Cartoon Network will one day rule the world. While obviously owning the domain of cartoons, they have recently started to reach into the world of videogames. Cartoon Network has begun turning their entire lineup of cartoon series into game franchises, with results expected from licensed games. The fans buy it, but gamers who aren’t familiar with the franchise are turned off by poor and shallow gameplay. Such is the case with Samurai Jack: Shadow of Aku for the Nintendo Gamecube. Fans of the series are going to love the voice acting, characters, and trademarks of the show. Those who do not view the cartoon nightly however, are going to have a hard time sitting through this game till the end.


Features:

Actual voice actors from the show voice all the characters in the game

Over 24 levels, including a Lava filled mine, sprawling city, and forest grounds.

Tons of content to unlock, such as character drawings, and backgrounds.

Samurai Jack: Shadow of Aku follows the storyline of the cartoon series faithfully, and includes many familiar characters. The evil shape-shifter Aku sought to take over the world in medieval times, but a single Samurai stood in his way. Aku tore open a portal through time and sent the Samurai through it, so the wizard ruled the centuries uncontested. Now the warrior must find a way back to his time, to undo the evil that Aku has wrought. The cartoon is filled with flashy ninja moments, with Samurai Jack slicing and dicing his way through Aku’s robotic minions.

This doesn’t translate well into the game however, as combat boils down to mashing the attack button over and over through the entire game. While there are several different combos that Jack can learn through his adventure, none of them are required to defeat the various enemy types. In addition to his trusty sword, Jack will also have throwing stars and a bow to dispose of enemies with. Both are helpful at taking down enemies from afar. A special Sakai mode was including, allowing Jack to slow down time in a Matrix type fashion to slay his enemies. Jack can target his enemies with a lock-on mode that allows him to strike at and circle the highlighted foe. While handy, it also makes getting powerups difficult as Jack will always auto-target the nearest enemy to him. The combat is clunky and repetitive, and will never make the player feel challenged or satisfied.


Even the boss fights can all be completed by just dodging the enemy attacks and hitting them from the rear. The game never becomes difficult, and will be a quick bore to most gamers. Hardcore fans of the show won’t mind however, watching Jack slash through the robotic hordes will be enough to keep them well entertained.