Official Score
Overall - 40%
40%
Toon War could have used a lot of balance. What could have been a mindless, ordinary shooter becomes a lot more frustrating with its broken leveling system. Those looking for a solid twin-stick shooter should check out titles like Nex Machina instead.
War has never looked as cute as it does in Lemondo Games’ Toon War. A twin stick shooter that’s packing plenty of firepower, does its style provide some substance as well?
Toon War Review
Players will likely know the drill when it comes to Toon War’s main objective. Put simply, there are bad guys looking to take you down, and you’ve got to take them down first. It’s safe to say that you can shoot anything and everything that moves, which means that this can be a somewhat mindless game.
Most objectives boil down to taking down all enemies before opening a gate to the next zone. To do so, players must drive around with the left analog stick and shoot by holding the right stick down in the direction they want to shoot. Certain enemies also drop rockets, which can deal out heavy damage and knock out swarms of infantry. Power-ups also litter the world, allowing players to have a double shot, triple shot, flamethrower, or laser. It’s basic stuff you’ve no doubt seen countless times before, and the bland level design does not do the game any favors.
Each of the different worlds has a gimmick to it, with some panning out better than others. The forest level might have you rescuing hostages and protecting a bridge, while an ice level will slow you down as you navigate a snowy terrain. The thing is, a lot of these stages rely on you leveling up certain aspects of your ride, and going in without the proper upgrades makes these parts all but impossible. It could have used a lot of balance, or at the very least a difficulty setting. It could have also used a proofreader as well – there are some typos in this title.
Rather, the aforementioned leveling in Toon War forces players to grind for stars. Players can earn stars by taking down enemies or destroying crates, which can then be used to buy rockets or upgrade parts on your vehicle. Players can adjust their primary weapon, secondary weapon, armor, wheels, exhaust, or even color. There are also minor upgrades that cost less, which can be used to adjust things like the firing rate and regeneration. As a result, the key to victory is to find endlessly spawning enemies and grind for stars, rather than use dexterity and skill. This was originally a mobile game, which somewhat explains the grind.
There’s not much else to speak of in the game. The Campaign features everything on a map, though players cannot move to a previous level. It is easy to get trapped in an underleveled state, which quickly gets annoying.
Toon War could have used a lot of balance. What could have been a mindless, ordinary shooter becomes a lot more frustrating with its broken leveling system. Those looking for a solid twin-stick shooter should check out titles like Nex Machina instead.
