Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 - Indie Game Review

An Impressive Flash Platformer - Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 Review

When Brad Borne released Fancy Pants Adventures, he gave gamers a fun platformer that didn’t mess with the formula much but was still loads of fun to play, and it featured a nice hand-drawn look and cool music to boot. The game was for all intents and purposes more of a demo experience that exposed gamers to an idea that would spawn an improved sequel in Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2. The second game in the series takes everything that made the first game so much fun and blows it up exponentially, thus resulting in bigger levels and tighter gameplay.

Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 Storyline (3 out of 5)

At the heart of Fancy Pants Adventures 2 is a quirky plot that revolves around our hero, Fancy Pants Man, seeking revenge on a rabbit

who has stolen his prized ice cream cone, which he won after kicking a snail shell into a golf ball hole. It’s not the most serious of stories, but it warrants a hardy chuckle.

Evidence that Brad Borne isn’t taking things so seriously is scattered throughout the game’s backgrounds. It’s hard not to laugh when you see a parody of the Bat-Signal off in the background while you run through one of the game’s stages. These bits of humor tell a story all their own, and it’s clear that Brad Borne is aware of all the internet memes and lingo that go on throughout the web.

Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 Gameplay (4 out of 5)

Fancy Pants Adventures 2 is a run-and-jump platformer, and while it doesn’t add much to the formula, its level design is so well-crafted

that it makes it stand out among other games in the genre. You guide Fancy Pants Man through loops, run downhill at fast speeds, and wall jump like crazy, all the while collecting squiggles and jumping off enemies’ heads. Again, it’s not that the gameplay is very original, because it’s based on a premise seen before in titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog; it’s that it is designed so well that you really need to play the game to understand why it’s so much fun.

Graphics and Sound (5 out of 5)

Fancy Pants Adventures 2 retains the hand-drawn look of its predecessor, but it features a larger array of colors, making it a visually

appealing platformer. Like its gameplay, the graphics are simple, but they are still impressive. There’s a lot of line variation, scribbles here and there that make the whole thing look more like a drawing, and a nice combination of colors at every corner.

The first game in the series featured a soundtrack that was catchy but limited. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. The music from the first Fancy Pants Adventures has transitioned over to the second installment, but it joins a slew of other enjoyable tracks. Everything still has an ambient sound to it, and the sound design meshes perfectly with the visual design.

Lasting Value (3 out of 5)

Fancy Pants Adventures 2 is considerably longer than its predecessor. That said, it’s still not an incredibly long-lasting game. Featuring

twice as many stages than the first game, each of which is much longer and features hidden rooms, Fancy Pants Adventures 2 will take up a bigger chunk of time to complete, but it can be beaten in one sitting. Luckily, there are hidden trophies to be found, and a side quest that involves getting snail shells into golf ball holes expands Fancy Pants Man’s wardrobe. So while the game’s lasting value isn’t the greatest, there is still plenty to do, and subsequent playthroughs are not unlikely.

Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 Overall Score (4 out of 5)

Fancy Pants Adventures: World 2 is a great freeware platformer worthy of anyone’s time. It takes everything that made the first game so

much fun and builds on it, creating an immersive gaming experience that doesn’t break boundaries but certainly provides a lot of laughs, fun, and entertainment. The game isn’t perfect, but it plays well to the point where you’ll want to go back and play through the entire thing more than once. Here’s hoping Brad Borne releases the already-announced Fancy Pants Adventures: World 3 soon.