Review
Sonic joins the fray as Speedster!
No, we couldn’t believe it either! Sega megastar Sonic the Hedgehog bolts onto the Squad Busters scene as a Hero, hyper focused on SPEED! His Turbo (movement boost) maxes at two levels beyond previous fastest known Heroes—an inconceivable Level V! He is best partnered with Speedster Squaddies, buffing their total Health and boosting Attack speed. The sky-blue blur transforms into scorching yellow Super Sonic with his Power Move activated, making him invincible! Too much? Who cares!
Squaddie pals Tails & Knuckles!
No way would Sonic leave his best friends behind, which means heroic sidekicks Miles ‘Tails’ Prower and Knuckles the Echidna are in support. They’re Speedster Squaddies, synergising with Sonic and their own Power Moves alongside. Tails brings the heat in his Cyclone Walker and its Laser Cannon but carries his wrench in case he’s busted out. Knuckles likes to dig for Loot and his Power Move delivers a Spiral Uppercut!
Squaddie Traits
In Classic form (see Evolutions opposite) Squaddies gain Powers too, active abilities that requires the use of a Power Button. Heroes can take two Powers from any Classic Squaddie, even those not entering the current Battle. On top of that, Squaddies have unique character Traits to Evolve alongside Powers.
Heroic Roles
Heroes have a specific Type, a choice of Fighter, Hotshot, Supplier, Summoner, Healer or Speedster (see Sonic). Types complement their overall play style, which also cleverly matches the way they happen to look. Barbarian King is geared toward close combat—you don’t want to be in the way of his Mega Punch. In contrast, Archer Queen excels at ranged attacks, her deadly X-Snipe splits into three. You get the idea!
Nine Worlds to Conquer!
Squad Busters has nine different Worlds to conquer. The first, Green World, is mainly a tutorial, while later areas introduce gameplay challenges to reflect the experience that Squads have gained. To reach Royal World needs Level 35. Lava World is at Level 120! Worth it to unlock new characters and more!
Cool Character Evolutions!
The best Squads have the strongest Squaddies, a goal achieved through their Evolution. There are five levels—Baby, Classic, Super, Ultra and Ultimate—building performance stats or adding new abilities. It takes time to invest, since Evolutions require multiples of the same Squaddie type plus Star Tokens to unlock.
From its terrific control feel to the complex (in a great way) Squad set-ups to suit all player types, Squad Busters is so much fun on the surface, but with the kind of depth usually associated with the more ‘grown-up’ MOBAs. You can play as light-hearted or seriously as you like in game modes that cater brilliantly to valiant solo or team efforts. Sonic is an inspired addition to the line-up; his famous sidekicks and arch-rival make it easy to grasp the more technical ideas. Squad is a game I want to get seriously good at!
