LightSlinger Heroes | iOS Review
I’m typically a console player, but occasionally I’ll dip my toe into the world of mobile games. Most of the time, I find them to be shallow experiences or ones that want to suck my wallet dry with microtransactions. LightSlinger Heroes from Skyborne Games might have brought me closer to the fold than I’ve been in a long time. While it’s not perfect, it fixes a lot of problems I’ve had with cell phone games. It’s deceptively complex and delivers an adequate amount of play time without requiring a lot of extra money.
At first look, LightSlinger Heroes looks like a simple Bust-a-Move clone with Puzzle Quest combat mechanics thrown in. While that is somewhat of an accurate description, there’s a lot more going on than it appears on the surface. Each battle pits you against a number of enemies, the final one occasionally being a larger, more difficult boss. In order to inflict damage on your opponent, you must match at least three similarly spheres. The more gems you drop with a single shot, the more damage your heroes will deal.
Additionally, the color you match gives you a different effect that makes gameplay even more interesting. One color reflects damage back to the enemy, another creates a shield to block attacks, etc. You have five companions that also have a special ability with a respective cooldown. These abilities range from direct attack, defense, or additional help on the physical board. Because of the cooldowns, however, they’ll more than likely only be able to be used once per battle.
The characters themselves are what offer the deeper experience in the game. You earn additional characters by winning battles or from in-game purchases. These characters, which have one of five elements attached to them, have an overwhelming number of stats associated with them. Since you can only have five in your party at one time, you spend a significant amount of time managing said party. Characters level up, but can also be combined with other characters to create a stronger one.
My only issue here is the level of complexity associated with managing these characters. I never knew if I was making a good decision in regards to upgrading my party, as the strategy never seemed 100% clear. I fully own to the fact, however, that I don’t typically play this type of game, so I could just be ignorant of the genre standards. Still, I never felt like I was missing out on anything, so perhaps I’m reading into it too much.
LightSlinger Heroes offers more than one game mode. The first is a story mode, which has you traversing across a map with eight points in each area containing a string of enemies to fight. Defeating enemies unlocks chests, experience points, and gems that can be used to make purchases in the online store. 
There’s even an “elite” set of levels that offer higher challenges with corresponding rewards. The other two modes, the “Arena” and “Events”, offer an interactive experience with other players. This is where the true challenge lies as well as the fun of team-building.
What’s most impressive about this mobile game is the art style and the music. You can tell even on the title screen that a lot of love went into making it. The art feels like a western artist took a crack at Japanese animation (in a good way). The music is incredibly catchy and has a very Nintendo vibe to it. One particular theme felt very Super Smash Bros. to me, for instance.
LightSlinger Heroes Final Verdict
I’m impressed with the amount of time I genuinely wanted to put into LightSlinger Heroes. Even without dropping a dime on the game, I was provided a quality experience that never felt insulting to me as a consumer. Yes, you must have a certain amount of resources to play a round, but they replenish at a very acceptable rate. I never once felt dissatisfied when I ran out and needed to wait a while for more gameplay. The bite-size chunks given to me were plenty.
It’s a fresh take on the free-to-play model, of which I hope other companies will take notice. Even though it will never stop from tempting you to spend real money on the game, this is one that feels less intrusive than others of its kind. There’s a considerable amount of attention to detail put into LightSlinger Heroes, and it’s a step ahead of other mobile titles in its complexity. As a free download, it’s hard to not recommend at least giving it a shot, especially if you are a fan of either Bust-a-Move or Puzzle Quest. It’s possible that the formula could wear thin for many players after a short period of time, but you won’t be disappointed initially. Give it a shot and see if it works for you. You just might be surprised, like I was.
This review is based of of an iOS review copy provided by Skyborne Games and Novy Unlimited for coverage purposes.
SlightSlinger Heroes
Free (In-Game Purchases Available)
Pros
- Satisfying Core Gameplay
- Beautiful Art Style
- Appropriate Amount of Gameplay
Cons
- Overwhelming Menu Management
- Sparse Tutorials
- Repetetive
