Little Hero Review

Karate Kid

Having already put iPhone gamer’s reactions through their paces with a one-two punch of speedily paced platformers Fastball 1 & 2, Klik! Games return to the App Store with Little Hero (out now, $0.99), another game that requires quick wits and quicker fingers to master.

Little Hero’s premise is simple. Playing as a doe-eyed kid dressed in a karate uniform, the game sees you practising your fighting moves on your long suffering collection of toys. Cutesy, anime-esque graphics and a catchy score lend Little Hero a polished feel, but sadly these lofty production values are let down by some seriously simplistic and bland gameplay.

The game’s controls are easily grasped: swipes of your finger onscreen translate to a series of dodges, kicks and punches. As toys “attack”, you must avoid being struck, and knock the incoming projectiles out of the air with well-timed karate moves.

Once you’ve got a handle on different enemies’ attack patterns – rubber balls bounce toward you quickly, while teddy bears are more slow moving etc – and mastered the split-second timing required of you, the game veers from being mildly challenging/entertaining to becoming repetitive at an alarming rate.

That having been said, while Little Hero’s simplistic style isn’t to my taste, I can certainly see younger players having a lot of fun with the frothy blend of vibrant visuals and non-complex gameplay on offer here.

Overall, however, despite some fast-paced gameplay and the usual array of Openfeint extras, Little Hero never really nails the addictiveness it aims for. A slight return for Klik!; roll on Fastball 3, I say.


iFanzine Verdict: A briefly enjoyable time-waster, Little Hero boasts intuitive swipe controls and charming visuals, but, unfortunately, not much in the way of content or lasting appeal.

[xrr rating=3/5]