There are some amazing games on the Switch that come from a variety of publishers, but it is Nintendo-published games that see the most success. However, there are two Nintendo published and co-developed games that I want to highlight today. These are smaller games and seem to have fallen by the wayside, but they are truly amazing titles and I feel they deserve more love.
The Stretchers
The Stretchers is a game that sees you control paramedics rushing to save “Dizzies”, who are civilians who have been affected by the evil Captain Brains, and take them to a hospital. This sounds simple enough, but the game quickly proves itself to be less realistic and more arcade-like in feeling. The Stretchers has been likened to Overcooked meets Crazy Taxi by many, and that is a valid comparison indeed. The driving sections see you control the ambulance so recklessly in a callback to the classic Sega title and earn points based on stunts performed.
Loading the patient into the ambulance requires some effort and this is where the Overcooked comparisons come in. This section can be done in single-player or in co-op with a friend and both ways have their ups and downs. Single-player can take a bit of time to figure out as you control the characters, and you may make some mistakes as you play, while co-op is just inviting chaos as players will struggle to coordinate with each other, which will lead to many physics-based disasters.
That said, the disasters occur in both single and multiplayer, but the same puzzle will have a different nature depending on one or two players, as the way of approaching it is different. The Stretchers is a game that melds the insanity of Crazy Taxi and Overcooked perfectly and is great for fans of classic Sega arcade games as well as fans who want some co-op fun.
Good Job!
An interesting game from Nintendo and Paladin, Good Job! It sees you take on the role of a corporate CEO’s son who is looking to rise up the ranks of the company. The way you do so here is by taking on every job in the company imaginable and going all out in doing so. You complete these tasks however you want, and it is always fun to cause some damage as you do so, but the trick is to create keep the right balance while causing enough chaos to get everything.
When the game says you earn your way up from the bottom, it’s not joking as the levels start at the ground level and culminate at the very top. Along the way, you will go through floors with specific themes, such as meeting rooms, toilets, warehouses, and more. You will need to do certain tasks that are specific to these areas and how you go about them is up to you.
This means, if you need to replace a broken object, you can go for trying to be as perfect as possible with no damage or go all out with causing mayhem and havoc. You can also spread paint throughout the offices, destroy the warehouses with forklifts and disrupt conferences to create anarchy. Of course, if you want a change of pace then going around doing the tasks as danger-free as possible provides its own challenge.
The game is fun and creates a sense anything can happen much like with another chaos-causing game, namely Untitled Goose Game. It is also somewhat reminiscent of the Katamari series, which makes sense since developer Paladin has worked on that series in the past. This is an offbeat game and definitely worth checking out for those wanting something different.
Honourable mentions
An honourable mention is Jump Rope Challenge an exercise game that is quite unique. But as that is a free game, I felt it would be best to discuss it elsewhere.
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is another honourable mention, as it is one of the more inventive puzzle games from Nintendo, but what held it back was the awkward control scheme on the Nintendo Switch. It also deserves mention elsewhere, as it requires more detail than can be provided in a short review.
Conclusion
There are many games that stand out on the Switch, but it is always good to try out the lesser-known titles that have a lot to offer as well. While many Nintendo games are truly acclaimed, it is their lesser-known games that often have some of the most inventive aspects of the company within their DNA.