Lucha Amigos Review

Lucha Amigos is a puzzle game starring turtle luchadores on a quest to defeat an evil band of cacti. Although the game plays very much like a variation on Angry Birds, Lucha Amigos maintains a certain fun factor that makes it worth checking out.

Lucha Amigos is divided up into stages, each of which presents players with a room that contains enemy cacti and collectible stars. On the edges of each room are doors through which players must tap and drag to sling turtles through to defeat those cacti and collect those stars. The goal of each stage is to defeat all the cacti in a room before running out of turtles to sling. The stars in each stage are optional collectibles that can increase its challenge or replayability.

Over time more complicated room layouts emerge, and players are provided with special turtles to help deal with these rooms. Lucha Amigos has turtles that can change direction with a tap of the screen, some that have a cannon mounted to them to launch projectiles, turtles that split into two on command, and more. The rate at which these new turtles and layouts roll out is well paced, giving players a good sense of how to use their new tools well in a variety of environments before introducing new ones.

For the most part, all of the mechanics that make Lucha Amigos work are solid and completely enjoyable, but there are some aspects that seem like they could’ve been improved. For starters, the game, while having a good sense of personality, looks a little bit rough around the edges. Everything animates nicely, but some of the art looks fuzzy at times, and the guide for aiming turtle shells is a rough-looking outline that doesn’t always communicate trajectories as easily as it should. Finally, the collectible stars feel very much like an afterthought. Other than adding challenge to a level, there are absolutely no unlocks associated with stars, making them feel kind of unnecessary.

Lucha Amigos is still a pretty cool game, though. It feels good and has some inventive level design, making it more compelling than it looks. Players that are in the market for a physics puzzler could find a lot in Lucha Amigos. Although it has some problems, it’s a solid package.