Turn-Based Role Playing Game Review: Steven Universe - Attack the Light

Steven Universe: Attack the Light is a mobile role-playing game adaptation of Cartoon Network's Steven Universe television series.

Even though it is a mobile game, it is a capable turn-based role-playing game in its own right. It has all the hallmarks of the genres, including leveling up, finding items in chests and purchasing them from stores, and tough boss battles. Steven Universe actually works perfectly as an RPG, as Steven himself points out in the game. The series, especially in the early seasons, is all about the Crystal Gems traveling to dungeons and defeating monsters.

The main Crystal Gems, including Steven Universe and his adoptive parents Garnet, Pearl, and Amythyst, are all playable. Steven is the assist character, which fans of the series will attest is perfect since Steven Universe is all about healing people and helping people with their problems.

The story finds the Crystal Gems traveling across the world to areas to familiar areas such as the strawberry battlefield as well as then-new areas such as the desert. They are chasing after a creature known as a light prism. Their search brings them face-to-face with a new Gem threat.

The music fits the game, but don't expect anything on the scale of the memorable music numbers seen in the series. The graphics are a departure from the series, with a unique water-painted look that somewhat resembles the later Dove shorts. It works well for this universe as the general spirit of the characters still shines through.

Steven Universe: Attack the Light is a great example of how to do a video game adaptation of a popular animated television series right. The gameplay is a lot of fun, and the music fits the game well. The story is just like those you would see on the show, which is helped by the fact that it was written by the series creator, Rebecca Sugar. 

Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5

Animated Fantasy Television Series Episode Review: Steven Universe Pilot

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on March 5, 2019.

The Steven Universe pilot was originally released on YouTube and the Cartoon Network website, however, it has since been removed from both websites. It can still be watched as it was included on the Gem Glow DVD and the Season One DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

Watching the pilot is interesting because, other than the dramatically different art styles, the show is actually amazingly quite similar to what we got in the finished product.

Garnet has two gemstones here, which became a major plot point in season one of the television series. She also appears to be the leader, as she directs the other Crystal Gems on what to do.

Amethyst has the carefree, childish persona she had in the early seasons of the show, as demonstrated here by bringing the crystal skull home and then giving Steven the hourglass even though she knows it is dangerous.

Pearl is depicted as cautious here as well, demonstrated by how she tells Steven that he can’t see the hourglass as it is extremely powerful. She’s a bit out of character when she says that Steven will look like a clown if he sings his song in battle, but the way she bashfully covers her mouth when she softly laughs afterward is pure Pearl. Plus, the way Amythyst laughs uproariously and Garnet admonishes them not to make fun of Steven is definitely true to the characters they have on the aired version of the show.

Then, there’s Steven. His song is absolutely the highlight of the episode. It’s an extended version of the song "We are the Crystal Gems", which would become the theme song of the show. Steven’s song in this episode is so great that it was later used, verbatim, in the official extended version of the song.

As for Steven’s personality, he is exactly the curious, immature boy that he was in season one of the show. I could definitely see him accidentally use the hourglass to use a comeback when Lars insults him, which is exactly how season one Lars would act. Season one Sadie would definitely admonish Lars when he teases Steven as well, even though she had a crush on Lars at that point.

Plus, Garnet using the hourglass to win the battle after she learns that it can only be used for comebacks is exactly how she would do it in the show as well. Honestly, I prefer this use of the hourglass to the one that we got in the show in season one. Steven forming a band with past versions of himself called Steven and the Stevens was fun, but it didn’t really fit into what the show became after season one. It’s one of those weird one-off episodes that really doesn’t fit into the mold of the rest of the show.

This episode, even though it is not canon to the series, actually does fit into the rest of the show quite nicely. Yes, the animation is more detailed and rough than the clean look the show got when it aired. However, if it was re-animated to fit in with what the show became, it would have been a great season one episode. Add a star zoom-in on Steven’s face at the end when he said “this clown is going to save your lives”, and it would fit into the show surprisingly perfectly.

Final Verdict:
4½ out of 5