Random Heroes: Gold Edition review for PS4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Switch

Random Heroes is very much a game that prides itself on quantity. As it proudly notes, it includes more than 100 levels, and you can unlock up to 28 playable characters. On top of that, you earn lots and lots of coins from every one of the many enemies you kill that explodes in a shower of coins, which you use to buy any number of guns. There?s a lot of stuff here, is what I?m saying.

Unfortunately, the quality isn?t anywhere near as abundant. The levels are all basically the same, with only minor variations in the background here and there to let you know you?ve moved from, say, the city world to the sewer world — and even then, they don?t change all that much. Likewise, while the heroes all have different stats when it comes to health, damage, and speed, they don?t vary so much that you?ll need to change them up between levels. The guns, too, differ in the amount of damage they deal…but not so much that any of them feel all that different.

Mind you, this could be because nearly all of the enemies are bullet sponges. Sure, the bosses take more shots, obviously, and there are little flying enemies that you can dispatch in two or three shots, but for the most part, every level features you standing in front of enemies, firing endless amounts of shots into them until they pay out. Like, I unlocked a bazooka, which said it had maximum damage, and even that took at least four or five shots to kill standard enemies. What?s more, the enemies are generally pretty stupid, and can only run back and forth, so it?s mainly just a matter of shooting, jumping away when they get too close, and then returning to finish the job as soon as they turn away.

Really, if you?ve ever played any run & gun platformer, you?ve experienced what Random Heroes has to offer. Just about the only difference here is that there?s more of it than you?d find than in most places. If you value quantity of a game above all else, then it might do the trick, but otherwise I don?t see why you?d bother with it.

Ratalaika Games provided us with a Random Heroes: Gold Edition PS4/Vita code for review purposes.