REAL GAMES - THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN - PRISONERS OF THE SUN

God damn this game has a long title.  Did it really need the "adventures of" title as well?  I just have this and Yogi bear left, and then I'm done with these damn adventures of games.

Going in to this game, I had never even heard of Tin Tin before.  Apparently, this franchise is popular as hell in France.  From comic strips to live action and animated movies, Tin Tin has been in everything.  So, of course it has a Super Nintendo game.  The game is actually based off of a movie, that is based off of a book, that was originally based on the comic strip.  As confusing as that is, the game surpasses that with a very strange take on the platforming genre.

I have no clue what this says, but the French are fucking weird.  I can only guess that a Casterman is the guy that gets castrated by the bull.

Starting off, I was quick to realize that this game has a very unique style to it.  Yes, it is a platform game, but it actually uses the background to get around.  You have to constantly jump to the foreground or background to avoid enemies and objects.  It can be confusing at times, but it something I haven't seen in a SNES game until now.

The controls are...strange.  You have the standard run, jump, and action button, but the d-pad also comes into play.  Down picks things up, makes Tin Tin crawl, and jumps to the foreground.  Up climbs walls and cliffs, but also jumps to the background.  There is also various one time uses throughout the game, such as attacking with a canoe paddle.  If they had used the shoulder buttons to change playing fields, it would have been a lot better in my opinion.

The music in this game is definitely it's weakest attribute.  Bland midis are looped throughout the entire thing, and to be honest, the sound effects are either non existent or just plain pointless.

Daft Punk: The only good music to ever come out of France.

Graphically, The Adventures of Tin Tin may appear bland and underwhelming.  However, upon my research of the Tin Tin franchise, I discovered that the game is pretty faithful to the source material.  I guess that's just how the French roll.  Or the Belgians.  Not really sure who to blame.

Unfortunately, the new elements introduced into the gameplay provide more frustration than fun.  There's also the length of the game to factor in.  There are about 12 stages of sorts, and they all go on for way too long.  In fact, that pretty much explains this entire game: Too Damn Long.

The Adventures of Tin Tin tries to add some freshness to platforming, but the game itself is stale.  I'll give it 2 fanatical Aztecs out of 5 though, simply for trying something new.  If you're a fan of the franchise, this might be fun for you, but otherwise don't even bother.

After tricking the Aztecs into believing you are a god, you shake hands and the credits roll.  Woopidy do.