larger and their attacks happen slower, but they do a lot more damage. Each character’s normal and special attacks differ in some way from those of the other characters, even though many of the attacks can be traced directly back to previous Smash Bros. games. I actually found that I had a list of four characters who I preferred over the others due to the specific attacks they had, like a powerful ground pound from the air (always a favorite of mine).

There are two main modes in Punch Time Explosion; a multiplayer battle mode, and a story mode that bears a large amount of similarities to the Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Many different universes for many different Cartoon Network shows are starting to fall apart, as they are invaded by the army of the evil Vilgax, a villain from the Ben 10 universe. Playing as characters from series like Ben 10, Chowder, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and more, you’ll need to fight off Vilgax’s robot army and help to stabilize the various universes, as well as save brainwashed heroes who will end up joining your party. The story’s very basic, and kind of silly, but it gets the job done.

These story mode levels involve you moving through two-dimensional platforming levels, taking out small-time robot enemies and occasionally stopping to battle another main character in a fighting arena (again, sound familiar?) These work fine for the most part, except when you start running into enemies that get really difficult to land an attack on, due to odd attack priorities. There are also a number of points where you need to make jumps between bouncy platforms like clouds, but the way you move on top of them often robs you of one of your precious jumps, leading to a number of unfair deaths.

The platforming action is occasionally broken up by mini-game-esque activities, which sounds like a recipe for disaster but they’re actually handled well for the most part. In one instance, the game had me using the touch screen to fling cannonballs at a pirate ship before it got close enough to destroy me, in a clear homage to Angry Birds. Another instance had me hopping into a laser cannon to shoot enemies, but I occasionally had to hop out, navigate platforms to avoid being fried by lasers, then quickly get back in to blast more enemies. There were one or two that were a pain to control, though; in particular, anything that involves a first-person view, and the Samurai Jack one that involved running and jumping at high speeds.

On top of those things, you’ll occasionally run into larger bosses whose HP you need to knock down to zero, as opposed to fighting other playable characters and trying to knock them out of the arena (just like in- oh forget it, you know the drill.) Sometimes these are as straightforward as “attack until dead”, but in some cases you’ll need to do something special, like obtain specific explosives to attack the enemy with. These guys certainly aren’t pushovers, especially later in the game. In fact, the story mode in general scaled up in difficulty rather nicely up until the end (with the exception of one completely ridiculous battle near the end), and the final boss gave me several completely fair game overs before I managed to claim victory.

While the story mode is definitely the meat of the game, no clone is complete without a battle mode, which Punch Time Explosion has. You can play by yourself with up to three computer characters, or you can take on your friends in Local Play (up to four players) or Download Play (I believe only two players, but I’m not clear on this). With the computer characters, you can choose Easy, Medium or Hard difficulty, but whatever you choose applies to all the characters, so there’s no individual difficulties you can set. There’s also no alternate battle types, like team battles, which is a bit of a bummer.

Gameplay in battle mode is basically the same as any character battles in story mode; several players romp around a small-ish arena attacking each other and trying to knock each other to their demise. Various items, like candy cane swords or health-restoring food, will appear on the stage occasionally for people to grab and abuse; there are also Character Assist items, where alternate Cartoon Network characters will appear in the battle to help out whoever grabbed the item. It’s mostly similar to what we’ve all seen before, but honestly I’m not convinced that computer characters ever try to attack anyone but you. It feels like you against everyone else, generally, which is very weird.

The presentation in this game is a mixed bag. The level design is fine, and the stages look a good deal like they were pulled right out of various Cartoon Network shows. The 3D effect also works nicely; it doesn’t enhance the gameplay in any way, but it’s usually easy on the eyes, though I absolutely had to turn it off during one first-person view mini-game. The menus, though, are butt-ugly, and they give a really bad first impression for an otherwise respectable game.

The music is completely forgettable, but the game’s characters all have entertaining soundbites that play during cutscenes or in battle; some of their death cries can make me laugh, actually. The highlight of the game’s presentation is that the entire thing is narrated by the incomparable George Lowe, who does lots of announcing for Cartoon Network and provided the voice for Space Ghost on Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast. His voice is perfect for a title like this, and his delivery was always spot-on; I had my sound up for the entire game because I didn’t want to miss a single word from him.

The replay value of this game generally will depend on how much you like battling CPUs, or how many friends you have that you can play against, which is always the best way to enjoy fighting games. As far as Smash Bros. clones go, Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion is possibly the most shameless of them all, copying as many elements from the original series as they can. On the other hand, their dedication to imitating their inspiration means that they managed to do a lot of things right. If you’re coming in expecting a Nintendo-quality game with tons of polish, you’ll be disappointed, but if you’ve a hankering for that gameplay style, or you’re a big Cartoon Network fan, this is a good option for you.

Thanks to Crave Games for furnishing us a copy of the game!