Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time Reviews

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a competent, if linear and somewhat unbalanced, action adventure. You can tell that the game studio was made up of true fans who poured their love for the show into this game. But the scope and grandeur of the Samurai Jack IP are sadly limited by this game's low-budget restrictions. It's fun for what it is, but it left me hungry for more.

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.

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

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 has starred in a few games before and he's back after an over 15 year hiatus with the fun-filled Battle Through Time.

Samurai Jack is one of those shows that was destined to become a cult classic the second the pilot episode was aired. It was completely different from anything else being showcased on Cartoon Network at the time. It featured a distinct art style, a big emphasis on stylish cuts, and very little voice acting when compared to the rest of the network’s offerings. Although didn’t last long, those who watched it loved it. Even to the point of succeeding at reviving the series in 2017, for one f...

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.

Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is an excellent game for fans of the animated series. Its a blend of nostalgia and satisfying combat. The skill tree system rewards progression with more creative moves and abilities to keep the player engaged in fights. Jack feels responsive and powerful in action, which makes this game a joy to play through.

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.

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, even if it feels like it's a remnant of a bygone era.

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.

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.

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 wanders the land with only his magic sword and his wits, searching for a way to defeat Aku and return home.

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 experience. Overall, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a fun, though maybe forgettable, romp through one of the greatest cartoons of all time.

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.

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.

If you’ve been following American cartoons since the early 00’s, chances are you’ve probably stumbled upon an airing of Samurai Jack during one of Cartoon Network’s many programming blocks. The show ran for four seasons following the turn of the millennium then ended without wrapping up the mortal battle between Jack and Aku, only to be brought back over a decade later for a fifth and final season. Despite moving to a conclusion in 2017, Genndy Tartakovsky’s apocalyptic samurai epic is back once again in what would be Jack’s first game appearance for as long as I can remember. What better way to bring Samurai Jack back to consoles than with a new character action game in Battle Through Time.

Although Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time has the occasional frame rate drop, and it doesn’t pose that high a challenge, Soleil’s game direction has proved worthwhile. Having all the tools to shape your experience provides a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the player, and it’ll keep long-time fans of the series happy seeing Jack’s old allies in action once more. However, with such a short time-to-complete and weak story, it will have you yearn for more.

The game itself is paced like your regular action game. You’ll enter a level, blow through arenas filled with enemies, meet a boss at the end, and get your score before moving on to the next stage. I will say, as a big fan of the series it is pretty neat to fight in the locations from the show, I just wish the combat was a bit more engaging. There are challenges to do to earn rewards like skill points, but they all distill down to “Kill this many of this enemy” or “Talk to this NPC ____ time” so you never really have to think too hard about completing them. Again, the biggest fault with the game isn’t that it’s bad because it’s not, it’s just that its potential it’s fully realized which is a shame considering the source material.

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

Even if you’re not a Samurai Jack superfan, Battle Through Time may be worth a playthrough just for the refresher course in how action games used to work and how vital that style can still be in 2020. There are plenty of quirks that come with the game’s curious dedication to the past, but the overall package excels despite them. Following so many slow, tanky duels with skeletons that can take you out in one hit, it’s a blast to tear through countless rock creatures with a single smash of a spiked club.