Steven Universe: Attack the Light (iPad)

STEVEN_BOXSteven Universe is a popular new animated series on Cartoon Network.  And now you can go on an RPG adventure with Steven and the three Gem Warriors in Attack the Light, a new game you can download on the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon (reviewed on iPad here).  The Gem Warriors Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl find a mysterious Prism, but when Steven touches it, a Light Monster escapes.  When Garnet punches it, the monster splits into the different colors of the rainbow and scatters all over the place.  Now it’s up to Steven and the others to battle light creatures and capture the monsters to save the day.  They’ll need your help, too, but don’t forget your Cheeseburger Backpack!

Attack the Light is an RPG tailor-made for tablet and mobile devices.  Because of this, it takes out some of the aspects RPGs are known for.  You don’t have to wander around towns or a vast overworld, talking to everyone you see.  And there’s not much of a story either. The only things you do in the game are explore dungeon mazes and battle monsters.

To explore dungeons, you’ll select them from a map.  These dungeons are based on the colors of the rainbow and some are even directly from the show!  Your goal is to find the warp point back home, and fight monsters and collect treasures along the way.  To move, just swipe in the direction you’d like to go.  Keep an eye out on secret spots to find treasure, as well as hidden rooms that may contain more goodies.  Each dungeon is fairly short, but perfect for handheld gaming on the go.  At about the fourth dungeon, you’ll fight a boss and move onto the next world.  But each area also has hidden dungeons that are behind locked doors that you may have to come back to later.  Also, each world has a special gauntlet dungeon where you must fight tough enemies and can’t bring any of your collected items, but you stand to reap some valuable goods!

Aside from exploring dungeons, you’ll also battle monsters in typical RPG fashion.  Battles are turn-based, and you’ll tap on the three Gems to make them fight.  To attack and defend, you’ll have to time your taps on the screen correctly, or you might have to slash as many times on the screen as you can, or play a small mini-game.  It’s very similar to the battles in Mario RPG titles.  Each move costs a certain number of stars to use, and you get five stars per turn.  When you run out of stars, you can end your turn and must defend from enemy blows by performing timed taps on the screen again.  Here’s a tip: watch for discolorations on the ground and a star icon to know when to tap to attack and defend.

Steven himself can’t attack, but he acts as a support character.  You can use stars to have Steven give the Gems words of encouragement to heal them, or beef up their defenses by using a magic bubble.  Steven can also hold items in his Cheeseburger Backpack that can be used to heal the Gems or give them more stars.  But remember that Steven can only use one item per turn, so choose wisely.  The Gems also can’t attack if they run out of Harmony, and while I’m not sure entirely how that works, I think it runs out if you use the same Gem move over and over again.  After battles you’ll gain experience points, and when you level up you can choose to beef up stats, or learn a new move.  You can also equip badges to the Gems that you find that’ll cause various effects in battle.

While many of the RPG aspects of Attack the Light are stripped down, the game is still enjoyable as a mobile game because the battles are so much fun and engaging.  The game uses a slightly different art style, which is a bit off-putting at first, but you can tell the creators of the show were involved with the making of the game.  Only big fans of the Steven Universe cartoon will be able to get all the references and things in the game.  In fact, there are several times where you can choose different dialogue selections, and if you choose the right one, that character will get a slight boost of experience points.  So really, only fans of the cartoon show will get the most enjoyment out of this.  But why would you download it if you’re not a fan anyway?

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Kid Factor:

Violence is only minimal.  While you punch, whip, skewer, and zap bad guys, they are all just made out of light and disappear when defeated.  If one of the Gem Warriors loses all her energy, they just turn back into gems for the rest of the battle.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may need help with the tougher battles.  If you’re OK with your kids watching the TV show, they’ll be OK with the game, too.

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