Justice League Heroes redeems the failure of the DS version and delivers pretty much the same experience that you get on the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game - with a few caveats that we will detail later on. Small issues aside the PSP version follows the exact same storyline, features all of the same locales and features all the same characters from the popular DC Comics superhero group including Superman, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Zantanna. The gameplay is every bit as engaging as its console counterparts, offering plenty of action, character customization and super powerful moves like Flash's patented pinball attack!
Like its console counterparts, the PSP version of the game delivers non-stop action and offers characters that will suit everyone's play styles - from the raw unadulterated strength of Superman and Wonder Woman to the magical prowess of Zantanna and the Green Lantern and the awe inspiring speed of The Flash - Justice League Heroes offers a super hero for everyone. But beyond the heroes, the game uses developer Snowblind's patented action role-playing game mechanics combined with an interesting character customization system that lets you use your points on the powers you find the most appealing.
Justice League Heroes opens with Batman and Superman responding to a series of robot attacks, but what starts out as an isolated incident leads to some strange happenings in locations around the globe. Fans of the Justice League franchise will feel comfortable with the storyline and the multitude of familiar characters (and villains) they encounter and eventually do battle with. The game puts an emphasis on many of these evil doers with levels and enemies designed around a theme and culminates into a final powerful boss battle with multiple objectives that ensure players are using their heads as well as their battle prowess. The result being that each boss battle is different, offering players a challenge that is padded by other objectives like saving hostages or disarming a weapon in a set amount of time. It's a decent formula that proves to be a lot of fun even on the PSP.
You can certainly tell that a lot of attention was paid to each hero and the number of choices you have as you progress. In this roster are such popular heroes as Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Zantanna and The Martian Manhunter. You'll start out with two heroes at the beginning of the game (Superman and Batman) but as the game progresses you'll be zipping around as The Flash, turning bad guys into cute little bunny rabbits as Zantanna, shape shifting as Martian Manhunter, deflecting bullets as Wonder Woman and blasting baddies with your power ring as Green Lantern. As you collect Shields in the game, you'll be able to get new optional heroes like two more versions of Green Lantern (Kyle Raynor, Hal Jordan), Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Huntress and Green Arrow. The PSP version also offers the combat intensive and popular fem fatale Black Canary and the irrepressible Super Girl. In addition to all these characters, you’ll also be able to purchase alternate costumes for the main characters - and these costumes offer stat boosts as well as different looks for each character that are fun and useful.
Whatever your favorites, you won't always be able to select who you want in all the missions, so it's always a good idea to build up whoever you're going to get stuck with the most. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because most of the heroes in the game really work well and have some awesome attacks in their arsenal that get the job done - the "job" being kicking ass and taking names.
As you progress through the game defeating robots, bees, White Martians, Gorillas and other bad guys you'll collect experience orbs, power-ups and shields that all serve a purpose in your growth and in the reward system that game uses. You'll also collect strange orbs called "boosts" that you can use to further enhance your powers.
As you collect experience you'll gain levels and be given ability points that you can use on the basics and advanced skills. These basics include things like health, energy (used by your various special powers), regeneration, combat and recovery (which dictates how fast you regenerate energy and health). The rest of these points you get as you level up are used for more powerful skills tailored towards your character. For example, if you were The Flash, perhaps you'd use these points to enhance your Pinball attack or speed enhancement, or if you're Zantanna maybe you'd use these points to enhance your polymorph skill. The character development system is surprisingly deep and chances are you won't be able to max out your character even after going through the game twice on several different difficulty levels.
As we mentioned, in addition to adding points to your skill set you can further enhance these powers by using what are called Boosts. There are a myriad of different types of boosts that you can collect but basically you "slot" these items much like you would a gem in a bracelet. Using these items will allow you to enhance aspects of your powers like how much damage it does, how much energy it uses, how long it last, etc. You can only carry 35 boost items at a time but you can combine boost to create more powerful types. But don't think that means you should stop collecting boost items as you play because there are plenty of opportunities to use them.
