 One of the best puzzle games ever made gets a new remaster in this genre-bending fantasy classic. By the time Clash Of Heroes first appeared on the Nintendo DS, back in 2009, the golden era of the puzzle game was already long gone. In the early 90s, Tetris fuelled a mania for puzzle games, but even the successful ones, like Puyo Puyo and Puzzle Bobble, are rarely seen nowadays. Match-three puzzlers are more popular than ever but only on mobile, with no major publisher ever likely to release a new one on consoles. But we're very glad they made an exception in this case. As the awkwardly long name suggests, this is a spin-off from the long-running, but inarguably obscure, Might & Magic franchise, which even we've only played a few entries from. This does not matter. It means the game is set in an ultra-generic fantasy world but other than that its existence as part of a wider franchise is irrelevant. What is relevant is that this is one of the best puzzle games ever made and it's looking better than ever thanks to this excellent remaster by the makers of Streets Of Rage 4 and Windjammers 2. We suspect the game is doomed to be a hidden gem forever, or at least until it changes its name, but for those that do discover its charms, it's aging like fine wine. Puzzle games always sound weird and confusing when you explain them, but there's such a depth of options and tactics to Clash Of Heroes that it's almost impossible to describe in a way that makes it sound appealing. It's a real shame there's not a demo, as the basics are very easy to pick up and everything else is explained in very helpful tutorials, introduced at a sensibly measured pace. The basic idea is that you're in control of a small army of fantasy clichés, including wood elves, knights, wizards, necromancers, and the like. Each faction has its own unique units, with their own special abilities and limitations, but most of them work in the s){kind=link}
One of the best puzzle games ever made gets a new remaster in this genre-bending fantasy classic.
By the time Clash Of Heroes first appeared on the Nintendo DS, back in 2009, the golden era of the puzzle game was already long gone. In the early 90s, Tetris fuelled a mania for puzzle games, but even the successful ones, like Puyo Puyo and Puzzle Bobble, are rarely seen nowadays. Match-three puzzlers are more popular than ever but only on mobile, with no major publisher ever likely to release a new one on consoles. But we’re very glad they made an exception in this case.
As the awkwardly long name suggests, this is a spin-off from the long-running, but inarguably obscure, Might & Magic franchise, which even we’ve only played a few entries from. This does not matter. It means the game is set in an ultra-generic fantasy world but other than that its existence as part of a wider franchise is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that this is one of the best puzzle games ever made and it’s looking better than ever thanks to this excellent remaster by the makers of Streets Of Rage 4 and Windjammers 2. We suspect the game is doomed to be a hidden gem forever, or at least until it changes its name, but for those that do discover its charms, it’s aging like fine wine.
Puzzle games always sound weird and confusing when you explain them, but there’s such a depth of options and tactics to Clash Of Heroes that it’s almost impossible to describe in a way that makes it sound appealing. It’s a real shame there’s not a demo, as the basics are very easy to pick up and everything else is explained in very helpful tutorials, introduced at a sensibly measured pace.