American Dragon Jake Long Rise of the Huntsclan 2006 By: Buena Vista Games

Overview:

"American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" is a ridiculously titled beat 'em up side scroller based on the animated cartoon produced by the Disney Channel. Expectations are never high for games based on characters in the Disney universe (excluding "Kingdom Hearts" of course!), but "American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" does manage to offer a fun, lighthearted gaming experience, albeit one that is light on depth.

"American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" does a great job of transferring visuals from the cartoon to the game. The enemies are detailed, colorful, and silly, the backgrounds are bright and well constructed. The sound effects and music fit the style of the game and give the feeling of being in a cartoon. Jakes friends all talk like Snoop Dogg which is hilarious (fashizzle!).

Jake is able to transform into a dragon, a fun aspect of the game, and he is also able to pull out his skateboard at anytime, the skateboard can be used to damage enemies, but is most useful for zipping around the screen because Jake's character moves exceptionally slow.

After completing the first level, I was surprised to discover that there is an attribute tree to invest points in. I always appreciate a game that includes aspects or content not usually found in its genre. Skill building is always an effective tool to make the player become more invested in the game, however, "American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" is an exceedingly easy game, and is made exponentially easier by jacking up your attack power. The problem with the skill building is that it makes the game easier as you progress through levels, while one would expect that the game would become more difficult as Jake advances to later stages. With an increased attack meter, Jake can fly through levels as a dragon while destroying everything in his path with ease, removing what little challenge the game presents, but "American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" is based on a cartoon that is geared to the under 12 crowd, so perhaps the game is geared to a younger crowd as well. "American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" is a moderately entertaining title, found on the Console Classix site, perhaps more so if your mother still packs your lunch.

Directions:

"American Dragon: Jake Long - Rise of the Huntsclan" features over 20 stages, and multiple cartoony cut scenes. Unfortunately, when not on his skateboard or in dragon form, Jake only has one attack and you will be jamming the B button the whole game. Jake can attack while on his skateboard by grinding the tail of his board and skating into enemies.

Jake is able to summon friends to help him in his quest, the utility of which is debatable because although the friends perform different functions (i.e. health drops, crystal power-ups), they never seem to help at the time when you need them.

Blue crystals are scattered throughout levels and also can appear after defeating enemies. The blue crystals fill Jake's Focus bar, which when full, allows Jake to turn into a dragon and slaughter everything on the screen.