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Adventure Time: Card Wars DVD Review: The Adventure Continues


Adventure Time: Card Wars DVD Review: The Adventure Continues
7 out of 10

Adventure Time is the animated tale of Finn the human and his shapeshifting talking dog companion Jake adventuring around the post-apocalyptic Kingdom of Ooo. Finn is (supposedly) the last human alive on earth and most of the population is mutant creatures. The series created by Pendleton Ward has been wildly successful, winning Emmy and Peabody Awards. The seventh season of the show is currently airing and it has been renewed for its eighth.

As previously reported on, several episodes of Adventure Time are featured on the compilation DVD Adventure Time: Card Wars. There are sixteen altogether and they naturally include the episode the DVD is named for and its follow up episode, “Daddy-Daughter Card Wars”.  The DVD actually includes a card from the “Card Wars” game. The one I got was a “Cyclops: Rainbow Creature”. It give “+1 DEF for each open eye depicted on other creatures you control” and features an illustration of a cute little one-eyed troll. The card is shiny, seems well made and it’s protected by some plastic packaging, which is nice.

As for the episodes on the DVD, they’re mainly from the sixth and seventh season of the show, though there are a couple episodes from other seasons, like the much-loved “What was Missing” episode from season three- the episode where viewers first learned about Marceline the Vampire Queen and Princess Bubblegum’s complicated relationship.

Other than the concentration towards the last two seasons and the inclusion of the "Card Wars" episodes, I couldn’t glean much of a pattern in what episodes were included in this DVD. It certainly wasn’t the most “accessible” episodes, as there were definitely a few that didn’t make as much sense without other episodes as context and were part of specific storylines. The biggest example of this was “Evergreen”, which dealt heavily with the backstory of the series and was part of the ongoing season six storyline about an approaching comet.

However, while there wasn’t much of a pattern, it is true that most of the episodes included were good, enjoyable episodes from the series that gave a good taste of Adventure Time, showing the series’ impressive emotional range, vast mythology, intense surrealness and interesting cast of characters. You get the reality-bending antics of the episode “Crossover”, the self-contained puzzlement of “The Hall of Egress” and the character relationship sttudy in “Varmints” which shows how much Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship has progressed since “What Was Missing”.

Unfortunately, this DVD does not include any special features like commentary or behind-the-scenes videos. It’s simply a collection of sixteen episodes on one disk. There are no frills or anything else added.

Therefore, if you’re planning to get the sixth and seventh seasons of Adventure Time when they come out, I can’t really recommend getting this DVD, as the episodes are mainly concentrated in that area and the only extra thing you really get is the little card. But if you’re not really planning on getting those but feel the itch to own a small collection of fun episodes from later seasons of a great, story-rich show or really want that card, this isn’t a bad purchase. Especially if you just can’t wait to own some season 7 episodes, as it will probably be some time before the current season is released.

Adventure Time: Card Wars is currently available on Amazon for a nice reduced price of $8.99. Get it if you want to get your game on! 

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