Hello Hero Club this is Darkon633, and today’s review is on the Power Rangers Legacy Wars. For those who are unaware Power Rangers Legacy Wars is a mobile fighting game developed by nWay. The game is available for Android and Apple devices. Legacy Wars serves as a loose tie-in to the recently released Power Rangers movie by Lionsgate. The game features a variety of characters from the Power Rangers franchise alongside the Rangers of the feature film, as they face-off with several villains. Now, with that said let us move on to the review. To start off we will first look at the gameplay.
The Gameplay
As mentioned earlier, the game is a fighting game that features various characters throughout the history of Power Rangers. The initial roster consists mostly of Rangers, and has a total of five villains.
The current roster consists of:
- MMPR: Red, Pink, Blue, Black, Yellow, Green (Blocked by Pay Wall), Goldar
- Zeo: Pink
- In Space: Psycho Red, Silver
- Wild Force: Black
- Samurai: Red (Lauren), Xandred
- Super Megaforce: Yellow,
- Dino Charge: Blue, Snide, Purple
- Power Rangers Lionsgate Movie: Red, Blue, Black, Pink, Yellow, Rita
There are two types of characters in the game:
- The Leader: The character used to conduct battles
- The Assist: Characters that can be summoned to assist the Leader in battle
However, some characters do overlap since some can be used as either a Leader, or as the Assist. The difference is only determined by the alternate artwork of the character in the roster screen.
Now, as the player progresses they will advance to higher “Leagues” where the player can unlock more characters. After winning each battle the player will receive a “Morph Box” which include Power Coins and Power Crystals. Power Crystals are used for two purposes in this game. The first usage is to unlock Morph Boxes faster since each box will unlock after a passage of real life time. The second usage of the Power Crystals is to unlock characters. These Power Crystals are different than the standard ones since they are attached to characters’ cards that are collected from the boxes. After collecting a certain amount of Power Crystals one can unlock characters that can be used in battles. The Power Coins are used to upgrade characters and to create Alliances. Personally, I don’t know much about the Alliances at this moment since they require 1000 coins to create. In addition, there is not an in-game tutorial to show how Alliances work currently.
After a certain amount of time two other boxes will unlock, the “Mighty Morph Boxes” and “Corruption Boxes.” From my playthrough it seems they mostly contain better rewards, however to what extent is hard to say. Lastly, the game also features both a leaderboard and a list of achievements. The leaderboard is self-explanatory; however, the achievements is where the player can get extra bonuses such as Zeo Crystals and XP after meeting certain requirements. Speaking of XP, this is where the focus of the game stems from. By Initiating battles or by simply working through the achievement list the player will level up. When the player has a certain amount of “Medals” they will be able to progress through the game. It will also allow players to go into the higher leagues. Furthermore, each league has its fair share of rewards via the Morph Boxes. Overall there is a lot of things that can be accomplished in this game.
The Battle System
The game uses a card based system for combat, and it allows players to use them in combos and various other methods. Each battle is set with a 3-on-3 system, where the leaders will conduct the battle. During combat a bar at the bottom of the screen will fill up automatically up to “10.” This number represents the amount of points that can be used for the battle system. Each playable character uses a variety of special “cards” that range from basic attacks and partner summoning. Each card has a special number attached to it representing the amount needed to use the attack. The cards will randomly appear during battle and using the best options available will allow the player advantage faster. One can also use various cards in a combo, which will allow stronger and faster forms of attack. While there are many different types of attacks there are also two main forms of defense. One way of defending is to slide back and forth on the device which causes the player to move back and forth. This can be helpful when an opponent starts their attack since it can help one dodge their advances. Another form of defense is via the “defense” card, which doesn’t cost the player any points. By using the defense card. it will usually block the opponent’s attack for a moment and stun them for a second. This is extremely helpful when getting cornered. However, it doesn’t always work since various combos that can break through the defense card. This covers the basis of combat, and while the battle system is simple it can lead into intense battles.
The Good
One of the major pros to the game is the wide variety of characters; while not every season is represented the starting roster is a large line-up. The next positive thing is the simplicity in the combat, as it does not require players to memorize complicated lists of combos. Another thing is that the battles are fast, which personally makes the game much more enjoyable in the long run. Also, each player will have different style of combat via the different assortment of attack cards. This makes the game less monotonous since each character has a different form of attack. The final pro towards the game is it free-to-play (sans built-in micro transactions); making it good for everyone.
The Bad
Unfortunately, this game also suffers from a high amount of issues. One of the biggest gripes I have towards this game is just how long each box takes to open. The times range from 2 hours to 8+ hours for the more special types of “Morph Boxes.” Unlocking anything can take quite a bit of time for anyone however, this can be remedied via a pay wall. Now, I understand this is something common in free-to-play mobile games, but I personally think it is implied terribly. This is due to the most basic boxes requiring a two hour wait period to unlock them. There is no reasonable time limit like 30 minutes, so the company expects fans to be impatient and pay. Another method is spending a Zeo Crystal Shard, but they can be used up in a matter of seconds. This puts the player in a corner, and leaves to the play to wait out the hours. The other issues with the boxes are that plays can only hold up to four before they are cut off. The boxes are not even random generated, they are acquired via victories. Four wins equals four boxes, so this defeats the purpose of playing the game for a long time. At that point it practically becomes a pay-to-play situation. The other transaction is a nostalgia pull, as one can only access Tommy the Green Ranger by paying $9.99! Now, that is what I call a cash grab, and a slap in the face…
Since the gameplay is simple to play, it can also make the game be repetitive and boring. This can be said for any type of fighting game, but this can happen within a matter of minutes. There also does not seem to be a variety in the attacks for the characters. Another problem is that the game is almost 100% online, so if one has a bad internet connection then one is out of luck. I encountered the issue a few times when my net would hiccup. The disconnect would cause the battle to completely end, and would take me back to the main menu. The battles themselves can also be quite frustrating since players can easily corner one another from constantly spamming various combos.
Conclusion
Overall, Power Rangers Legacy Wars can be a fun experience! It manages to keep the player’s attention, and good to play if one needs to kill time. Just waiting to unlock stuff is a real pain. Now, I did not mention this earlier, but even its graphics are better than other mobile games out there to date. The character models are nearly perfect! Hopefully in later updates more characters will be added, specifically more villains, and the gameplay will be balanced out. If one is a fan of Power Rangers, then I can easily say it is a good fighting game to download. Now, if only we could get a decent console game for the franchise!
