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Crusader is a given, since he can heal himself and create that damage-over-time aura to decimate clustered enemies. And Pill Bug is useful because he can sneak past enemies by burrowing underground. But who else to pick? Ravager has some pretty nice direct damage moves, but Soultaker is great for picking on single units and Sunbird can buff the rest of the team and attack from a distance. Well maybe I can use one of them instead of Pill Bug. Or maybe I should replace Crusader…

Much like other castle defense titles, Legendary Heroes is all about guiding forces from one end of an arena to another. Often with an emphasis on sheer numbers. What makes it different, aside from the decidedly non two-dimensional presentation, is that players don’t spend any time churning out units to mindlessly walk in a straight line. Instead, they have direct control over a team of three special heroes who can often turn the tide of a battle if used well enough. As they take out enemies and opposing hero units, they gain experience and can upgrade one of several distinct abilities. Of course, players can also use the cash they earn after each match to purchase special one-time use items to give them an edge when they need it most.

There’s a lot to enjoy when playing Legendary Heroes. Each character feels like an individual, and utilizing their special attack and support actions at just the right moment can feel very rewarding. Figuring out new strategies and ways to use one hero’s power to another one’s advantage is similarly cool. And while the RPG elements at play are fairly simple, it’s always satisfying to take a favorite into battle and watch them get stronger. If it weren’t for the fact that the experience can become incredibly obnoxious thanks to a few key problems, I’d be singing its praises to anyone who’d listen.

There are two major issues with Legendary Heroes. First, the controls aren’t as responsive as they need to be. Whether this is due to framerate drops brought on by action-heavy instances or a problem with hit-detection makes no difference. Either way, I’ve failed to use abilities or move in the proper direction on several occasions because of it. Second, the path-finding is absolutely horrible. Navigating a straight line map is easy, but when they get more complex it becomes a serious issue. I’ve lost way too many heroes because they decided to walk into a wall rather than around it on their way back to the base to heal.

Legendary Heroes is still fun in small doses. It starts to fumble a bit as it progresses because the smaller margin for error magnifies a couple of minor (but significant) issues, though. Still, it’s bound to find its niche in the App Store.