Right out of the bat on my first day at E3 I was lucky to meet with Outright Games to take quick peeks at two of their upcoming titles: Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, an RPG which puts the famous Cartoon Network on a new adventure with pirating and banana battles. Also on display was Crayola Scoot, a trick scooter arena made better with the power of colorful crayons.
While I’m not that familiar with the Adventure Time franchise as some of the Popzara staff (hint: Wolf Man), I know Finn and Jake have zany adventures and are never shy about helping out a friend – or enemy. In this new adventure, The Land of Ooo is underwater and now pirates have started to terrorize the citizens. But never fear as Finn and Jake are on the case!
The demo I saw showcased turn-based battle mechanics and an interrogation minigame used to squeeze information from some of the show’s iconic characters. There was a heavy emphasis on the visuals and ensuring every aspect was kept true to the cartoon when bringing it into a 3D landscape.
Battle sequences showed that Finn could choose to attack, run away, and so on. Standard RPG stuff, to be honest, though when Finn and Jake faced off against three banana guards the stronger of the two wore a belt as an indicator he needed to be taken out first. It’s small touches like these that should give younger players a sense of strategy to make battles more interesting.
Interrogations are fun, too! Here they’re minigames with Finn and Jake playing good cop and bad cop. Depending on choices made, changes in the world will occur like Finn and Jake no longer being attacked by the banana guards when traveling around the Land of Ooo. Every interaction is fully voice-acted, helping the player follow along with the story and stay engaged. Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion honestly just feels like an extended episode of the show, so it’s easy to get lost in the world of Ooo.
Crayola Scoot is a trick scooter game infused with the power of Crayola! While not as exciting (to me, anyway) as Adventure Time, it still looked like a good time with friends who appreciate a little color in their lives. The presentation looked immediately familiar, like older Tony Hawk Pro Skater mixed with a dash of Nintendo’s Splatoon and a side of Jet Grind Radio mixed in. Only with less battling and a lot more scooter tricks, of course!
Scoot uses similar concepts, except with a name like Crayola behind it, you would expect a bit of a twist, right? When zipping around you can apply blobs of paint you can ride over for extra boosts and more air for tricks. I saw whole environments that were pristine one minute, only to be covered in a rainbow of colors the next from paint-flinging scooters driving over them.
This is a game about Crayola – and that means colors! Thankfully it doesn’t disappoint as many colors can be chosen and characters personalized for maximum uniqueness. Different modes of play like Trick Run and Splatter Tag should give fans plenty of variety, even letting them invite a few friends for a split-screen clash of colors. While I didn’t see any during the game’s demo, you can expect boss battles of sorts where you beat Scoot Legends in different environments and use combos to win against the competition.
Since Crayola Scoot has the name Crayola behind it, it’s fair to assume this one is meant for younger audiences rather than adults. The same could be said of Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion, and it was nice to experience a set of games designed to give both kids and their parents something worth playing together.
