PowerUp Heroes is a simple Kinect fighting game aimed at Casual players. It is easy to pick up, and relatively easy to master. Attacks are completed by performing various actions. Whilst some involve jumping, most of the attacks can be completed by simply moving your arms.
Campaign
There are three achievements related to the short campaign; one for winning the first fight, one for defeating the boss once, and the final achievement for defeating the boss (his X version) a second time. You win a new suit with each fight as you work through the campaign. Most of the time the suit is from the opponent that you faced. The exception to this is against the boss (Malignance or Malignance X). In these cases, you earn a different suit.
Suits and Super Attacks
As you work through the campaign, you should aim to use each and every Super Attack for the 'No more secrets' achievement. Each suit has three Super Attacks. It is worth noting that the X version of each suit has just one unique Super Attack.
You should also learn how to use each of the different Super Attack combinations, as they will definitely help you defeat opponents quickly. The combinations are Chain (two Super Attacks from suit 1), Super Chain (one Super Attacks from suit 1, followed by one Super Attack from suit 2), Ultra Chain (one Super Attack from suit 1, followed by two Super Attacks from suit 2), and Ultimate Chain (one Super Attack from suit 1, followed by one Super Attack from suit 2, followed by one Super Attack from suit 1). Each of these has an achievement attached.
Tournament Mode and Online Play
Once you have completed the Campaign, you should work on Tournament mode, which is a local multiplayer game type. Win a Tournament for "Best of the Best". You should also be able to obtain "Fearless Fighter" (win without dodging) and "The untouchable" (win without being hit) if you have not obtained them already. Another way to get these is when you are going for the "Here I Am" achievement, which requires you to win a Ranked match online. As there is not much of a community, you should probably boost this.
Leveling Up
The final achievement, "Modernist", requires you to reach level 10. This is best done by fighting the same opponent over and over. Select the most difficult opponent that you are comfortable with defeating, and replay them until you have gained enough XP.
Suit Selection = Easy Wins
You will want to use each and every suit as you play through the campaign, but for the difficult fights, select those that match your fighting style. You should also try to select two suits that work well together, so you can chain together Ultra Chains and Ultimate Chains without too much trouble.
Start each fight with a stunning-type Super Attack, and then switch suits to perform another stunning-type Super Attack. You can then finish off the chain with any other Super Attack from either suit. Once you have completed the third Super Attack, enter Close Combat, knock your opponent over, and then start using the other Super Attacks available to you.
Close Combat
I found that entering Close Combat as often as possible had many benefits. Whilst it does not do that much damage, you can knock the opponent over if you are quick, allowing a Super Attack to be used immediately afterwards. The other benefits from Close Combat is it allows your Super Attacks to recharge, with little chance of being damaged by your opponent, and it prevents your opponent from using Super Attacks (less dodging).
When entering Close Combat, it is quite common for your opponent to counter by kicking you upon approach. I found that throwing a Projectile immediately before entering Close Combat prevented this from happening.
Defensive Play
The attacks that cause the most damage are Super Attacks, obviously. As such, you should recognise when and how to counter them. Some Super Attacks take a few seconds to charge. When you see an opponent charging a Super Attack, use a Projectile (punch forward), enter Close Combat (raise knee) or use a quick Super Attack. If however your opponent is using a quicker Super Attack, you should Dodge (lean to the side).
Campaign
The Story Mode for PowerUp Heroes is relatively short, and mostly easy. You start the game with just one suit, given to you by Volta, and you must fight a series of different enemies on your way to Malignance, and then Malignance X. Each time you defeat an enemy, you gain a new suit. In most cases, the suit is of that of the enemy that you have just defeated, but on a couple of occasions, you gain a somewhat unrelated suit.
Each suit has different set of Super Attacks. To use these attacks, you must perform certain motions with your arms. Each suit has three Super Attacks. The motions for each one are shown on your HUD.
Enemies
The walkthrough will not go in to great detail about how to defeat each enemy. You will mostly be using the same tactics, dodging the opponent's Super Attacks, whilst chaining together Super Attacks of your own. If you spot an enemy charging a Super Attack, use a projectile attack to interrupt them. This is particularly important against the tougher enemies, as you will want to avoid them from chaining together attacks as much as you can.
