DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power sounded like a quick money grab aimed towards the younger children. My skepticism was, after reviewing, misplaced. The game turned out more than decent.
Based on the cartoon
DC has always been my favorite comic company. Despite being somewhat of a fanboy, I have to admit that DC has been struggling with its identity amidst the Marvel/Disney grandeur. The movies never reached quite the allure of what Marvel has been doing. The comics underwent yet another reboot in an attempt to reel in newer readers. I highly recommend anyone curious to give them a new chance because I can confirm great stories are being told under the new “infinite frontier” reboot. Another way DC is trying to reel in new fans is in making cartoons. DC Super Hero Girls was first introduced as a web series but gathered enough success to get a “proper” TV version on Cartoon Network. To further emphasize the success the series had, a game was developed named DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power.
Heroics with teen drama
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power lets you play Batgirl, Super Girl, and Wonder Woman. Playing each Hero has a different feel to the way you fight villains and their goons. Supergirl has the ability to fly and is better suited for aerial fights. Wonder Woman feels like the strongest of the bunch and wields an awesome Amazonian sword. Batgirl is the most agile of the bunch. Despite all these heroics taking up a good chunk of the game, the game also lets you play as their normal life counterparts. This coincides with the actual show in which the normal life teen drama also plays a huge role. Going from actual hero missions to daily life segments happens smoothly and offers a nice change of pace. Interacting with the quirky iterations of Harley Quinn or Zatanna gives the game the feel of the cartoon. My 10-year-old daughter felt it played exactly like the shows as she felt right at home from the start.
Hack and slash
The combat in the game is based on a simple version of the classic hack and slash gameplay. With just the Y-button you’ll perform all sorts of epic punches and kicks. Landing a few in a row without being hit even allows a “smash”. These smashes deliver more damage and are often a sure finisher. With a dodge button, you can keep the combo going. Using the dodge at the last moment before getting hit grants you a counterattack which is the most effective. The battle system is deliberately kept simple enough to cater to the younger audience it is targeting. The game does a great job of introducing the players gently to new things. The first missions are laughable easy and serve the purpose of getting the battle system under your thumb. After a mission, you’ll earn money and experience. The experience can be used to further beef out your character’s stats and allows you to unlock special abilities.
Shop till you drop
In the teen world of DC Super Hero Girls, shopping is a thing. In the game, this is incorporated well with all sorts of outfits on offer. Choosing the right headgear, the right shoes, and the clothes to go along with those accessories, was not my thing. My daughter, on the other hand, loved the fact she could shop. It gave her more incentive to do her best during the missions to yield more rewards she could spend. Even redoing a mission to get a better reward becomes available once you unlock the (in-game) VR mode. Another nice thing to do in the world of DC Super Hero Girls was looking for superhero (and supervillain) graffiti tags. Collecting them and taking pictures of them unlocked new buildings to use in the “SimCity” part of the game. Lex Luthor is rebuilding destroyed parts of the city and decided to let you choose how the city should be shaped.
A bit rough around the edges
The game plays fine but isn’t the smoothest experience I’ve played. The inclusion of a lock-on button during the fights was great because the camera angles weren’t all that great. The fact I could lock on and just mash the Y-button in those areas where I was “blinded” by less than optimal camera work, resulted in low frustration. The game looked much like the series which is great. The characters all looked like they should and were obviously handled with a lot of care. The same care is lacking a bit if you start to look around at the rest of the characters. Most of them were a bit bland in comparison with the “bubbly” appearance of the main characters.
Conclusion
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power is obviously intended for a younger audience. The game isn’t all that hard and the social stuff in between the missions was really well done. The game feels and plays out just like the cartoon which is all you could hope for.
