As we see mobile devices grow more and more powerful, mobile games that bring the quality that console games offer are becoming the norm. Sure, they don’t always have the pinpoint controls or 4K visuals, but with each step forward this line becomes blurrier, so much so it’s becoming common that smaller titles make the jump from mobile to console, with one of the latest being League of Evil. 

The game follows an elite operative who is called into action to combat the world’s evil scientists that have joined forces to build a superweapon. You’ll have to run, double jump, wall jump, and wall slide through a staggering 160 levels to put a stop to their malicious plan. Each of the levels will have a single collectible: a briefcase containing what I would assume to be a portion of the plan, or the scientist’s lunch. You will be tasked with picking these up en route to one punching the scientist and any of his henchmen in the face, often detaching their head from the upper portion of their body. All in all, it’s pretty basic, requiring you to evade traps and enemies and plays out much like Super Meat Boy. Each level is fairly basic and most can be completed within a matter of seconds, with the initial levels requiring very little in terms of effort to complete your goal. Gradually, traps and enemies are placed that will bump the difficulty a bit, with no real challenge showing up until around the 30th stage. The game never becomes overly difficult, although it arguably reaches SMB status around the 100th level.

Each level is made up of a maze of blocks, akin to those found in Mega Man or most old school platformers, with a static backdrop that is swapped out every 20 or so levels. While they won’t hold a candle to any of the later Super Mario games, they succeed in making the game stand out as a great throwback title. The characters are all designed in the typical cutesy pixel style that ruled back in the NES days, making it quite easy to determine who or what each of the beings are intended to be. The AI feels just right, with the enemies taking on the token pattern of shooting in your general direction as soon as you are within view, requiring you to evade their attacks until you can get close enough for your single devastating attack. The one downfall is that due to the huge number of levels offered, the traps, enemies and environments are repeated too often, making each small level feel like you’ve been playing it for entirely too long.

The game runs at a decent pace, with your agility feeling just right. Anyone familiar with the platformers of generations long ago will know that these types of games require pinpoint accuracy when navigating the game space and League of Evil is no different. The controls work extremely will in this regard and makes sure you are fully aware that any failure is due to your actions and not limitations within the game. The wall jump mechanic works just as well, so much so that it makes the game almost feel too forgiving at times. The one area for improvement is the wall hug ability, which takes entirely too long for you to slide down a wall, a mechanic that is used all too often and requires flawless execution in many areas, due to the scientist hiding at an awkward place just at the end of the maze.

If 160 levels of scientist face smashing isn’t enough for you, each level gives you the chance to compete for a star ranking. Graded off of your time, deaths, and whether you picked up the briefcase tucked away within each level, completionists have a lot of to love here. I was pleased to find that the star requirement to press forward in the event you completely screw the pooch on a level (or levels) was not in play here. While I enjoyed my time with the game, some of the timing to proceed in later levels simply requires reflexes that I no longer have in my old age.

It’s rare that the mobile to console conversion works well for me, but in the case of League of Evil, it’s pulled off well. With its bite sized throwback levels that can be completed in your downtime, I would recommend purchasing this regardless of where you wish to play it.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Great Throwback Title
• Short Levels
• Tons of Content
• Fluid Movement/Controls

Cons

• Repeated Elements Grow Stale
• Wall Sliding is Too Slow

League of Evil was developed by Woblyware and published by Ratalaika Games. It is available on 3DS, NS, PC, PS4, PS Vita, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on X1. If you’d like to see more of League of Evil, check out the publisher’s site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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