Developed/Published By: WayForward
Date of Release: July 25, 2019
Price: $19.99
The Nintendo 3DS is a Mighty handheld system with a Mighty gimmick: an autostereoscopic 3D display which can give a sense of depth without needing to wear 3D glasses. And so it was a perfect fit for Wayforward's Mighty Switch Force series, in which you control a protagonist on a 2D playing field with blocks that switch between 3D planes. Using these blocks to your advantage as you traverse the levels is key, and the 3DS handled the depth brilliantly, with the blocks seemingly popping right out of the display.
The original Mighty Switch Force and Mighty Switch Force 2 are present in all their crisp pixelated glory. Even without the depth effects from a 3D screen they look amazing on an HDTV, being upscaled quite nicely from the original 3DS. The sprites are clean and smoothly animated, and have the classic WayForward bouncy goodness in every frame. Mighty Switch Force Hyperdrive Edition on the other hand has sharp HD visuals, but I'm not sure if I dig the look quite as much as the original sprites. Then we have Mighty Switch Force Academy with it's zoomed out presentation, which looks crisp and clean as well.
The pixelicious production values on display here really make the Mighty Switch Force Collection worth it, and there's a whole lot of gaming here for your $20. On top of that the replay value is quite decent if you want to spend time and improve your scores, however I do wish that WayForward had included the puzzler spinoff Mighty Switch Force: Hose it Down. All in all though this is a decently rounded package, and the gameplay/price balance is just right.