Each fight consists of a maximum of three rounds. The first person to win two rounds wins the fight. If you lose, you get the chance to retry, but you do also get a percentage of the XP. You can also exit to the main menu and replay enemies that you have already defeated.
Scorch, Level 1, 300 XP.
As explained above, you are given Volta's suit at the start of the game. As such, you can only chain together two Super Attacks in the first fight against Scorch. Perform 'Energy Ball', and then 'Electric Whip' by following their motion commands on the HUD. If both Super Attacks hit within a short span of time, you will see that you have chained the attacks together successfully on your HUD. This will unlock the "Chain" achievement.
ChainChained two Super Attacks
Scorch is the easiest opponent in the game, and as such, you might want to try to obtain a couple of easy achievements against him. Firstly, win the fight without dodging once for the "Fearless Fighter" achievement. Another relatively easy achievement against Scorch is "The untouchable", which is obtained by defeating an opponent without taking any hits. For both of these, you should continually attack Scorch with regular and Super Attacks, not allowing him a chance to attack. Beat Scorch over three rounds for the "This is just the beginning" achievement.
Necro, Level 2, 400 XP.
From the second fight onwards, you have two suits at your disposal. You can now begin chaining together 'Ultra' and 'Ultimate' Chains, which are three Super Attacks in a row.
The Ultra Chain is completed by changing suit once. Perform one Super Attack, before changing suit and performing two Super Attacks with the second suit. This will unlock "Super Chain" for chaining together two Super Attacks from two suits, and "Ultra Chain" for chaining together three Super Attacks by changing suits once.
The Ultimate Chain is completed by changing suits twice. Perform one Super Attack with your first suit, then change to your second suit for another Super Attack, before changing back to the first suit once more for the third Super Attack. This will unlock the "Ultimate Chain" achievement.
Ultra ChainChained three Super Attacks by changing Suit once
Chaos, Level 2, 400 XP.
Psych, Level 2, 400 XP.
Shadow, Level 3, 500 XP.
Soothsayer, Level 3, 500 XP.
Bionic, Level 3, 500 XP.
Malignance, Level 4, 700 XP.
Upon defeating Malignance, you will have unlocked the "You've made it halfway" achievement.
Scorch X, Level 5, 900 XP.
Chaos X, Level 5, 900 XP.
Bionic X, Level 6, 1,000 XP.
Psych X, Level 6, 1,000 XP.
Necro X, Level 7, 1,100 XP.
Volta X, Level 7, 1,100 XP.
Soothsayer X, Level 8, 1,300 XP.
Shadow X, Level 9, 1,400 XP.
Malignance X, Level 10, 1,500 XP.
The enemies get tougher and tougher as your progress through the campaign. You should get used to dodging, preventing Super Attacks and creating Ultra or Ultimate chains. Whilst you should be trying to use each and every suit's Super Attack, you may want to use suits with Super Attacks that you are used to. If you are still struggling against Malignance X, consider levelling up (see end of walkthrough) for better suit Power-ups.
I personally liked to use Chaos X and Soothsayer X against Malignance X, as I could chain together two Super Attacks that slowed him down. For example, when I had the opportunity, I used 'Black Hole' with Chaos X, before changing to Soothsayer X and using 'Totem'. I would then use any other Super Attack to finish the Ultra or Ultimate chain. Make sure that you equip the most recent Power-up that you have earned. I equipped the level 4 Power-up 'Stronger Close-Combat' and entered close combat as often as I could to allow the other Super Attacks to recharge.
An alternate technique is to use Volta and Scorch X. Start with Volta's 'Energy Whip', before switching to Scorch X. Use 'Lava Wave', followed by 'Volcano Rock'. Immediately enter close combat. Knock your opponent over, and then use 'Blow Fire'. If your opponent dodges the close combat, just use 'Blow Fire' as soon as you can. Now switch back to Volta to use the final two moves; 'Energy Ball' and 'Electric Whip'. Wait for the Super Attacks to recharge, and repeat. Enter close combat as much as possible to prevent your opponent from using Super Attacks.
