Thanks to Ratalaika Games for the review code

Title: League Of Evil
System: Steam (PC/Mac)
Price: $4.99
Release Date: 10/25/2016

Story

In this action platformer, you take control of a bionic human who sets out to stop the League of Evil from causing mischief, no matter where in the world they decide to strike!

Graphics

The spritework for this game is surprisingly well-detailed, with an artstyle that doesn’t go for the NES throwback we’ve seen thousands of times before, but rather one that looks similar to early Turbografx-16 titles. Everything is well animated, the hazards are visible and easy to see, (meaning no cheap shots due to it blending with the background) and overall the game looks pretty sharp.

Music and Sound

While the title screen music is a bit memorable, this is yet another steam game where I recommend you mute the background music and turn on your own as there’s little in terms of variety. With each stage background comes a unique theme, and since there are only a few backgrounds in each world you’ll eventually get tired of the same song playing through multiple levels in a row. There’s not much else to comment on here.

Gameplay

Taking place in 140 levels throughout four different worlds, the main objective of each level is to rush to the mad scientist and find the hidden briefcases in as little time as possible. Doing so in the quickest time possible will reward you with three stars, while taking it slow and easy will get you less. Thankfully going out of the way to grab the briefcases and extra stars won’t take up too much time, since every level in the game is rather short, making it perfect for memorizing level layouts and improving your times. Unfortunately, most of the levels aren’t designed in a way that allows you to grab the hidden briefcases and all three stars at the same time; you have to go through each level twice to assure that you’ll get both, but due to the length of the levels this isn’t as big of an issue as it easily could have been.

There’s also a level editor included, which as you’d expect allows you to create your own custom levels using your mouse. You can set the placement of enemies, choose specific backgrounds, and choose between three different level sizes to make your own courses, although from what I could find there’s no way to set the amount of time required for three star completion, making these custom levels a bit pointless in that regard. The level editor is also set to be compatible with the future release of the 3DS/Wii U versions by allowing for cross-platform level sharing, but we’ll have to wait and see how that works out.

Conclusion

In conclusion, League of Evil is a solid platformer, with tight controls, short and simple levels, a level editor to add even more courses to your game and the potential for cross-platform level sharing, this game is an absolute bargain for $5, and its nice to see a hidden gem like this pop up on the Steam store. The short levels may not be for everyone, but considering how each stage requires nothing more than practice and memorization to master, I feel the stage length is perfect for a game like this, and there’s no real worry about running out of content considering the amount of stages included from the start and the inclusion of the level editor.

I give League of Evil an 8 out of 10, and can give this a solid recommendation for all fans of action platformers!