For many, Zorro is the quintessential masked vigilante story, with a longstanding legacy that includes inspiring the likes of Batman. Over the years Johnston McCulley's creation has seen numerous adaptations, and one of the most recent of these is Zorro The Chronicles, a CGI animated children's TV show. This has now seen a video game adaptation courtesy of developer BKOM Studios.

Zorro The Chronicles follows in the footsteps of the animated show, with the mysterious swashbuckler tasked with bringing justice to California. The game takes place over eighteen stages, with the player choosing which of twins Ines and Diego to play as at the start of each stage. This isn't just a cosmetic choice either, with Ines starting each stage with more health and Diego with a higher threshold to use special takedown skills.

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In terms of genre, Zorro The Chronicles takes its cues from plenty of action adventure games that are currently on the market. Minute-to-minute gameplay is full of combat with important countering mechanics, platforming around stages, and some stealth mechanics such as tagging enemies in Sniper Elite, although it's all a bit of a taster session rather than anything being particularly in-depth. There's also some exploration to be had if players so choose, to do extra tasks like putting up posters that make fun of chief villain Monasterio.

Zorro The Chronicles Stealth

Something that Zorro The Chronicles succeeds at is making use of the cheeky charms of Zorro as a character. It’s like a child’s first Sleeping Dogs, using the environment to pull off unique take-downs and Super KOs, while also tying into bonus tasks that the player can complete along the way such as making sure to knock a certain number of guards into a fountain. It’s cartoonish and fun, particularly the animations that show Zorro cutting his trademark Z.

Unfortunately Zorro The Chronicles doesn't always follow through when it comes to enjoyable gameplay. The game's controls are a bit stiff and clumsy, and the game's camera is rather sluggish when swift and precise movements may be required - particularly when near water, which will result in an instant death for our titular hero. It essentially feels like a slightly awkward Batman Arkham or Assassin's Creed game most of the time in combat.

Zorro The Chronicles does give the option of stealthier routes, but this again is quite limited, and there are always sections where the player will need to fight waves of enemies to progress. As such, even though the game offers the player different entry places in the level akin to Hitman, there's just not the flexibility here to make stealth a viable option throughout. However, it can be handy in certain moments when the harder difficulty level is chosen, sticking to high places and jumping down for instant takedowns on tougher guards.

Zorro The Chronicles Combat

When it comes to visuals, Zorro The Chronicles is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some very enjoyable character animations here and there, particularly when using special takedowns on enemies, but overall things do feel a little basic. It's also worth noting that there are some glitches here and there too, such as character models shifting into one another or getting stuck in the environment - something that can also happen to the player with things like rocks.

As such Zorro The Chronicles doesn't quite hit the mark. It's a game made for children, which is why having a more simplistic edge may be useful, but the overall level of quality is perhaps not there. Although it gets the tone right, and things like its environmental takedowns are bound to cause a laugh for fans of the show, the overall game isn't quite as enjoyable as it could be.

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Zorro The Chronicles is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided with a PS5 download code for the purposes of this review.