Million to One Hero is a game where you play as Epicus on his quest for adventure! Epicus is a hero in training who has decided it’s just too easy, so breaks away from the academy he’s training at with the helpful 4th wall breaking guidance of Chronos, a floating head that cheers you on and points out the obvious. During the tutorial levels you find out that Chronos is not quite in the same world as Epicus is, and you must collect gold orbs to bring him back.
This is an interesting game in the same vein as Mario Maker and Rastan (God do you remember Rastan on the Master System?), where you play a little dude clad in yellow, jumping from platform to platform, hitting switches and avoiding traps such huge f&^* off buzz saws’ you’ll find power ups such as Icarus wings, bows and a shield you use to float from platform to platform – You don’t keep the power up level to level as they are given when needed; again, similar to classic platformers. There are even your hallmark enemies in this game such as centaurs, snakes, hogs and Medusa that you dispatch with your trusty sword.
Epicus is a cocky sort though, which had me chuckling from time to time; at one point he’s bragging about how easy a section is, then I promptly died, falling to my death… Though not due to his controls; he feels pretty precise in his movements where I only felt he was a little slippery on the floor once I got the speed boost… Oh, and death is imminent at every turn; proof of that are the countless ghosts of fallen players you’ll see on your travels. I have to admit, I played this game with a controller and found very easy to get the grips of Epicus’ movements and dash function… I did try with keyboard and mouse, but that confused my brain so I made the switch.
The platforming isn’t the whole game, infact it’s more creating levels and adventures for yourself and the rest of the world, kinda like Mario Maker; you get a tutorial level to show you the ropes, and then you’re playing levels created by everyone but the developer. In creation mode you do exactly that; you’re given a play area where you can make the most insane trap-filled levels, or you can do what I did and make the shortest, most basic platform level ever (I’m not very creative in this way). It’s easy to do as well with a simple how-to guide to help you; I’m sure you could create some fantastic levels!
Creating Adventure needs you to build the levels first as you build your story for Epicus to follow, with a load screen and text telling you what he’s doing next, or whatever you want really; characters in game can also say exactly what you want too – If you want a snarky little satyr that tells you to bugger off, go for it! If you want to recreate Jason and the Argonauts (Ray Harryhausen), you can do that too… Well to a point.
The music is pleasant, but it doesn’t sound epic or adventury enough for the setting, and I only heard three songs on loop… After an hour of playing, I muted; not that they’re bad, they are catchy, lovely little 16-Bit tunes, but there’s only so much I can take of the same beat repeated over and over.
All of this is presented in 16-Bit pixel art style, and because of this it would be easy to dismiss this game as just another one of those indie platform games… But the artwork is really nice, full of solid colour and a moving background like the mode 7 SNES games of my childhood… Loads of stuff is happening in the background, including monsters eating stuff, elephants just moving around, and the sun rising. There are some fun filters as well; you can have black & white, sepia, and Gameboy dot-matrix green amongst many, and I tell you this put a smile on my face – I love shit like this.
The game its self will vary from player to player; there’s a lot of opportunity for you speedrunners out there, and people who just love a nice challenge with a platformer. In conclusion this is a great game and well worth giving it a go; if you like the create-a-level modes in Mario Maker and Little Big Planet you should get a kick out of this – I would have a music playlist on standby though.
For me this isn’t a game I would pick up and play on a regular basis; I’d more than likely play it for a day or two, then move on, but don’t let my tastes deter you. If you like witty dialogue and solid gameplay, then play this game. I really enjoyed myself mucking about on this, laughing away at my own lack of skills and the game being prepared for it.
Presentation: 9
Sound: 6
Gameplay: 8
Story (really depends on the levels you play): 7
Extras (only extras I found where filters): 4
Result: 6.8
Not a bad at all with only a couple of things bringing the score down; play this game and don’t forget to be nice to each other yeah!