DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power (Switch)
The animated television series DC Super Hero Girls takes plenty of heroines and villainesses from DC’s history and throws them together into a high school setting, and thanks to the guidance of Lauren Faust who performed a surprisingly successful revival of the My Little Pony brand, it held together fairly well. The main characters were given distinct personalities that allowed them to play off each other well in the action comedy set-ups the series focused on, the mix of relatable school antics and super hero situations making the adaptation and alteration of classic characters fun and approachable for its intended audience. DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power for the Switch does try to carry over some of this focus, making sure to provide moments for the cast to show who they are outside of battle, but the action slant is certainly stronger while still being a good fit for the expected young audience.
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power focuses its lens on Metropolis High School which seems to have a high number of students attending it that moonlight as super heroes or villains. Surprisingly, despite many of them looking fairly similar both in and out of costume, only close friend groups tend to realize that their fellow students also fight crime or cause it, but this is definitely part of the overall light-hearted tone and allows for some moments where heroes and villains can speak on an equal level blissfully unaware they’re talking to someone they’ll be fighting tomorrow. The main focus of the story falls on a band of six girls, although only three of them are playable. Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman are the crimefighters you’ll spend most of your time playing as, their allies Bumblebee, Jessica Cruz as the Green Lantern, and Zatanna often present for cutscenes or nominally assisting in battle even though only these three heroes will actually participate. However, later into the adventure, the villains actually start to become playable. The incomplete roster of the show’s six main heroines becomes a bit easier to stomach once you realize you’ll have three villainesses to take their place, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Star Sapphire eventually getting major moments in the plot.
The main concern for characters on both sides of the moral dividing line comes from a recent surge in attacks across Metropolis. The Hob’s Bay area is utterly decimated by an attack of haywire construction and demolition robots and giant automated toys have begun to attack the city, often seemingly to sabotage efforts to rebuild Hob’s Bay. While initially only a concern for the altruistic super heroines, eventually the villains find their work is often interrupted by the toy attacks and the two groups start to work together or at least begrudgingly accept the presence of the other team. It makes a bit more sense that both sides would cooperate considering the villains are rarely shown doing anything too dangerous, a few jewel thefts and threats they don’t always follow through on mostly the extent of their danger besides Giganta’s work, although the girl who can grow to giant size does at least seem to be in a blind rage when she’s threatening citizenry and property damage. The main threat and the mystery behind who’s causing it aren’t too tough to figure out well before the girls get there, but what makes the slow journey to the expected reveals more entertaining is the story taking some time to have some personal conflicts. Livewire is a social media addict and she embarrasses Supergirl online with a candid photo from a fight between the two, so you spend some time helping Supergirl reconstruct her self-esteem and then confront Livewire in a vignette that’s not necessarily connected to the toy troubles but gives you a better understanding of the 12 or so central characters.
For the most part, the missions in DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power involve picking your super heroine of choice to fight back against the out of control robots or toys, and all six playable ladies fight in appreciably different ways. Some like Supergirl and Star Sapphire can fly, but a character like Harley Quinn attacks with a very different rhythm than Batgirl since Harley swings a heavy hammer around while Batgirl uses typical martial arts. Star Sapphire is a strong late addition to the cast with her projectile-firing battle style, but every character’s simple attack string has a bit more to it than dishing out quick reliable damage. Land every hit of their combo and a SMASH will activate, dealing heavy damage and knocking foes back. You’re given a dodge maneuver with every character that, if well-timed, will slow things down and let you execute a SMASH attack instantly, and the indicators for when enemies are going to attack are usually clear enough that you can work in the dodges fairly well if you so wish. Characters also each have different special moves tied to their powers such as Catwoman unleashing a flurry of whip lashes good for hitting crowds or Supergirl whose frost breath can temporarily freeze foes for easy hits. Each girl has a special move that recharges quickly and one that takes more time and effort to fill up, the efficacy appropriately scaled and thus you’ll weigh their use differently depending on the battle situation.
Your battle options end up having a decent amount of range even if you will often lean on the basic combo most of all, but it’s at least not all mindless button mashing, especially once other mission types crop up. Some battles will focus more on protecting something like the reconstruction efforts at Hob’s Bay or civilians fleeing from a foe like Giganta, others might be more about safely reaching the right area or defusing bombs while enemies accost you, and there’s a good deal of unique boss fights that often involve some element beyond just trying to land hits and avoid them. Admittedly, the game does overuse the standard foes a bit too much, the robots and toys having a few standard designs you face fairly often, and while something like the saw-slinging demolition bot or the flying dolls have variants with new tricks or attack methods, it can’t quite freshen things up consistently due to how often you’ll find yourself in a fight against familiar faces.
