PAW Patrol: On a Roll!

PAW Patrol: On a Roll!
This game is not on a roll.
Genre(s): Platform Rating(s): ESRB: E PEGI: 3+ Platform(s): Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One Release: October 23, 2018 Engine: Unity Developer(s): Torus Games Publisher(s): Outright Games Country: Australia Series: PAW Patrol Successor: PAW Patrol Mighty Pups: Save Adventure Bay (by release date)

PAW Patrol: On a Roll (stylized as PAW Patrol: On a Roll!) is a platform video game developed by Torus Games and published by Outright for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch on October 23, 2018. It is based on the children's television series PAW Patrol. A 3DS version of the game was also planned, but was eventually cancelled. (more info about it below)

Why It's Not On a Roll

1. Boring gameplay, as expected for children's games these days, especially ones released for consoles. You spend the entire game doing nothing but extremely basic platforming and collecting dog treats, with no fun. In fact, many older teens and adults would give up due to how boringly simple the game is.
2. It is also far too easy, as there are no enemies or even bosses during platforming stages. In fact, Mayor Humdinger (the main villain of the TV series) doesn't appear in the game at all.
3. The graphics are poor and subpar, especially for a 2018 game, as they look more like a Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360 game rather than an eighth/ninth-generation game.
4. Poor animated cutscenes, looking as if they were ripped straight from the TV series.
5. Generic soundtrack that sounds like stock music taken from YouTube.
6. The levels are repetitive, re-using the same exact layouts over and over again.
7. All of the pups control the exact same way, even sharing the exact same animations as one another, making them reskins.
8. Speaking of the pups, none of them even have voice acting except for Ryder, who is incredibly annoying as explained in the next pointer.
9. Much like Race with Ryan where Ryan appears an awful lot during a race, Ryder appears an awful lot during levels, constantly telling the player what to do and what's happening. Even worse, he never shuts up, and there is no way to turn this off in settings, forcing you to have to mute your TV just so that you won't hear him.
10. In the pause menu, there are only two options. One to resume the mission, and another to end it, with no other option.
11. The framerate can be pretty bad at times; sometimes it can change from 30 FPS to 25 FPS or lower.
12. The game's price is $29.99 USD, which is far too overpriced for a game like this. With this money you could buy a decent or better platformer for a cheaper price.
13. The game is quite short, especially for 2018 standards, as you can beat it in less than 3 hours or even shorter if you want to speedrun it, meaning that you can beat it in about 2 hours and 30 minutes.
14. Overall, this is just a cash grab made to make money due to how popular the series is, and due to being children, they have made little to no effort, as they know that the game will make money anyway due to being based on a popular licensed children's IP.

Redeeming Qualities

1. At least the game is faithful to the show, with the intro being the best example.
2. The game can still be fun for little kids, despite the lack of challenge compared to other platformers, even ones that are targeted at the same age group.
3. Despite being mediocre, the graphics are accurate to the show and are better looking than other Outright Games out there.
4. The controls aren't bad and are decent, due to being responsive.
5. At least it's better than most PAW Patrol games out there, despite the game still being bad.

Reception

The game received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms. While some consider it to be a decent game, other see it as a cash grab only made to make money due to how popular the series is much like a lot of other Outright-published games.

Trivia

• A Nintendo 3DS version of the game was planned, but was eventually cancelled.
  • When asked about the port, Outright Games responded saying the port was "postponed until further notice."  however, due to the port still not being available and the 3DS being discontinued as of 2020, it seems unlikely that the port will ever be released.

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