Game Review #255: Switch 'N' Shoot (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: FrankieW
Developer: Matt Glanville
Publisher: Matt Glanville
Category: Shoot Em Up, Arcade, Action
Release Date: 04.10.2019
Price (at time of review): $4.59
Buy Switch N' Shoot on the Nintendo Switch eShop here.
The Old Days
Neon Lights abound, the clacking of joysticks and buttons being pressed, the ever present jingle of quarters or tokens, and the murmurs of people talking punctuated by loud sounds of victory or defeat. The arcades of the old days were the place to be, and Switch 'N’ Shoot successfully recreates the “one more time” gameplay that was found throughout those days. A love letter to old school vertical shoot-em-ups, Switch 'N’ Shoot employs an interesting spin on the formula, that actually has a lot more going for it than you will initially think! Let's hop in the pilot's seat and blast off to the rest of this review!
Left to Right
The interesting thing this game does is a biggie. With most games like this you have free movement, you can shoot, and maybe shoot missiles or employ screen clearing bombs, but Switch 'N’ Shoot changes this up by being a game with only one button. That's right, one button! When you press a button you will shoot your weapon, and change the direction you are going. You scroll left and right on the bottom of the screen, and if you go over one side you will appear on the other Pac-Man Style.
Wrapping your head around this is one of the hardest, but most rewarding parts of this game. It turns timing and rhythm into a factor in the shoot-em-up equation, rather than dodging and patience. As enemies scroll down the screen, ones you don’t manage to kill will come and take up some real-estate on your plane of movement, before exploding and disappearing. By itself, this doesn’t sound too bad but your method of progression in this game makes it a much more impactful outcome.
As you play the game, you will have power up coins drop and when you get them, your weapon is upgraded! You will see at the top of your screen a meter with notches for each power up coin you can get, from making your shots bigger, to a double or triple shot. These will make your life much easier as you fight off the alien threat. If you miss a coin that drops however, you will power down a level so the game pushes you to take risks in order to avoid that outcome. But here is the thing; once you power up, something begins to happen. Your gun turns into a powerful laser, the left and right sides of the screen light up with plasma, keeping you in the middle of the stage and when you get that one last power up coin… you hit WARP SPEED and jet ahead into the next area! It's an insanely satisfying mechanic that will keep you on your toes the entire time.
Wrapping up
This game is loaded with familiar beeps, boops, zings, and zaps, as well as having a pretty awesome soundtrack that you will get familiar with as you continually start round after round once the “just one more game” mentality takes hold - and it will! The graphics are simplistic and designed as such, but to change it up you can get different color palettes that will change things up Super Game Boy style. It also allows you to make your own color palettes to make it look however you would like! This game really hammers in the fact that something simple can still be great and have tons and tons of depth. I found myself playing game after game, just trying to beat my last score, or maybe to beat the boss levels that come up occasionally.
Everything always feels attainable, and that contributes to how encouraging this game is to get you to do one more run. Switch N’ Shoot was an affordable surprise that gave me a ton more fun than I thought it was going to get! I recommend this game to most anyone, especially given the price point. This game is perfect for both short spurts of gaming, and sitting down and really grinding your skills in the game, and for that I give this little gem a 9/10!
Score: 9/10
Buy Switch N' Shoot on the Nintendo Switch eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by Matt Glanville