Super Attacks
Each suit has three Super Attacks. You must perform each Super Attack in the game. It is logical to choose your new suit as soon as you gain it, using all three Super Attacks in one fight. The X versions of all suits will have just one new Super Attack. The repeated Super Attacks are not needed to be completed, and are shown in italics. Once you have beaten Malignance X, you should have used all Super Attacks from all suits, aside from Ezio, which is unlocked by defeating Malignance X. Start up a local Fight against a second player and use all three Super Attacks to unlock "No more secrets".
Note: DLC suits have their own Super Attacks. You do not need to use these for the achievement.
Volta: Energy Ball, Electric Whip, Lightning Strike.
Scorch: Volcano Rock, Lava Wave, Fire Shield.
Necro: Open the Gates, Ghost Punch, Skeleton Army.
Chaos: Black Hole, Meteor Shower, Satellite Ray.
Psych: Mind Control, Slam, Telekenesis.
Shadow: Chi Power, Katana, Ninja Chain.
Soothsayer: Eagle, Poisonous Bow, Tiger Claws.
Bionic: Air Strike, Proximity Mines, Gatling Guns.
Bunny: Kamikaze, Chargers, Kick the Rabbit.
Scorch X: Blow Fire, Volcano Rock, Lava Wave.
Chaos X: Portals, Black Hole, Meteor Shower.
Bionic X: Vector Cannon, Air Strike, Proximity Mines.
Psych X: Crush, Mind Control, Slam.
Necro X: Feel my Pain, Ghost Punch, Skeleton Army.
Volta X: Forcefield, Electric Whip, Energy Ball.
Soothsayer X: Totem, Poisonous Bow, Tiger Claws.
Shadow X: Teleport Punch, Chi Power, Katana.
Ezio: Piece of Eden, Hidden Blades, Hidden Gun.
Online Mode
As the achievement description suggests, you need to win a RANKED match online. As you can probably imagine, the online community is almost non-existent. It is highly recommended that you either look through the PowerUp Heroes Boost List, or use the Gaming Sessions feature.
Tournament Mode
From the Main Menu, select 'Fight', 'Tournament', and then '4 Players'. Choose all suits for all 4 players. There are three rounds; Eliminations, Semi Finals and Finals. In each round, win the fight with your main account. For the fights that you are not involved in, just win it quickly with whoever is more conveniant. Tournament Mode is another great chance to win the "Fearless fighter" and "The untouchable" achievements.
Levelling Up
XP is best earned by winning fights against opponents. The Campaign walkthrough shows the amount of XP gained by winning against each opponent. You will also gain a small amount of XP for losing. Perfect wins (no damage inflicted) will reward you with bonus XP.
Once you have beaten the campaign the best way to earn XP is to replay Shadow-X over and over by selecting 'Replay' from the Campaign menu. Use the same techniques described above for the Malignance X fight, using either the Volta/Scorch X combination, or Chaos X/Soothsayer X combination.
Level 2, 1,000 XP. Power-up: Stronger Projectiles - Punch Projectiles are more powerful.
Level 3, 7,000 XP. Power-up: Rage Boost - Begin combat with your rage meter already filled.
Level 4, 15,000 XP. Power-up: Stronger Close-Combat - Stronger in close combat.
Level 5, 30,000 XP. Power-up: Faster Rage - Your rage meter fills up faster.
Level 6, 50,000 XP. Power-up: Close-Combat Protection - You receive less damage in close combat.
Level 7, 80,000 XP. Power-up: Faster Cooldown - Your powers recharge faster after use.
Level 8, 100,000 XP. Power-up: Super Attack Protection - Resistant to Super Attacks.
Level 9, 120,000 XP. Power-up: Stronger Rage - Your Rage mode is more powerful.
Level 10, 150,000 XP. Power-up: Stronger Super Attacks - All Super Attacks cause more damage.
ModernistGain enough experience points to reach Level 10
