Ed, Edd 'N Eddy: The Mis-Edventures
The whole point behind the game is to squeeze you into the shoes of the three main characters as they go about Culd-de-sac rummaging through trash and looking for items to collect. There really is no coherent plot to speak of and the game comes across as just being all about having a good time; and wasting some while you're at it. Levels are presented in the form of "Scams" and as most children's games like to do, the stages are full of junk to collect such as jawbreakers and chicken eggs. As a children's game this one will keep the little tikes busy for a few hours, but only diehard Ed, Edd and Eddy fans need apply.
Gameplay:
The biggest feather in Mis-Edventures' cap is the inclusion of three playable characters. This may not seem that unusual, but the fact that you can swap between three characters on the fly adds a lot of strategy. This is especially true when you consider that they each have unique abilities that get brought to the table. One of the Eds can use stink bombs, another has a slingshot with water balloons and the other can pick up objects and throw them. They each also have special maneuvers such as a battering ram or the ability to create a human tower. Learning who can do what is part of the fun of the game and once you master the moves you'll be free to use them for puzzle solving and beating up squirrels.
The fact that the game forces you to learn each of the Eds and what they can do helps move things along at a relatively brisk pace. Even so the game doesn't include a lot of variety and many of the puzzles that you have to solve don't make a lot of sense. You'll often have to come up with something so obscure in order to find a solution that chances are better you'll happen to stumble upon it by luck before you actually figure it out. Sometimes the game holds your hand for these and other times it doesn't give you the slightest clue. Needless to say this can get pretty frustrating after a while.
The game can get very tedious well before you beat the whopping six stages that are included here. Some variety is there, but certainly nowhere near the level it needs to be in order to save the game from mediocrity. There are some scams where you'll have to use a little bit of stealth in order to reach your goal and in another you'll have to do a little bit of racing. These bits shake things up a tad, but the creativity behind them is only skin deep.
Combat is another sketchy part of the gameplay for Mis-Edventures. Attacking wildlife is all fine and dandy when it actually works, but that's the problem; it usually doesn't. I lost count how many times I would try to hit a critter only to have my character miss even though he shouldn't have. That often resulted in my Ed getting mauled by the beast until I was able to shrug it off and try again. Your best bet is to fire with stink bombs to poison them into submission, but that gets old after a while.
When you're not fighting or collecting things, you're going to be spending most of your time exploring levels. I'm please to report that most of the environments are pretty large and varied. Some of them even include indoor locations as well as outdoor, but transitioning between the two is awkward to say the least. When you walk up to a door you are borderline transported immediately inside and vise-versa for when you go outdoors. It was just really disorienting to go from one environment to the next in the blink of an eye. This not only threw me out of whack but took the lazy camera for a loop as well.
I understand that the title is aimed at younger fans of the Ed, Edd n Eddy cartoon, but that's not an excuse for sparsely creative and lackluster gameplay. Being able to play as the three Eds adds some depth to the game though not enough for anyone other than fans of the show to appreciate. The combat is very hit or miss, the puzzles are either painfully easy or mind-numbingly frustrating and the game is egregiously short. Only diehard fans of the show need apply.
Graphics:
If you've ever seen the cartoon then you will instantly recognize the shaky animation and disorganized look of the show. This may not be the most attractive game ever produced but Mis-Edventures does feature some relatively pleasant cel-shaded graphics. Of course the looks in this title could have been achieved a few years ago and there is a distinct lack of variety in several places. The animation is a little stiff at times and there are some glitches that pop up now and again. For a licensed game it looks alright, but to anyone other than fans of the show it will appear to be dated and highly generic.
Audio:
With voice actors from the show the game sounds about as authentic as it could. That being said the clips that are here get repeated to the nth degree and really, REALLY get irritating. I actually had to hit the mute button while playing because the characters kept laughing or saying the same thing over and over again. The barrage of lame recurring lines is invariably non-stop during gameplay. Fortunately the sound effects and music don't offend nearly as much.
Conclusion:
Chalk this one up as being a game that will only be appreciated by fans of the show. Everything about Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures comes across as unpolished, unorganized and uninteresting. Being able to play as three characters adds an element of strategy to the otherwise dull concept, but poor implementation keeps it from impressing. The graphics are middle of the road in terms of quality and the audio gets irritating thanks to repetition. At the end of the day this short game will best suit fans as a rental while other gamers can pretty much skip it.