Thankfully, there is some time spent doing other activities between these battle scenarios. You’re free to explore a few different areas of Metropolis in the civilian identities of the six playable girls, their abilities restricted to mostly just jumping around but the different sections of the city still have some tasks worth spending time on. A social media site called Supersta has the attention of all the girls, the player able to stop and snap photos of things they find around the city and post them. Other characters will leave comments and earning likes and followers can help you with side missions, and since the standards of Supersta seem pretty loose, you don’t need to worry too much about framing things so much as potentially snapping shots of trending subjects. The side quests around town are a bit more interesting, citizens having various issues or jobs they need help with that aren’t always going to lead to a new battle scenario. Sometimes you’re scouring the city for items, other times taking specific photos, sometimes sneaking up to grab cats, and there are even unique mission types here like collecting balloons that are drifting away. The side quests can give you some more time to speak with side characters like Lois Lane who runs the school newspaper and the show’s voice cast reprises their roles for any character who isn’t just a generic person you can help. There is quite a lot to do if you are so inclined, meaning if you pursue extra content beyond the story, this game can last you quite a long time without feeling like it’s just rehashing battles.
To reward you for participating in extra activities or doing well in battles, DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power has both a character upgrade system and purchasable fashion outfits. The upgrade points are harder to come by and are used to unlock things like the superpowers or to buff up elements of a character like their health or the strength of a SMASH, but the fashion is given a strong amount of focus with some side quests unlocking new purchasable outfits or just providing the cash needed to go grab them. Each girl has four categories for their civilian wardrobes that match who they are quite well. Supergirl’s true identity of Kara is into rock n’ roll music so she has more casual laidback options while Wonder Woman is well-composed so her outfits all try to look nice and presentable. The characters start off with some basic variants but eventually get more diverse outfit pieces, the full sets giving them distinctly different looks but also allowing for some reasonably complementary mixtures since they’re not overly specific outfit pieces. There are alternate superhero get-ups to buy as well, these rarer to come by and only consisting of full suits rather than mix and match parts. Interestingly enough you also get to help design Hob’s Bay during its reconstruction efforts, the player similarly able to unlock building designs and then able to place the buildings of their choice at specific milestones in the story. Some of these will only be cosmetic buildings while others like clothes stores are functional, although it is a bit odd when the game introduces the idea of building converted toys to guard Hob’s Bay and yet they serve no real purpose beyond visibly patrolling that spot if you drop by.
What makes all these nifty extras a bit better is the fact that your mission success can tie into how often you engage with them. Most battles won’t be too difficult, but every mission also has a set of secondary goals that determine the rewards you earn. Performing a set amount of SMASH attacks, clearing the mission fast enough, avoiding damage, and preventing enemies from using certain attacks all crop up as extra goals that can alleviate some of the sting of repetitive fights should you choose to engage with them. Shifting your own fighting style to earn more resources for personalizing your character and affording the higher end buildings for Hob’s Bay feels achievable, and since there is an abundance of extra content to help you earn money, you won’t feel like you need to play perfectly in the missions to be able to afford what you like.
THE VERDICT: The battles in DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power do start grow stale with time thanks to its usual reliance on a small stable of enemies, but plenty of extra considerations help the game avoid becoming a slog. Extra goals in battle, the occasional format change, some enjoyable light-hearted interactions between fights, and things to do around town like purchase outfits and post to Supersta all break things up enough that the game can hold your interest despite certain elements often feeling light in substance. Colorful characters and plenty of optional activities hold this game together and make it a fine fit for players of different ages even if it doesn’t excel in too many areas.
And so, I give DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power for Nintendo Switch…
An OKAY rating. Despite the game wearing down some of its appeal by trotting out the same foes in battles that don’t always shake up the formula enough, DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power still feels like a wonderful fit for younger players because their tolerance for repetition is generally higher. The six characters all play in appreciably different ways, there are activities and unlockables independent of the need to bash toys and robots, and there are fun interactions to find within the side quests or story moments where characters get a little bit of time to show off their personality or end up in comedic situations. The extra goals in battle breathe some more life into the fights for older players, giving them an angle to pursue that doesn’t require huge adjustments to how you play but also still gives a way to add a little extra energy to battles that might otherwise play too similarly. Not having the six main characters of the show playable was likely a production limitation and would likely have meant trimming the three playable villains to achieve, but the real route for greater success is a bit obvious. The constant fights with toys and machines needed greater variety in what you face regardless of the optional goals placed over them, and to some degree this could have been achieved with a stronger embrace of non-standard battle formats. Even peppering in some more boss fights could have been a breath of fresh air between the fairly frequent toy battles, a better balance of the different types of action you engage with feeling like the key to keeping up the game’s sense of energy and making more side-content worth engaging with.
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power will likely not receive an improved sequel since the animated series it is tied to has ceased production, but there are many cases of licensed games coming out much worse and especially ones that try to target a younger demographic. If a player has some interest in the brand or show, they will probably get something out of this interactive experience despite its offerings feeling a little strained through fairly frequent recycling. Its gameplay might not be the biggest draw, but it does fall in a nice safe spot where people who want to see the DC Super Hero Girls in video game form get something faithful and lightly entertaining.