Switch 'N' Shoot Tappy SHMUP, extra juice.

9 years ago

Switch 'N' Shoot

Tappy SHMUP, extra juice.

There has been a recent wave of amazing SHMUPs that pay respect to the classics while incorporating lessons learned from newer shoot’em-up subgenres, such as “bullet-hell” and “arena shooter”. This new wave also draws from other genres entirely, like “roguelike”, “endless runner”, and in the case of Switch ‘N’ Shoot, “casual but really hard one-tap game”.

“One-tap” is really a misnomer; “one-button” is more appropriate (and if you’re playing on a touchscreen, let’s just call the place where you tap a button, okay?), because in this game you’ll be tapping that button far more frantically than “one-tap” would imply.

The game mechanics are perhaps not groundbreaking, but they are elegant. The gameplay boils down to this: Your ship is always moving forwards and always listing to one side; you tap to change the list direction; and, when you change direction, you fire your weapon. The responsiveness of the controls never leave you in doubt that a death is your fault alone.

The game uses an appealing 4-color palette that’s reminiscent of another game I’ve been playing lately. Similarly, it takes advantage of the inherent interestingness of a portrait-oriented, vertically scrolling image in an era when most of what we see is landscape and horizontally inclined.

Switch ‘N’ Shoot (also like Downwell), is a textbook example of the benfits of juiciness. Just imagine the first prototype of this game, minus explosions and exhaust trails and the occasional screen stutter, and without the cohesive visual style.

I love how you are rewarded for replays by being called a new name each time, as if you’re in control of a series of unfortunate recruits. Upon death, you’re rewarded not only by a score on a board, but also by a comment or quip that dismisses [insert name here]’s mortal efforts.

Switch ‘N’ Shoot is still in development, so it’s only going to get better. Developer Matt Glanville (who’s also making Luminesca) intends to eventually sell the final version for “about £2 / $3 / €2-3”, but is offering the game as a free download until then.