Very balanced gameplay: finished w/out in-app purchases – Beat Street Review

This game is a modern version of Double Dragon for Game Boy, which I adored as a kid. It’s fun, easy to play with touch screen and unlike other people I found the upgrade mechanics very fair. I finished the game with 3 stars on every level, playing about 30 min per day for a little over a month. I did not purchase any gems nor watched rewarded videos (maybe a couple at the beginning when a handful of coins really matters). not good news for the monetization team but a testament to the balance of the game! The strategy I used is the following: 1. don’t invest in upgrading early characters. Focus on collecting tokens and hats for characters that can go up to level 40+. I ended up fighting mostly with Tas and Jun, who has also the most hilarious moves. 2. There are only a few sidekicks that move the needle when the round gets hard. At the beginning it’s Radley and Butch. But I quickly switched to Don Mascarpone and 50 Kicks and only harvested those tokens. With both at level 5, you can beat enemies 3 or 4 levels higher than you. 3. Equip only on 3-star power ups for the boss fights. I usually used some food item to replenish energy and either invincibility or a gold attack/defense badge. 4. I spent the majority of my energy by quick-looting strategic tokens, hats, and power-ups. The rest of the energy to fight just enough to complete all the daily quests and get 10 diamonds. By checking the apps a couple of times a day you can harvest extra diamonds, so I could predictably get at least 100 diamonds per week and upgrade my character. Feedback for the devs: - power ups are poorly positioned while you play and it’s very easy to accidentally trigger them - 50 kicks is a way too powerful side kick. You guys should cap it at a point like Don Mascarpone. I am at level 14 and I go through an entire level unscathed, no matter how hard. - too much money. I don’t know how to spend them! (But again my strategy implied making a lot of quick loot vs fighting so maybe I’m an outlier) - I like the events but it’s too boring to do the same levels all over and over just to unlock a new character. I’d rather face a harder level. - sharing with friends quest can be easily gamed. - I would have watched more rewarded videos if they gave away diamonds (even if just one). Crank up those ad impressions! Overall I really enjoyed the game. Good job! I haven’t tried the multiplayer feature.
Review by UMA_ter on Beat Street.