My Hero One’s Justice (Switch) Review

Finally, an anime game that I can get into! If you haven’t heard of My Hero Acadamia, I’ll break it down real quick: the anime (based on the manga by the same name) is set in a world where a large percentage of people are born with a quirk, otherwise known as a superpower. Some people use these quirks for criminal and evil intent, while many others try to use them for good. A lot of the intrigue comes from seeing a world where being a hero is a full time job — a career that people do for the money. But the other side of it is seeing awesome powered people fight each other. Of course, this is what My Hero One’s Justice is all about.

My Hero One’s Justice fits right into the fighter genre, borrowing plenty of mechanics and tropes that come with the genre. There may be characters that would absolutely destroy others, but everyone here is playing on a relatively level playing field, with player skill really being the main point of difference.

The arenas allow 3D movement, and each character is incredibly mobile with several jumps and air techniques. In fact, any stage with walls will even let you and your opponent flip the playing field up there, standing upright on the side of a building to fight. Each stage also offers varying degrees of destructibility, though I found this to be more cosmetic than anything. There’s a variety of different arenas from different storylines and locations in the show, but the differences between them functionally aren’t all that much.

The cast of characters from the show are of course the main draw here, with plenty of heroes and villains to choose from. Sadly, a lot of the characters don’t feel all that different from each other, until you get into long combos and special moves. So if you’re getting this game as a fan of the show without much fighting game experience, you may be a bit disappointed that your favourite character doesn’t show off their quirk too much.

The story mode is one of the more unique parts of the game, though the bulk of it is still going through the main plot of the show. That said, there’s quite a few ‘What if” scenarios, and things that aren’t shown on the show but still presumably may have happened. Whether it’s canon to the show or not is another story, but it’s cool to see some match-ups and events we haven’t seen before.

I actually found a bit of fun in the mission mode, which almost feels like an event mode. A string of challenges with different modifiers to add an element of strategy to your already established fighting style. You’re graded on your performance for each mission, and then for the overall map, and given prizes accordingly.

These prizes come in the form of unlockables, one of the strangest parts of the game. You can customise each fighter to a huge degree, with outfits and accessories. I like the idea of different outfits, but the accessories are possibly a bit too much for me- different glasses and colours that break the art style a bit too much.

My Hero One’s Justice is far from a bad game, but it’s also not an amazing game. There’s not a lot here that blows me away, or makes me want to play for hours and hours. A lot of the draw for me is the story mode, and mission mode, but once those are finished… I’d probably forget about the game. I’m really hoping to see the next game expand on what’s here, for what is a really interesting world and concept where the game ironically does it no justice.

Rating: 3.5/5