Random Heroes: Gold Edition Review

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Fast Facts

Title: Random Heroes: Gold Edition
Developer: Woblyware Oy
Publisher: Ratalaika Games S.L.
Website: http://www.ratalaikagames.com/games/randomheroes.php
Genre: Shooter, Arcade
Platform: Xbox One
Age Rating: PEGI 7
Release Date: 01/04/2020
Price: £4.99 – Rapid Reviews was very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

When I picked up the control pad to give this game a go, I was transported back to memories of my earliest gaming days playing Freddy Hardest on the Amstrad CPC. Random Heroes: Gold Edition is a game full of nostalgia for the 8-bit gaming era. Everything – from the music to the sound effects, from the blocky graphics to the controls – is reminiscent of gaming from simpler times.

It’s not a game about the storyline, in fact there’s very little plot to follow. You, along with some Random Heroes, have one mission; to defeat the aliens invading the Earth – that’s it. The game is split up into nine chapters with twelve sub-levels in each one; the twelfth level is always a boss level. There is no difficulty setting.

You collect coins throughout each level which you can spend on weapons in the shop. You can access the shop during the levels, this means you can purchase that new weapon you’ve been eyeing up the moment you’ve saved up enough coins. Different weapons become available as you complete the later chapters, some are not available until you reach the last level.

The Random Heroes are available to unlock by earning stars and they have different strengths; some have more health, others have more speed or damage. The best ones have more of all of these. You can change the Hero you are using mid-campaign to take advantage of these increased abilities.

Random Heroes: Gold Edition is not a complex game. It’s a game about learning the patterns/routes of enemies, having patience and timing your jumps and attacks. The levels can start to feel quite repetitive but it’s also very hard to put down once you get into your rhythm.

You do come across different enemies in each chapter but as the game progresses many of the ‘new’ enemies seem like dressed up versions of ones you’ve already encountered. The difficulty of the new alien invaders you meet increases over time as more of them are able to shoot at you as well as take off life by touching you. This makes the later stages of the game more interesting and takes away focus from the seemingly similar level layouts.

Since you can unlock so many Heroes and guns, you are certainly meant to play this game through more than once; there are so many combinations of guns and Heroes to try out. If you really need to get that gun ASAP, you can replay levels to collect coins towards your goal before you have finished the entire game.

For those with a penchant for collecting achievements, there are plenty on offer from the very beginning and they’re not difficult to earn – for example, you get several for killing different types of enemies, something you would surely do regardless.

Go ahead and get Random Heroes: Gold Edition if you’re after a cheap, simple, arcade-style game that is steeped in nostalgia. If what you need right now is level after level of hammering the shoot button 8-bit style, this game is for you.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can buy Random Heroes: Gold Edition for the Xbox One in the Microsoft Store.