Another serious problem is the size of the levels. Each level is huge, with sprawling sub-sections that often overlap. You might spend several minutes navigating a particularly tricky spot, then make a small mistake, plunging down into a previous section. Losing several minutes worth of progress because you zigged instead of zagged is no fun at all. This is particularly true when you have to repeat a section full of enemies, which have a tendency to respawn at the exact wrong time, often right on your head or where it is nearly impossible to avoid them. So large are the levels that there are loading screens when you enter doors to sub-sections, something I found quite irritating.
By far, the biggest problem in Tenorman's Revenge is the method by which you unlock new levels. To progress, you must find a set number of time cores, found scattered throughout each level. Some of these can only be obtained by specific characters. For example, you might need Stan's football toss to flip a switch, or Cartman's belly smash to remove a wall. Unfortunately, there is no swapping of characters on the fly; the fewer players there are, the more of these time cores will be tantalizingly out of your reach.
There are super hero power ups, where characters can assume their alter ego to get to special areas. If you come upon a section for The Coon, and you don't have Cartman in your group, that's just one more time core you will lack. Thus, unless you play with a full group, you will have to repeat levels often. Replayability is not a bad thing, but when it's forced in such a strongarm manner, it feels wrong. You might have to trudge through a very long level twice in order to reach a 30 second section with a new time core you need to unlock a new level. Not fun.
Local co-op supports up to four players, but there is no drop in/drop out. Online play includes up to four as well, and local players can also play online, which is always a plus. However, there is a significant amount of lag when playing online that pretty much kills the experience. Making the sluggish controls even worse leads to frustration. Apart from simultaneous play, there aren't really any teamwork focused moves or puzzles, either. Co-op feels just as lazy as the rest of the game.
Given all the problems in Tenorman's Revenge, I cannot recommend it. Those who really enjoy the show might find these issues more tolerable due to the quality of the presentation. For non-fans, the artificial difficulty, too-long levels, and boring progression system are serious problems that the merely average platforming and mundane co-op elements do not make up for.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Play as one of South Park's favorite sons in four player local or online co-op.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.