What would it be like if your Funko Pop! Vinyl figures went on an epic adventure? When a villain throws the Funko world into danger, it’s up to the protagonists of several worlds to stop them. It’s your typical platforming adventure that throws in the fun of Funko to spice things up. Every world has something new to offer while taking you through the familiar moments in that series run. However, the brand recognition of Funko isn’t able to bring the game higher than that of a regular platformer.

Funko Fusion lets you play as characters from notable titles like Jurassic World, The Umbrella Academy, or The Thing. There’s a lot to discover and unlock, adding lots of replay value. The game’s environments and settings are accurate, immersing you in fan-favourite locations and scenarios. But Funko Fusion is no different from other platformers at its core. Without its star power, it’s just a platformer that is missing some quality-of-life changes.

Funko Fusion starts by letting you choose from a few characters from a few shows. After a quick tutorial, you are introduced to the villain, Eddy. Eddy is seeking control over the Funko realm and attacks its current monarch, Freddy. Freddy is unable to stop Eddy but stalls his plan by splitting the Funko crown into pieces. It’s up to you to stop Eddy from ruining the Funko worlds and gather the crown pieces first.

The story isn’t the game’s inherent strength because the plot is typical for platformer games. However, each individual world has its own story based on the series it’s in. Jurassic World covers the events of the first movie, while The Umbrella Academy starts with the first season. There’s almost no dialogue outside of the main story where you fight back against Eddy. You go through around five adventures per world with any extras belonging to cameos from other series.

On one hand, this helps players experience the Funko worlds without much distraction. The work done on the environments and soundtrack is amazing, making you feel like you are in the show or movie. The attention to detail is immense and it shows especially when finding collectibles related to the world. It actually feels like you are exploring a world as a Funko character instead of an adventure with the brand slapped on it.

The downside is that the lack of dialogue forces you to rely on your existing knowledge of a series. There are lots of worlds you explore, even more if you include cameo quests and characters. It’s highly unlikely that anyone is familiar with every series and that can affect your willingness to try new worlds. However, you need to play every world in order to get the full experience in both story and gameplay.

This means you can go through several worlds and not know what’s going on outside of general mission objectives. While you don’t need to be a fan of a series to play Funko Fusion, it doesn’t feel like the best way to learn about a new title. For example, Scott Pilgrim relies on dialogue whether it’s the movie or comic book. Take away the dialogue and it’s hard to capture the charm of the series if you weren’t already attached.

The gameplay of Funko Fusion is easy to pick up as a 3D platformer. Regardless of the world you explore, you run, shoot, and hit with every character. Each series you unlock has four characters to start. All characters have a melee and ranged weapon with some slight variations depending on the character. Some characters have a shotgun while others have semi-automatic weapons. Certain characters also have unique abilities depending on the series they come from.

Every character plays the same way with slight differences depending on the weapon type. Some characters have unique abilities that don’t necessarily grant combat advantages, but allow them to explore the world. For example, Number Five from the Umbrella Academy can teleport through certain objects. This helps you pick up collectibles that wouldn’t normally be found. Special molds can also craft objects that are necessary for solving puzzles.

Each level has a lot to explore and there are surprises in unexpected places. Enemies do roam about and you must be prepared for combat. It’s a good way of keeping players on their toes as they explore every nook and cranny. This also keeps the world dynamic with interactable objects everywhere instead of a static world that just exists. Every discovery feels rewarding because you must be innovative and watch out for enemies.

Unfortunately, every character having the same playstyle is a double-edged sword. Few characters have unique skills and even those skills don’t make a big difference in combat. It makes every character feel the same unless you personally know how unique they are. If changing characters doesn’t change your playstyle significantly, it makes it less appealing to try others outside of your favourites.

The tutorial doesn’t give you a complete rundown on how to play or what to look out for. If you haven’t played other platformers, you could be taken by surprise if you don’t know the controls. There’s also a lack of explanation on what you should look out for and what objects can be interacted with. Several things have to be learned on the fly and it’s unnecessary trial by fire. A detailed tutorial would make the transition easy rather than forcing the player to learn almost everything.

The levels are also not designed to be explored in one go. Several areas require unique characters from other worlds to explore them. That’s something you can’t do unless you finish the world at least once. There are also other tools that you can only craft in specific worlds before they become available to everyone. Funko Fusion is designed to be played multiple times with multiple characters. That pads out the game length even for a regular platformer.

Without the titular brand figures, there’s nothing that stands out for Funko Fusion. It’s a platformer with collectibles, enemies to fight, and the occasional puzzle to solve. There’s an adventure to be had and an overarching story, but nothing you wouldn’t find in any other adventure game. The experience is ordinary unless you are in awe of the Funko recreations and want to see the figures come to life.