Something I’ve really enjoyed throughout my time reviewing apps is finding (and talking way too much about) ripoffs in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s a straight up Mario ripoff or a simple puzzle game that uses characters that look suspiciously like Pokémon, it never ceases to amaze me how much plagiarism exists in the world of app gaming. And it gives me something to talk about. Which is nice. Well, I recently found a game that got my attention and instantly had my mouth watering. Hero-X for Android devices, a game that uses a blatant ripoff of Wolverine from the X-Men as its thumbnail. How ripoff-ey is it? Let’s take a look.

The Basics

As I said, I really expected this game to be blatantly full of ripoffs. The thumbnail itself is a clear ripoff, and many of the characters are just well-known superheroes renamed. For example, their version of Wolverine is named Claw, their version of The Hulk is named Fury and their version of Thor is…Hand. Did they forget the word hammer exists? Now, these are clearly just taken straight from Marvel comics. However, you can only really play as them with a lot of hard work or by opening up your wallet, meaning if you want to play for free you’re stuck with a pretty generic character. They couldn’t have just plagiarized a lesser known superhero? Like Plastic Man?

The Gameplay

Hero-X is a classic beat-em-up game reminiscent of arcade titles such as Final Fight or Golden Axe. Your objective is simple: beat up anyone in your path. Every henchman, common criminal, and clown in your way needs to have the stuffing kicked out of them before you can complete a level. Especially the clowns. They scare me.

Is It Fun?

While I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to fight crime as a knock-off version of Iron Man without spending some cash (as if!), I was pretty excited to get to the action of the game. And then I started playing and, well, my excitement didn’t last too terribly long. First of all, the gameplay is so slow it’s tough to string together a good collection of attacks. Additionally, there’s no bosses or anything to change up the battles. Just clowns. Lots and lots of clowns.

The Bottom Line

While Hero-X wasn’t the huge ripoff I was expecting, it was simply not very fun. I must say I did like the graphics of the game, which have a very retro arcade look to them. And, considering the gameplay, that’s not a bad choice. However, the gameplay is so slow and repetitive it will just end up boring you. Especially if you don’t open up your wallet and play as the brilliantly named knock-off of Batman, Crow.