History VideoGame / SuperheroLeagueOfHoboken

* 11th-HourRanger: Toastbuster and Zaniac, who join right before the last set of missions. They'll be very welcome additions, as they are powerhouses of Brawn and Brains respectively and will help a lot in high-danger areas.

* 11thHourRanger: Toastbuster and Zaniac, who join right before the last set of missions. They'll be very welcome additions, as they are powerhouses of Brawn and Brains respectively and will help a lot in high-danger areas.

* SavedByATerriblePerformance: King Midas' power in his prime was to be able to turn anything into a muffler. By the time he joins the League, however, his power is wildly unreliable. This is actually to your benefit, though, as you have no need for mufflers (there doesn't seem to be a single working car anywhere in the world) but the items he creates via misfires wind up being very useful as puzzle solutions, armor and ShopFodder to pad your wallet.

* MagikarpPower: The Crimson Tape himself. He has a very high Brains score but no inherent combat powers to make the best use of it. However, if you take the time and resources to get him some isotopes - Increase Foe's Cholesterol, Induce Rust, and Cause Root Rot, for example, to cover most of the bases - he becomes extremely effective in battle. This is a worthy investment given that he's always in the party because you Can'tDropTheHero.

* MagikarpPower: The Crimson Tape himself. He has a very high Brains score but no inherent combat powers to make the best use of it. However, if you take the time and resources to get him some isotopes - Increase Foe's Cholesterol, Induce Rot, and Cause Root Rot, for example, to cover most of the bases - he becomes extremely effective in battle. This is a worthy investment given that he's always in the party because you Can'tDropTheHero.

** One of Dr. Entropy's master plans involves bringing [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams George Steinbrenner]] back to life to help him destroy the world.

* GameGourmet: Stat-boosting food items are divided into beef, fish, and vegetables, but like the rest of the game's inventory, every food item is unique, meaning you'll pick up fish tempura, fish knish, fish scallopini, vegetable fondue, a vegetable burger, and so on.

* RPGElements

* RunningGag: Tons, as per [[AuthorAppeal Meretzky's style]]. The longest-running one is on the chatterbox, which runs a series of stories about dogs biting men in the Weehawken area (or vice versa), wondering whether 'the Weehawken area' is a geographic location or a [[GroinAttack euphemism]]. It escalates to the point where [[HellHound Cerberus]] actually appears and starts mowing down every Weehawken in sight. Thankfully, this is only a side joke and not something the League actually has to handle. There are also themed enemies which have stronger brethren as the game goes on. (The lowly [[TheAlcoholic Albino Wino]] eventually gives way to the [[RhinoRampage Albino Rhino]], and then the dreaded Albino Dino.)

* NonIndicativeName: Captain Excitement. His power? Lulling animals to sleep.

* PlayerHeadquarters: The League has a cozy HQ where you can get new missions, [[ArbitraryHeadcountLimit change up your squad members]], and restock provisions.

** SequenceBreaking: There is exactly ''one'' point where you can ignore the requirement and complete the Dr. Entropy mission first. In the third series of missions, you have to get past a bodyguard who likes to collect not-quite-spherical objects, in order to get to the roof of an airport control tower. However, if you spend enough time leveling to get past the BeefGate of Steroid Men, you can get enough Really Good At Treading Water power to swim to another airport control tower to fly an abandoned helicopter back to the first one, and defeat Dr. Entropy. However, this is pretty pointless, as you'll need to finish the other four quests eventually anyway, and the four not-quite-spherical objects have no other use.

* SequenceBreaking: Starting with the third set of missions, when you get Treading Water Man, it's possible though difficult to reach certain areas long before you're supposed to, if you can find enough isotopes to give enough members of the team the Really Good At Treading Water power to 75%. While it is by no means easy[[labelnote:*]]One of the buyable isotopes you need to get for this to work is in a very dangerous area that you haven't explored yet, that contains very powerful enemies, though not as strong as the Steroid Men BeefGate[[/labelnote]], doing so gives you access to every area in the game by bypassing the aforementioned BeefGate above. Accessing the later areas gives you access to much stronger equipment and level grinding[[labelnote:*]]Normally not available due to "clearing" a sector of enemies[[/labelnote]], and making any future combat trivial. As missions are all puzzle-based, this does not affect the progression of the story at all, however.

* SquishyWizard: The brainier members of your squad (who excel at combat superpowers) tend to have lower health and toughness, making them ideal for the back of your squad. This can be remedied to some extent with [[PowerUpFood vegetables]] and strong armor pieces, but those are in limited supply and are best given to your front-line fighters.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: Being able to swim is the primary power of two party members, and something you have to drink scientific isotopes to give other characters.

* Bowdlerise: An early mission is another superhero team has stopped fighting crime, because they found a stash of girlie magazines. To get them to stop ogling the ladies, you find and use a ray gun that does this to all the pictures.

* CutTheJuice: Dr. Entropy's first scheme involves a complex electronic device with a protective [[DeflectorShield force field]]... and a long, obvious power cord that [[WhatAnIdiot extends out of the range of the field]].

* RunningGag: Tons, as per [[AuthorAppeal Meretzky's style]]. The longest-running one is on the chatterbox, which runs a series of stories about dogs biting men in the Weehawken area (or vice versa), wondering whether 'the Weehawken area' is a geographic location or a [[GroinAttack euphemism]]. It escalates to the point where [[HellHound Cerberus]] actually appears and starts mowing down every Weehawken in sight. Thankfully, this is only a side joke and not something the League actually has to handle. There are also themed enemies which have stronger brethren as the game goes on. (The lowly [[TheAlcoholic Albino Wino]] eventually gives way to the [[RhinoRampage Albino Rhino]], and then the dreaded [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Albino Dino]].)

* AWinnerIsYou: The ending is a single box of text. And then the credits.

* {{Plunder}}: The party will sometimes discover a pizza box or other weird storage object after combat, which will contain loot, traps, or both. Mademoiselle Pepperoni can use her powers to see if the pizza is trapped before you open the box, and if it is, a dose of the Vanquished Baked Goods power will eliminate the delicious threat. If you don't have those resources available, though, you can still take your chances, or [[PermanentlyMissableContent leave the potential loot behind]].

* StandardStatusEffects: Subverted. Instead of the bog-standard effects your characters can get like being petrified or poisoned, members of the SLH have to worry about becoming paranoid or getting a rash.

* {{Unwinnable}}: Unlike most such RPG's resources, including money and experience points, are all very finite in this game. A player who doesn't know what to expect can screw themselves over very easily.

* BandOfBrothels: Some towns have brothels in them, where heroes can pay for a night of fun. It gives them a boost of experience points.

While the game was well-received in general, those who live in the depicted area (particularly [[BigApplesauce New York City]]) will get the most out of the cultural and geographical references.

* MixAndMatchCritters: One of Entropy's schemes involves cross breeding sewer rats and racehorses to develop [[RodentsOfUnusualSize large, ultra-fast rodents]] that will terrorize the city. Mercifully, you can put an end to it before having to witness any of the finished product.

* NonIndicativeName: Captain Excitement. His power? Talk animal to sleep.