Hero Pop Review

A New Year must mean a new match-3 style puzzler [Editor’s Note: or a few hundred more], which will explain the presence of Hero Pop. It's actually reasonably fun, at least for fans of the genre, but don't expect startling evolution.

Across 100 levels, you're popping colored balloons with other colored balloons. I've no idea if there's a storyline behind it and I doubt anyone will care. This is a game about bite-sized doses of puzzling and not much else. Each stage offers a selection of balloons in the sky, attached to a pirate ship, and you have to complete various objectives. Some levels involve you rescuing your friends by matching up the colored balloons that are holding them captivate. Another might involve matching up a particular number of the same color. More interesting are the ones that require you to create super balloons by matching up five of the same color.

It's simply done but Hero Pop offers a reasonable amount of strategy. For instance, when matching up five balloons you need to bear in mind that three adjoining ones will clear them, so you have to focus on placing four away from each other but still close enough that they can be easily connected by one balloon. Again, it's simple, but enough to involve a little thought as you progress.

Hero Pop employs a very Candy Crush Saga style of doing things with lives lost for defeat, and you eventually having to wait for the energy bar to restore for another turn. As Hero Pop is a game to play in short bursts, this doesn't feel too intrusive, though.

It's not a particularly innovative game nor is it something to remember for any length of time, but while you're playing Hero Pop, you'll quite enjoy it. Even if it is a lot like something you've probably played before.