League of Evil Review

League of Evil

Release: August 31, 2017
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Ratalaika Games
Genre: Action, Indie, Platformer, Retro, Switch Reviews
PEGI: RP
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Mission Log. 8/31/2017. The League of Evil have sent their scientists out to cause trouble. I have been dispatched to elimiate them by any means neccessary. I prefer my fists. The League of Evil will not win. With my Nintendo Switch in hand, I’ll take them down and then go out for a beer.

League of Evil’s story is pretty simple, but the addition of humor helps it a bit. Its a very dry humor, so its possible that some might not find the game funny at all. I found the game witty. That said, the story is just there to propel the gameplay forward. So how does League of Evil play anyway?

The first time someone’s head goes flying off their body, you may be surprised. That sounds pretty graphic but the violence here is cartoony. The levels themselves and the gameplay are very old school.

League of Evil reminds me a bit of games like Mega Man and Contra. There is a lot of platforming and dodging enemy bullets. The character you control doesn’t have a weapon though, he uses his fists. The jumping style in this game is definitly a lot like Contra. The game’s difficulty is on par with Contra too.

You should not expect an easy game with League of Evil. Death will be your close friend and the game rubs that in by placing a death counter at the top right corner of the screen. Some of the deaths you’ll find funny, if you have a sense of humor, and other deaths might seem a little cheap.

There is also no checkpoints any of the levels so you’ll find yourself going back to the beginning of a level if you die! The levels are not very long but this still can be pretty annoying.

League of Evil is definitly a throw-back game. I think it would be more at home on the 3DS. The gameplay just seems a bit too simple for the Nintendo Switch. If this game only had its regular levels, then I wouldn’t think much of it at all. Don’t get me wrong, the levels can be fun, but mostly they are just challenging and pretty repetitive. Thankfully, the game has a level editor too!

The level editor in League of Evil isn’t perfect, but it does provide the player with some cool tools to create levels. I created two levels for League of Evil and I may or may not create more.

The process of creating a level isn’t too hard, which is good since there are no tutorials explaining how to create one. The game does have some touch screen use for creating levels, but I’d recommend just use the analog stick and buttons. The touch screen use isn’t that good.

The analog stick and buttons work fine for creating levels. They work even better for playing levels. One thing to note is that its easy to upload and download levels but actually playing the levels you downloaded can be a bit tricky at first.

The downloaded missions are hidden under the same area that you go to play story missions. I wish you could download and play levels at the same place. The current setup seems cumbersome.

League of Evil, overall, is not a bad game. Actually its a good game. But the gameplay and the graphics seem a little too retro for the Switch.

League of Evil’s graphics are very simple. The game isn’t ugly, but it does not use the Nintendo Switch’s graphical power at all. Yes, not all games need excellent graphics. Game’s should always be about the gameplay first and then every else next. Even so, I think League of Evil could have been more impressive. Retro fans will without a doubt love the game’s graphics though. I also have to recommend playing League of Evil in handheld mode because the characters and levels just appear better on the Switch’s screen. Everything is too small in TV mode.

As for the soundtrack, its not bad but songs are reused a lot. The sound effects in the game are almost non-exisistent. There are some sound effects but the soundtrack pretty much drowns them out. I think a game like this deserves some crazy, possibly goofy sound effects. Oh well. Overall, League of Evil is a good game but not a top tier Nintendo Switch game.

League of Evil is a good game but its overly simplistic gameplay can feel a bit repetitve. The game is pretty simple graphics wise too.

Don’t let the simple concept of the game fool you though, this game is not easy! There is a lot of challenge to be had with League of Evil. Some of the levels are brutal. And the fact that there’s no checkpoints in this game makes it even more brutal. If you like a retro-like game with challenge, you’ll love League of Evil.

And it doesn’t hurt that this game has a level creator. That means that there will be a lot of levels for people to play on top of the story levels. Some people like to create their own levels and they’ll like this level creator mostly. I do wish the touch screen use was better.

League of Evil is a good game. I’m sure there will be people who like this game even more than I do. I am in no way saying that League of Evil is a bad game. It is far from a bad game. However, I am saying that unless you are a retro gaming fan, you may want to investigage this game little more before committing to a download.

Not everyone is ready for a game this evil!

Thanks to Ratalaika Games for providing a copy of this game. League of Evil will be on the Nintendo Switch eshop on Thursday (8/31).

Positives

• Good button controls
• Level Editor
• Gameplay is Good

Negatives

• Touch screen use could be better
• Simple Concept
• Graphics Are Basic

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