Helmet Heroes vs Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn
Helmet Heroes
Helmet Heroes is a free-to-play, 2D platform-based MMORPG that not only has a Maplestory feel to it, but it’s also a child-oriented game due to its cartoonish graphics. Here, you’ll get to play as one of four adventurers who set out to explore an amazingly diverse world filled with various creatures to fight and loot to collect. The game also features a satisfying progression system whereby your character development is not hampered by your chosen class, a pretty challenging gameplay, and it can be somewhat punishing if you die while carrying a ton of cash.In some way, Helmet Heroes plays a lot like a simplified version of the platformer, Maplestory, with a hint of Mario albeit minus the anime part. The game focuses a lot on exploration whereby you’ll get to discover odd regions filled with as equally odd creatures which you farm for a chance to get the item you want. Item-stealing is a pretty fun aspect of the game and it reminds me a lot of the old Runescape, but the game does give the person who dealt the most damage looting priority, at least for the first few seconds. The open-ended-styled character development, despite having you to choose a class at the beginning, may also bring Runescape to mind.
So, all said and done, if you enjoy playing 2D platformer/MMORPGs, then Helmet Heroes is a game you should check out! The game’s free after all, and it can be played by the whole family as well.
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is a fun and hilarious beat 'em up game that takes quite vicious, satirical jabs at various pop culture, celebrities, people stereotypes, and even the developers' own indiegogo campaign. The game starts you off in China where Shaquille (Shaq for short), a black baby was raised in a small village in China after he was found drifting down the river in an expensive-looking handbag. He was naturally bullied by the local kids when he was little because he was so much taller than they all were but his taller and bigger stature helped him gained the mentorship of the local village elder and he was eventually trained in the ancient martial arts of Wu Xing. Sounds like a the generic start of a kung-fu story, right? Well, the game does it so much better by peppering it with plenty of humor.Anyway, one day, his fighting skills were called into action when the god of death, Yen Lo-Wang, once again escape from the underworld and unleashed his plan to take over the world... that is by possessing various celebrities with his demons and brainwashing the world's people into subservience. Of course, this is not something Shaq will simply ignore, especially not when his elderly mentor was murdered by one of Yen Lo-Wang's minions.
Now, the gameplay in this game isn't what you'd call "hardcore", but the boss fights are quite challenging and the enemies you go fist-to-fist against have their respective sets of abilities in which you'll need to find ways to counter, besides being downright amusing. Just look at the animations! Controls are very simple to get into, especially if you had played such beat 'em ups before, and it's really nice that the developers put in the extra effort to vary their range of enemies and background art.
The best parts about the game though, aside from the funny dialogues and the cool moves, include crazy fun power-ups that can turn Shaq into a spikes-spewing cactus-man or equip him with an Iron Man-like suit, albeit a suit that is powered by diesel, which allow him to dish out a flurry of fists to any enemy unlucky enough to be standing in his way!
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn's brand of humor may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you enjoy beat 'em up games, and you like to see the amusing side of things and you don't take the world too seriously, then this game is definitely right up your alley. It'll be able to make you cough up a chuckle or two, at least - I daresay I laughed a bit too much at some of the jokes in this game. Oh and a quick tip if you will - make sure you listen closely to the lyrics in the game's very own theme song. I got my first chuckle from it!