With a couple of musical movies, holiday specials, and a TV series, Trolls is one of DreamWorks most successful franchises.  And now there’s a new video game!  An evil troll has hypnotized everyone by playing smooth jazz from his magical clarinet, and now it’s up to Poppy, Branch, and others to stop him in this 3D platformer.  You can even create your own troll character to play as!  The game is available on current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Your troll can run and jump in 3D fashion to bypass obstacles in this 3D world based on the Trolls franchise.  As you play, you’ll come across tokens that when collected, will net you a new ‘hair-jitsu’ move.  You’ll be able to do things like use your hair to spin attack to defeat enemies, or swing it to hit long distance switches, and more.  At some points in the story, you may have to play a music rhythm mini-game to progress.  Collect marbles to unlock new outfits at shops along the way, as well as colored jars and troll statues that I have no idea what they do when you get them.  The best part of the game is that you can create your own troll to play as.  Edit hairstyles, facial features, outfits, colors of everything, and even what voice your troll will have!

Even though the game has bad camera angles and somewhat shoddy controls in places, like when doing wall jumps, most of the time it wasn’t a problem.  Except for one part when you have to outrun a giant snake in an autoscrolling section and those problems reared its ugly head and I couldn’t get past that part.  And if I had trouble with it, you know a little kid would!  Plus, for a franchise known for its music, there sure isn’t a lot of it in the game.  I got tired of the same song in all the levels I played real quick.  It’s a shame because with a bit more polish, this could’ve been a pretty decent game for kids and Trolls fans.

Kid Factor:

DreamWorks Trolls Remix Rescue is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You hit cartoony bugs and spiders with your hair, and they just fly back when defeated.  If you’re OK with your kids watching the movies and TV shows, they’ll be OK with this game.  Reading skill is needed for the text, though.

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television