I played the original Vertical Drop Heroes when it was a free flash game and liked it so much I purchased this shiny new HD version right away. But this new version did not just have updated graphics and gameplay tweaks. It was almost a completely different game. Once I got past my initial disappointment at the differences though I really began to enjoy myself.
The Good: This is a friendly game. From the cartoon fantasy hero aesthetic, to the engaging soundtrack, to the speedy way you can pick a totally unique hero and drop right into the action, it is all put together in such a way that makes the entire experience feel fun, light, and crispy. The game manages to combine a large number of useful hero traits, moves, and powers together without feeling overwhelming or slowing things down at all. That makes this game perfect to play with a friend, though you can also pretty much master the game alone in just a few hours. In every way this is a "rougelite" game, with all the randomness and constant dying you would expect, but without having the weight of a game like Spelunky which might otherwise have been prohibitive to more casual gamers.
The Bad: Most of the problems I had with the game had to do with how different it was from the original free version (that you can still play on flash-game platforms like Kongregate and Armor Games). The original game focused more on the "Vertical" of Vertical Drop Heroes, with a slower pace and more emphasis on falling down through a vertical maze. There was much less randomness too, as you could switch your hero class whenever you found the right cages to open in a level. The HD version of the game focuses more on the "Heroes" part of the title, with a larger emphasis on unlocking future traits, powers, and weapons for future play-throughs. There is more action and less choice. Is this truly a bad thing though? It depends on what you want from this game. I can personally play and enjoy either version, appreciating the way they feel different.
I should also mention there were a few bugs as I played. Occasionally the music would stop or restart as I played a level, which was not game-breaking but it was distracting as the soundtrack is pretty energetic. There were times my characters would get stuck on corners of boxes or on top of invisible glitch boxes. My game crashed one time, at the end of a 40 minute play-through, at the exact instant I killed the final boss. For anyone who has played any kind of rougelike game perhaps you understand how frustrating that was. (I have since played through twice more without problems.)
The Verdict: This game is fast and fun. It is not so simple that you can be completely mindless when you play, but it is not overly thoughtful to the point where the action slows down or where you will get stuck making characters and making choices. You will die allot, but not nearly as often as you will with other rougelike games (I died about 30 times before I finished this game, compared to the 300+ times I died in Spelunky without even finishing it once). So if you are okay with a game that definitely falls into the "rougelite" category , and especially if you are looking for something simpler to play with friends, this is a good choice. It is certainly worth the $4.50 I paid for it, as a fan of the genre.
