Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers

Seriously, though, this budget-priced cash-in should be avoided at all costs, even if you're a die-hard fan of the shows. And parents, please don't ruin your kids' childhood by buying them this piece of trash. Instead, just loudly have sex in the next room over. Trust me, that one leaves a mark.

While it has its brief moments of fun, Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers is a mediocre side-scrolling beat ‘em up that doesn't do the genre or its license justice. While its visuals pop, the lack of plot or voice acting - along with a tepid control scheme - make the game feel more like a cheap cash-in and less like a competent gaming experience to all but the most ardent fans of the cheeky stable of Cartoon Network properties.

Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers is fine for younger players. I still feel they're being robbed of a solid experience or even meaningful engagement with their favorite brands. I did fall into the groove a few times and found myself enjoying it, but the overall experience was a punishing chore.

Cartoon Network Battle Crashers is so clearly aimed at young kids and the gameplay on offer here is fine for that audience but, on the whole, this is a dull brawler with little to offer. If you have no idea who Clarence is then you're probably better off looking elsewhere.

At one point I assumed that it’s likely I’m not the target audience, so I gave the game to my daughters – aged eight and ten – to play. They love Cartoon Network, so I thought that Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers would give them something new to experience. While both of them enjoyed the visual spectacle and the set pieces of special moves, they each gave up citing that it simply wasn’t fun, ironically choosing to watch The Regular Show instead. So, if my thoughts don’t nail what I want to say, I’ll leave it to my eight-year-old daughter – “This is boring, can we play Mario Kart instead?”

While using easily recognizable characters from popular cartoon series can prove to be a successful formula, it's hard to see how that will benefit Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers. Its gameplay has virtually no points that stand out from an overall feeling of mediocrity and the lack of features of this title only make the selling price seem even more disproportionate for what is a game that offers no redeeming factors.

It feels weird to see such low effort put into a title that has their name tied to it, but Battle Crashers has the names you know and love, and that only.

Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers could have been the crossover that fans have been waiting for. However, with the game including nothing that makes any of the series represented great, it ends up as another title in the pile of countless generic licensed games.

I really wish there was something redeeming in Battle Crashers outside of the visuals. The game really does look great, and the fan service is certainly there, but the tedium of finishing a level is just deflating. I love the genre, and the license lends itself well to this type of game, but the developers somehow made this devoid of any joy to play.

Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers looks nice, but unfortunately that’s the main thing it gets right. It controls competently and the combat works, but the level design is lacklustre and decides to force you in to replaying levels you’ve already completed that don’t feel different enough to warrant doing it.