A great little game that’s perfect on the Switch
Nintendo’s Switch is ending its life cycle soon, and there are only a few big games left. Many a gamer has moved on to the snazzy PS5 (Pro?) and Steam Deck, relegating the Switch to collect dust. It’s been a while since Tears of the Kingdom, and only the recent Echoes of Wisdom got us blowing the dust off. But we still keep it around, tucked away into the pocket of our backpacks, and while it may not necessarily be for those epics any more we can definitely turn to it for smaller experiences like BZZZT.
BZZZT, from studio KO.DLL, is a run-and-jump action platformer that’s been on PC for a while and now making its way to Nintendo. I don’t know what exactly you would call these types of games, so I’m just going to go with Meat Boy likes. This is a brutal platforming game with some shooter stuff thrown in, but it’s really just about getting through a stage safely. The game uses collectibles to draw us in, some that are hidden and some out in the open, like screws. There’s a set number of collectibles and a timer; we can get through the levels casually and at our own pace, but it’s really not conducive to that. The game really, really wants us to grab everything.
Like other games in this genre, if we stand still we’re gonna die. We need to keep moving… until we die regardless. But, that’s where the gameplay design comes in, getting us to start again in the level to run through. We have a typical platforming moveset, including double jumps and air dashes, so the game will feel familiar to just about everything who picks it up. It’s not reinventing any wheels, just making sure we have more of them. Finishing a level gives us medals, so we know we did GREAT (or just above the water line).
One thing I’ll add, and it should get more credit for, is that I really respect a game that makes the hit boxes on the collectibles a little big. So we don’t have to be right on top of something. If we’re just in the general vicinity, chances are we’re going to get it. Cool. Good!
Its art style is genuinely gorgeous and has a great soundtrack. It’s like a weird techno lo-fi soundtrack. It’s kind of cool — There are even lyrics in some of the songs too. Games like this really only survive on two things: does it work well (here = yes) and does it look cool (here = also yes). Everything’s very well-animated and very well-defined. Nothing blends into the background or anything. It’s much more pixel art cartoon than other games in the genre.
I like it. I like it a lot. I think this is one of those perfect Switch games where we just sit down at night and blast through a handful of these platforming stages. Since we’re getting towards the end of the Switch’s lifespan, where we’ll probably relegate this to a backpack or drawer, these kinds of games are actually really good to keep us coming back to this device. Take the Switch out on the bus or at the office on break, and plug away BZZZT for 15 minutes instead of losing time surfing Twitter on my phone.
This review is based on a Nintendo Switch eShop code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. It first appeared on The SideQuest Live for September 19, 2024. Images and video courtesy the publisher.
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