Licensed games can be a hot pandering mess if they are not in the right hands. So, it’s a good thing that WayForward knows it’s way around a 2D platformer. Earning their stripes in this genre over the past few years from the charming throw back, A Boy And His Blob and the action packed hardcore shooter, Aliens: Infestation. Now, with their sites set on Pendelton Ward’s ‘Adventure Time’ the only outcome can only be awesomely algebraic.

The brief time we had with ‘Hey ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage’ left us impressed and wanting more. The demo began in the Tree House, as most episodes of the show do, with Finn waking up from a terrifying dream brought on by the cosmic owl. Irritated by this, his best friend Jake offers to let him smash up some junk in their secret basement to let off some steam (a fine china a.k.a. tea cup bashing tutorial level).

At this point, the combat mechanics has Finn punching and kicking his enemies (he is sans sword at the beginning) with Jake (lazily piggybacking in his backpack) being able to flail his metamorphic noodle arms out of the bag for long-ranged attacks. The ‘loot system’ in place was reminiscent of Zelda II or Castlevania, using their robot pal, BMO, as an inventory management apparatus with the ability to mix and match items to create effective healing wizardry. Hamburgers mixed with Ketchup have more healing benefits than a hamburger on its own.

After setting off on adventure, trying to find out why the Ice King has stolen their garbage. The fairly traditional 2D platformer, view would switch at times to a top-down map when traveling (A love letter to Zelda II?) with random encounters showing up as markers on the map. My fifteen minutes plus was not nearly enough time (I got to the ‘boss’ battle where I threw down against Donny the Ogre) and has me thinking that I NEED to get a 3DS.

The game is said to be around eight to ten hours, which sounds like a perfect length for an Adventure Time on the go. The special edition of the game will sell for $39.99 (only $10 more than just buying the game itself) and will come in a Enchiridion styled steel case. The extras include a replica stylus of Finn’s gold sword, an exclusive bestiary guide book and a poster map of the Land Of Ooo. It is scheduled to be released on the Nintendo 3DS hand-held on November 20th.