Remember Flappy Bird? That game about flying a bird through a series of Mario-looking pipes that mysteriously disappeared as fast as it became popular? Well, while many copy-cats appeared after its discontinuation at the hands of its own developer, Fledgling Heroes might be the most evolved take on it. The title, starring a group of six birds, sees you flapping through various environmental death traps, dodging arrows and magical spells, and racing against a trio of mystical dragons. While the game certainly has its charm, it’s unclear exactly who this game is for as while it packs all the visual punch of a game meant for children, it certainly can offer a considerable challenge for even the most skilled players.
Fledgling Heroes is told through the perspective of six birds; Toto the Toucan, Whisper the Owl, Penny the Penguin, Biscuit the Macaw, Lucky the Quail, and Pablo the Kingfisher. Each bird more or less handles drastically different from one another as they can glide, fly, dive, and swim through a series of levels revealed across three distinct locations. Each environment is built around a pair of birds, meaning you’ll stop playing as the previous duo as you enter into the strange new lands, leaving behind all the feathers you’ve collected.
As you complete levels and tackle certain objectives like smashing pots, defeating lizards, or collecting a certain number of coins, you’ll earn those very feathers. These are the currency used to access more levels and operate as a way to gate-lock progression. Approach one of these doors with 23/24 feathers? Well, go back and find one of the ones you missed. Thankfully, you won’t need to gather all of them as most levels top out at around 30 and you’re likely to collect almost double than that. This is especially helpful as some feathers are locked behind expert level maneuvering and some are hidden remarkably well.
As I’ve mentioned, several birds handle differently from one another and often this is due to their ability to tackle environments in different ways. Penny can swim underwater, whereas Biscuit, for example, cannot. Pablo can dart through water, but struggles to climb through the air, where Toto the Toucan can easily ascend through the sky with no problem. While it would have been nice to see levels crafted in a way where each of the six birds could have found their own path, it certainly would have limited the focused scope of creating certain types of set pieces.
Each bird can be colored and decorated in all manner of colors, with more available as you unlock them. Thankfully, you can pick from numerous palettes, and are not palette-locked with limitations. Want to create a pink Toucan with black wings and orange eyes? go for it. This customization continues further as you can create entire levels as well, unlocking more blueprints as you find them scattered across each level. The editor is a bit clunky in how you can move obstacles and items around, not to mention the limited space to create levels in, but there are also some already crafted levels made by other players that have some helpful tags to make you aware of what challenges await you and the overall difficulty. Thankfully, a Nintendo Online Subscription is not required to access these online features so you can jump right in and experience what other players have in store for you.
Now, the difficulty is a major concern of mine as the entire game is built around a pass-fail level of design. Nearly every puzzle or obstacle placed is built around diving and flying through dangerous paths and since most birds handle largely different from one another, it can cause a lack of muscle memory to develop and it’s all too easy to smash into rocks, spinning blades, or in the case of Pablo, having them automatically ascend and smash their head into the rocky ceiling. Despite it seeming like a game designed for children, Fledgling Heroes can often be incredibly difficult, so those looking to get this for their little ones, be a tad cautious. The final two races, for example, are frustrating to no end as even the slightest misstep, or inability to place your bird in front of the dragon’s nose can result in dozens of re-attempts, mainly due to missing the correct moment to dive or flap by a pixel’s width. Thankfully, you can restart a level with no loading times as the game merely fades to black and resets you at the start. That said, it’s a shame that easier modes weren’t created to slow down certain parts of the game or allow for a bit more forgiveness on skimming by a rock’s surface or escaping through a space between spikes. While you can bounce across flat ground, I had numerous instances where I would bounce and then instantly die, with no indication of what I did wrong, and this happened a lot.
Fledgling Heroes does have a story, told through a series of poetic rhymes as you escort each bird through a series of dangerous trials. While the narrative is likely there to just add context for the adventure, it continues to further illustrate that the game was likely created for children while clashing with the challenge the game can often present. Now, these difficult moments are few and far between but become a very difficult barrier to push past, especially in contrast to almost every other level feeling challenging but never impossible. The difficulty mainly comes from having to fly and glide and dive at just the right moment over and over again, weaving and flapping with split-second timing in a game that isn’t as responsive as it needs to be. There are also a few levels where off-camera enemies will lunge or fire off spells at you that you will not see coming that feel incredibly cheap and are there only seemingly there to punish you. While there are checkpoints graciously spaced out, seeing the heavy-booted lizards leap down at you with no warning is just not good game design.
The game can easily be completed in a day and while the level editor can keep you busy for a while, it’s unclear if you’ll really see it as a way to prolong your time with the game. The merging of Flappy bird with a bit of Mario Maker does have some appeal, I just wish the editor was a bit more intuitive and allowed for much larger levels to be made. The game does also offer up two players, but the game just doesn’t seem designed for it as it tugs and moves the camera in a way that makes some navigation almost impossible. The defeated player will show up in the path of the surviving one floating around in a bubble, similar to New Super Mario Bros on the Wii, as well as from a handful of games that use the same mechanic. While a few levels were decent enough to push through alongside a friend, the dragon chases that close out each level are incredibly challenging to do alongside a friend and much easier as a solo experience.
Fledgling Heroes is by no means a bad game at all, in fact, apart from the difficulty spikes, I rather enjoyed it. The game can often come across as quite striking and some enemies are stunningly animated with some very engaging backdrops to soar and dive around through. I wish some of the challenge was lessened for lower-skilled players as the game can be brutally hard for younger and even older players alike. Depending on your country, the game is around $10 and is a pretty low-cost barrier to entry, and can certainly entertain for a few short hours. If you enjoyed Flappy Bird all those years ago and want a more evolved take on the formula, then certainly take flight here with these colorful and quirky feathered friends.
A review code of Fledgling Heroes was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review and played on a Nintendo Switch.
All screenshots were taken on a Nintendo Switch.