Review: Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition (Wii U)

Developed by WayForward, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition has been given a fresh new coat of ‘HD’ paint for Nintendo Wii U.

Originally released on Nintendo 3DS back in 2011, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is exactly the same game, included the recent update that added 5 additional levels.

Though has any of the games original charm been lost in the transition? Or does playing this bite-sized game on a big screen actually make it all the better?

Read on to find out!

The Review

In Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition players assume the role Patricia Wagon, a cyborg police officer who’s task is to round up a group of devious female convicts. Each of the game’s 16 stages has 5 convicts to round up.

Much like any good Super Mario game Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition handles incredibly tight. Jumps have a nice feel about them, and moving around with either the GamePad’s D-pad or analog stick provides a nice level of direction. Aside from being able to jump Wagon can fire off energy blasts to defeat certain types of enemies.

Though the main gameplay hook in Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is the ability to ‘switch’ blocks around, either to progress forward or to defeat various types of enemies who are impenetrable to Wagon’s laser. It’s a mechanic that works incredibly well, though unless you time some of the more difficult switches properly it can be of a disadvantage.

When you start the game switching is incredibly straightforward, it’s simply a tool you use to reach higher ground. As you progress through the levels the way you use switching expands to include new types of blocks to interact with, such as canon blocks that fire you across great distances, and new switch-based puzzles to overcome.

Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is a difficult game with some very punishing difficulty spikes peppered throughout. Though it never feels difficult just for the sake of it, and usually when you figure out the exact route and rhythm to overcoming the more challenging sections you’ll be thinking why it took so long.

For the most part however, the difficulty level does seem linked to trying to beat the par time for each stage. Some of the par times are incredibly tight and some stages might require more than a dozen or so play throughs just to really hammer out the best way to clear it.

In one respect the par times are great for players getting some extra value out of Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, because the game is sadly ridiculously short. All tolled there are 16 stages, each of which take roughly 3 to 4 minutes — depending on your skill level even less — to complete. Playing through to better your par times is all good and fine, though a lack of any sort of online leader-board or competitive play hurts the game.

Though, you are able to take in-game screen shots and share your times directly with the Miiverse community, so that’s something at least.

If you ever played the Nintendo 3DS version you won’t find much more in the way of content in Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, though what you will find is a much more cleaner, better looking game with a much more natural feel of controlling.

The fresh ‘HD’ paint given to Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition certainly makes it the more preferred version with character sprites completely re-drawn into fully animated models and environments looking incredibly sharp. Control wise the Wii U GamePad makes playing Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition more enjoyable than on the 3DS. The button lay out is better spaced out and using the back-side triggers feels more natural than using the handhelds ‘shoulder’ buttons.

Being a Wii U game, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition makes use of the GamePad’s ability of off-TV play. At any time you can bring up the pause menu and switch to view the entire game on the controller’s screen. When you’re playing on the TV the GamePad works much like the touch-screen on the 3DS with radar directing you to the closest convict, your current play-time, par time, how many convicts you’ve collected for that stage and herts left.

What I really enjoyed about the 3DS version, and again in Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, was the catchy 8-bit inspired soundtrack. Each track is a bouncy and catchy audio delight that despite some frustration due to the game’s difficulty spikes kept me upbeat and happy the whole way through. My only gripe is the audio levels are cranked up to 11, so when you start the game you need to fully lower your sound system/TV audio or risk being bombarded with intense sound.

If you’ve already played Mighty Switch Force! on 3DS there’s not much incentive for you to pick up and play it again on Wii U. For newcomers wanting something new, unique and fun to play on their shiny new console Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is certainly a fantastic recommendation.

Despite a lack of online leader-boards and some weirdly mixed audio, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is a brilliantly tight platforming experience with well-thought out puzzles.