Quad Fighter K is a different game in the big family of 8-bit retro inspired shoot-em-up with different modes that will keep you entertained. But does Quad Fighter K have enough to make it stand in the sea of shmups on Nintendo Switch? That’s what we’re here for, so buckle up, fighter! This is going to be a bumpy ride across space.
Quad Fighter K introduces a new way to play, with the KYOGEKI mode with two modes in it: Arcade and Battle. KYOGEKI simply put is a mode in which you can “fuse” your spaceship with the other three CPU or Human controlled ships, creating a powerful ship with upgraded weapons, but with the same one hit ko mechanics. Why is kyogeki mode interesting? For starters because depending on how you combine with the other ships, instead of having your run of the mill machine gun like weapon, it can change to a wave like or even laser type weapon. That will give you the edge against the multiple enemies on screen at a time.
In Arcade Mode, you designate a VIP ship, and the objective of this mode is to protect the VIP ship throughout the seven areas. In order to succeed on the mission, each ship has unlimited lives, but the VIP designated only has nine, so you can die as much as you want as long as the VIP has only one live left. If the VIP loses all its lives, it’s game over. There are items spread through each area like bombs and score multipliers. Speaking of bombs, there are several types: some explode in a straight line, others in X pattern, Y(trident like) and horizontal line as well. Bombs are important not because they can help sweep enemies on screen, but because whenever you get one (from destroying certain enemies) instead of adding to a bomb count like other games, they become a sphere like object that follows your ship around (think like a tail if you have several). After you have a few, if you move your ship in a way that the spheres are in front of you, they can block incoming fire! This was a great idea, because in most shmups you sparingly use bombs to clear waves of enemies, or save them for the boss, but here you are encouraged to keep them as long as possible and use them besides enemy sweepers. Battle Mode is simply choose a stage and then aim for the highest score but with same mechanics explained for kyogeki mode.
Attack mode is basically the same as Kyogeki. It has arcade and battle submenus, but the difference here is that you don’t have to protect Vip ship. You do lose the infinite lives, so it’s every fighter for itself. You can still join other ships, but it’s only recommended after each one has several bombs collected. While the game can be played solo, the fun resides on the multiplayer part, while the CPU is decent, it’s more fun and chaotic with three more players. Just add two more joycons and you are ready to go. I had more fun playing with some friends than solo, and that is one of Quad Fighter K selling points.
Control Wise, the game controls are well coded. Everything works as it should. I had no problem whatsoever while playing it. While the join system mechanic can happen sometimes with just bumping with the other ships, by pressing X you can disengage, so it’s not anything game breaking. And if you see and do everything there is to in Quad Fighter K,there’s also another, more “traditional” retro shooter included here as an added bonus, called Cyber Ship Nakku. However, be prepared to lose a lot of lives because is harder, since many enemies tend to move in such velocities that only quick reflexes (and not always), will help you finish it. Luckily, there is a cheat code for almost unlimited lives (check the really cool game manual).
Bottom Line: Quad Fighter K is a cool game with a unique joint system that changes the known and tried shmup formula. While a bit on the short side, it is a good venture into the shmup genre, and the inclusion of Cyber Ship Nakku is a nice bonus that raises the overall value. I can definitely recommend it to any gamer in a budget looking for multiplayer action.