The following article was originally produced for the site Nindie Nexus! They’ve had to move hosting sites, so all of my content will be uploaded on both my blog and their new site. They’re some of the most passionate players I know. Please go support them!

Switch ‘N’ Shoot puts you in the bodies of a bunch of faceless space pilots. I suppose that’s not horrible, Darth Vader looked like an actual potato without his helmet. Switch ‘N’ Shoot was also designed for the mobile gaming market. Mobile titles being ported to consoles isn’t an inherently bad thing, but there’s some that do translate better than others. Think of it this way – the Switch is a beautiful cheese pizza, and games are the wonderful toppings. Succulent meats taste good on that golden, cheesy surface, while salted peanuts are absolutely terrible. That’s without bringing up the pineapple weirdos too. Granted, I don’t like pizza toppings at all. I suppose I’m the weirdo.

Developer: Matt Glanville
Publisher: Matt Glanville
3 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $4.59

Switch ‘N’ Shoot is a procedurally generated, arcade inspired, shmup that bases itself around one concept. You play the game with exactly one input. It feels very out of place with a controller, which contains many buttons; a touch screen suits it best. When you press the fire button, you also change which direction you’re headed. At first, it was a novel concept to me. The novelty wore off quickly with repetition.

Your goal is to collect “power-ups” that upgrade your shot, and will eventually send you to the next zone. I disliked this mechanic, because the basic shot was sacrificed to be almost useless. Like, you ordered a large 2-topping Pizza Hut pizza, but the second topping was dog feces. Do you eat the proverbial poo, or throw away the pizza? Can you tell I’m hungry writing this?

If you’re looking for ease, you won’t find it here.

The most difficult part of a Switch ‘N’ Shoot run is always the beginning. I had many runs that would end almost immediately on start, or in a new zone because I couldn’t hit things. I also had many runs killed by bad RNG of the power-ups and enemy locations. If you miss a power-up, your level decreases. Good runs being killed by bad luck really put a damper on my morale.

If you’re not a fan of beating your own scores, there is nothing to keep you here. I always like pointing length out in my reviews, because it can be the deciding factor for people on the edge. Switch ‘N’ Shoot had little to keep me interested beyond a few hours. Personally, I think the game also could’ve used online leaderboards. If you aren’t competing, score quickly loses purpose. Within fifteen runs I was done caring. My interest wasn’t kept by the palette swaps, when the things that were swapped always looked the same.

Most of the time, palettes don’t mesh well in practice

Switch ‘N’ Shoot is novel, but it feels unfinished. It needs more to keep the player around, and more to keep them invested. As a mobile to console port, Switch ‘N’ Shoot falls flat on it’s face. It is not meant for the system, and doesn’t translate well to it. Switch ‘N’ Shoot as a game is fine otherwise. I believe it fits perfect for the Nindie Nexus half heart. It’s not a bad game, but it throttles itself for the sake of a gimmick. If this does not bother you, I do think it is worth checking out.