Sooner or later, all 2D action/adventures go 3D, and all 3D action/adventures do the reverse. Crash started out in the third dimension then morphed into a grand side-scroller for the Game Boy Advance. Sonic and Mario have gone back and forth because, as we all know, hedgehogs and plumbers just can’t make up their minds.

Tak, the likable hero and explorer from Nickelodeon and THQ, has mostly stayed on the 3D side of the fence. He dabbled in the second dimension a few years ago but was hesitant to take the plunge. Now it would seem that he is no longer fearful: with a staff in his hand and a feather in his hair, Tak is now part of the side-scroller world. His second DS adventure, Tak: Mojo Mistake, takes him on a journey you won’t recognize. And though the game has an abundance of flaws, overall the project was not a mistake.

Better From This Angle

Tak may have grown accustomed to the behind-the-character 3D view, but this time around the side perspective is much more flattering. The mechanics have made a smooth transition from open-world exploring to side-scroller adventuring. Tak’s controls remain intact with a few differences, starting with the weapon creation system and the ability to walk through certain levels upside down. Mojo Mistake gives Tak access to combo attacks you won’t see in Guardians of Gross. More importantly, because of the 2D perspective, the levels, no matter how visually similar to the console games, provide an entirely different gameplay experience.

A Mini Offering

Contrary to what most publishers believe, mini-games are risky business. You can’t just throw them into a game and expect them to work. They have to mean something. Thankfully, Mojo Mistake’s developers seem to get that. That’s why the additional content – such as forming new magic spells – is not delivered in the form of a mini-game so much as a side element with simple touch screen interactions. They’re not long enough to become tiresome or complex enough to become distracting. When you want to, say, create a new weapon or upgrade an existing one, you’ll drop by the Alchemy Lab, make a few selections and exit.

This whole process is facilitated with items – anything from nuts and berries to plants and crystals – you’ve collected during the game. Unlike every other side-scroller on the planet, Tak is not separated by levels – Mojo Mistake’s gameplay is divided by missions. This means that you will return to the same location multiple times. In between missions, you’ll end up back at a jungle village where Tak can speak to the locals, pick up new missions, store items and weapons, and visit the lab to create new things or conduct experiments.

Variety Done Right (Almost)

There are so many items to collect that dying can be a royal pain in the butt. Death does not come easy because, as you can imagine, Mojo Mistake is a rather easy game. But there are tons of enemies to battle, many of which re-spawn when you leave an area, creating a new danger for players who return. Some missions are destruction-based; Tak will not win until every enemy has been defeated. That too presents an issue for item-hungry players who spend five to 10 minutes unearthing every berry in the stage, only to lose everything when death knocks at the door.

That, of course, makes Mojo Mistake closer to the 3D open-world adventures where item retrieval is tied to your ability to survive the duration of a mission, and is likely to infuriate some players while delighting others. The same is true for the level repetition, which strikes the moment you revisit an area that was presumably completed. This won’t sit well with every gamer but will not be a problem for those who want their handheld games to more closely mirror what they play on a console.

Artificial, But Where’s The Intelligence?

While most of Mojo Mistake’s features are well polished, the game stumbles in two of the core areas of action/adventuring: combat and exploring. The level designs are a mixed bag – some are really cool and fun to dig into, but others are a little bland and feel overly layered with nooks and platforms that lead to more nooks and platforms. This might not have been a problem but, when revisiting levels for a new mission or when re-playing levels to catch all the items, the game feels very repetitive.

Players will appreciate Tak’s smooth controls and simple attack scheme but may not like the enemies who battle with repetitive attack patterns. Mojo Mistake isn’t a button-masher but may occasionally feel like one.

Gameplay: 7.2
Polished controls, spell/item/weapon creation, and repetitive mission objectives make up the bulk of Mojo Mistake. Imperfect but worth playing.

Graphics: 6.0
The same-old semi-3D visuals with sprite-based characters.

Sound: 7.0
Decent music and sound effects, but be warned – they are repetitive.

Difficulty: Easy
Mojo made easy.

Concept: 7.4
One more of the more interesting side-scrolling games released this year.

Multiplayer: N/A
You can trade items with other players. That's all.

Overall: 7.2
An interesting new take on the Tak franchise, Mojo Mistake should entertain newcomers as well as the existing fan base.