- Site: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall
- Publisher: Cartoon Network New Media
- Developer: Grigon Entertainment
- Genre: Role-Playing Game
By Brad Cook
The Powerpuff Girls are in trouble. So are Samurai Jack, Dexter the boy genius, and the cast of Codename: Kids Next Door. In fact, all the Cartoon Network characters are at risk, and they need your help. Planet Fusion has attacked, threatening to overrun Earth with its destructive green goo, as it has done to countless other worlds, but you and your friends are ready to fight back.
To get you started, Dexter decides to send you into the future. Unfortunately, his sister Dee Dee is up to her usual mischief, and her errant button pushing sends you further into the future than Dexter intended, breaking the time travel machine in the process. You’ll be able to fix it by completing missions for various Cartoon Network characters, but when you return to the present, you’ll discover that your adventure has just begun.
FusionFall on the Rise
You explore not only well-known Cartoon Network locations, such as Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, but also a downtown area, Infected Zones overrun by Fusion Matter, and other new places — there are over 60 playable zones. All of them are populated by various types of Fusion monsters as well as dark versions of Cartoon Network characters, known as Fusions. Luckily, you can equip two weapons at any given time.
Scattered around FusionFall are three types of missions: world missions, which are basic tasks; guide missions, which ask you to complete an important goal on behalf of the Cartoon Network character guiding you through the current area; and nano missions, which reward you with a miniature version of a Cartoon Network character, known as a nano. Complete world and guide missions to obtain special items and Fusion matter, which you must collect in a specific quantity before a new nano mission becomes available.
You’ll eventually collect 36 nanos, each of whom confers bonuses of your choosing, such as the ability to run faster or jump higher. Up to three nanos can accompany you at any given time; each one is a different type — Blaston, Adaptium, or Cosmix — that gives you an advantage against certain types of Fusion monsters, so call on the right ones for the current confrontation. Use your Nanos wisely: they begin to tire as soon as you activate them and quickly wear down while fighting Fusion monsters and Fusions. They’ll need to rest before you can call on them again.
Fusions are the toughest adversaries you’ll face, except one: Lord Fuse, who rules Planet Fusion. You’ll eventually encounter him and learn more about his true identity. We just hope you don’t have too many meetings with Grim along the way.
Game Hardware
Check out our systems for your best gaming experience.
Assemble the Team. Get together with your friends and tackle missions.
The View From Up Here. Soaring above the Cartoon Network world.
It Gets Tricky Here. While in the Infected Zones, stay away from anything doused in Fusion: simply touching it will damage you.
If you liked this game, check out:
- A Tale in the Desert IV
- Disney’s Toontown Online
- Pirates of the Caribbean Online
- Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online
System Requirements:
- Mac OS X version 10.4 (10.5 recommended)
- 2GHz Intel processor (2.4 GHz recommended)
- 512MB of RAM (2GB recommended)
- Video Card: NVidia or ATI
- 1024x768 minimum screen resolution
All Cartoons, All the Time
Cartoon Network went live in October 1992 with a Bugs Bunny cartoon. At the beginning of 1994, the channel made its first foray into the world of original content with “The Moxy Show,” which starred a dog named Moxy and his sidekick, Flea. The pair introduced classic cartoons and joked around; Moxy even had a crush on “Josie and the Pussycats.” The following year, the network premiered “What a Cartoon! Show,” which introduced Dexter, the Powerpuff Girls, and many other characters who later appeared in their own series.
While FusionFall features locations from many Cartoon Network series, such as Camp Kidney from “Camp Lazo,” it focuses on 11 shows whose characters you’ll encounter:
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: When Grim (yes, the reaper) tries to take the soul of Billy’s hamster, Mandy offers to play a game against him. If Grim wins, he takes the hamster’s soul; if he loses, he must be the children’s best friend. He loses, of course. When your FusionFall character’s health reaches zero, you meet Grim, who helps you get back into the action.
- Dexter’s Laboratory: Dexter is a boy genius who has a secret laboratory behind a bookcase in his bedroom. Unfortunately, many of his experiments are hampered by his not-so-bright older sister, Dee Dee, who always manages to defeat Dexter’s security measures and access his lab. His rival is another hyper-intelligent boy named Mandark. Dexter’s computer, Computress, is a disembodied voice, but she appears in FusionFall in physical form.
- The Powerpuff Girls: Professor Utonium created Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup to defend Townsville from a variety of adversaries, including bank robbers and aliens. You’ll also encounter Townsville’s mayor and five of the Powerpuff Girls’ enemies: Mojo Jojo, Princess Morbucks, Him, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and Ace.
- Ed, Edd n Eddy: The three boys hang around their suburban cul-de-sac and get into mischief. You’ll also meet their antagonists, May, Marie, and Lee Kanker.
- Courage the Cowardly Dog: Courage was found by Muriel, who lives in Nowhere with her husband, Eustace. While he’s easily scared, Courage manages to live up to his name and defeat the villains who threaten his owners.
- Samurai Jack: Jack is from feudal Japan, where the demon Aku destroyed his father’s empire. Before Jack could defeat him, he sent the young samurai far into the future, where he wanders a world ruled by Aku, looking for a way to return to his own time and defeat the demon. In addition to Jack, you’ll meet The Scotsman, who has teamed up with the samurai for a few adventures, and Demongo, one of Aku’s minions.
- Codename: Kids Next Door: The five kids — known as Numbah One through Five — fight parents and teenagers from their high-tech treehouse. You’ll also run into three of their antagonists: Father, Toilenator, and Stickybeard.
- Megas XLR: You’ll meet Coop, a slacker who comes into possession of Megas, a robot sent back in time from the year 3037 to help win a war against aliens. Unfortunately, Megas was damaged during the trip and wound up in 1936, instead of 3035, where he sat in a junkyard for almost 70 years. Coop turns Megas into a hot rod that he names XLR (eXtra Large Robot).
- Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends: Madame Foster started her home to take in the physical forms of imaginary friends, who are left to fend for themselves after children outgrow them. You won’t meet her, but you will encounter a child named Mac, Ms. Foster’s granddaughter, Frankie, and five of the show’s most prominent imaginary friends: Bloo, Eduardo, Wilt, Coco, and Mr. Herriman.
- The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: Juniper’s adventures take place in a town full of magical activity.
Ben 10: Alien Force: The successor to the popular series “Ben 10,” which was about a boy named Ben Tennyson who discovers a device, the Omnitrix, while on a camping trip. It allows him to take on a variety of alien forms, a power he uses to fight evil and sometimes get into mischief. In the new series, he’s a teenager who thinks he no longer has any use for the Omnitrix, but when he learns that an alien race wants to take over the Earth, he has no choice but to rely on the device once more.
You’ll also meet his cousin Gwen, Grandpa Max, his friend Kevin, an alien ally of his named Tetrax Shard, and the villains Hex and Vilgax.