Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time

When all is said and done, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a wonderful game. It’s humorous, nostalgic, and something I would recommend to both existing fans and new ones alike. While there is a lot to be gained when you already know the story, prior knowledge isn’t necessary and I can easily see this title making new Jack fans out of many players. By nailing nearly every element, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is just the game I was looking for.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a faithful adaptation of the beloved series. Much more than a simple tie-in game, Battle Through Time provides great gameplay with a variety of weapons and abilities, even though the skill tree leaves a bit to be desired. With characters and a story so true to the source material, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is an excellently executed adaptation that Samurai Jack fans will adore.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time occasionally stumbles, but it often manages to be a strong showcase for the TV series.

Between 1995 and 2005, Cartoon Network gave us some of the greatest animation ever produced by any lone studio; Dexter’s Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and the original animated Clone Wars is just some of the quality output of that period. Yet, towering above even those fantastic shows, was Genndy Tartakovsky’s Samurai Jack. An effortless blend of fantasy and sci-fi, combining martial arts tropes with American Western iconography. The story saw the titular warrior cast into a distant future by his nemesis, the demon lord Aku. Trapped in an era where evil had already triumphed, Jack...

The climbing sequences are emblematic of Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time's biggest overall problems. Every fun and sometimes even fluid (albeit mindless) encounter is bookmarked by a myriad of small problems that snowball to make the experience less enjoyable. It largely keeps the same voice and tone that the source material has, so any fan of the show should play it just to experience how Jack feels. The 2D sections are some of the coolest parts of any licensed game, let alone any game I've played this year. It's the definition of a popcorn game, offering some good looks and shallow fun, ev...

It’s just a shame that Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time‘s combat hasn’t been given a little more care and attention to ensure that it flows better. With there being so much of it, its clunky nature drags the game down a fair bit. Still, if you’re a huge Samurai Jack fan who wants to spend some more time with the character, it’s worth a play. But if you have experience with the likes of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, you will find its gameplay lacking.

From the linear, level-based gameplay and destructive environments that hide collectibles in vases and crates, to the age of the source material (barring references to the more mature season 5), everything about Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time feels like a PS2 game, for better and for worse. The simple, throwback gameplay is fun and the fan service for such an iconic show is ample. The game becomes much harder to recommend for more casual fans of the show, as strange gameplay decisions such as forced perspective side-scrolling segments and technical difficulties occasionally bog down the exp...

At the end of the day, Samurai Jack fans who simply want more of the franchise in their life may find this game is worth its $40 price tag. On the other hand, fans who care about the canonical events of the show or those who are less invested in the franchise may find they have mixed feelings about it. It has the fun factor many may seek but is ultimately a mixed bag of odd decisions and nostalgic moments.

Samurai Jack Battle Through Time brings us back to the future (and the past) one last time for one last grand Samurai Jack adventure. There’s a lot to appreciate here, but there are some pitfalls that will weigh down players and thus water down the experience.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a weak adaptation of the series, but the action mechanics just aren’t all there either, dragging it down even further. With a few tweaks it could be a fun little weekend mascot game, but as is, this adaption isn’t going to appeal to just about anyone.

Story and character do not drive the action like in Tartakovsky’s series — air flips and fist punches do. A sense of exhaustion sets in almost immediately, while a hunger to get just a little more Samurai Jack in my life kept me soldiering on. By the standards of tie-in games, that feels like a success.

Verdict: Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a bit shorter than expected, but it’s still a nice installment overall. It’s essentially an extended episode that shows fans a version of the ending that many wished had happened, and it does a decent job in succeeding in that. As a big fan of Samurai Jack, I thought this swift adventure was a good dose of action and emotion, despite the few flaws that can be overlooked. Nonetheless, it’s a fun nostalgia trip for any time-traveling enthusiast who remembers the tale of a samurai they simply called Jack.