Serious Scramblers - Switch Review (Quick)
Serious Scramblers tests the player’s knowledge of 2D arcade platformers, having you not jump but fall downward from one platform to the next. Make your way to the flag at the end whilst being mindful of hazards aplenty and whether you’re actually going to land on a platform or be skewered by a row of spikes above.
Good
- Smooth controls – not once did I experience a single frame rate dip.
- Quick bite-sized levels that you can beat in half a minute.
- Collect coins to unlock new characters.
- Each character not only has their own cute and unique design, but they also provide tangible upgrades/downgrades to the gameplay itself.
- You can also use the coins for “continues” if you die partway through a level and wish to keep going.
- Difficult without ever feeling like you’re being cheated.
- Endless Mode is unlocked once you beat level 14 – a great way to collect coins and unlock characters.
- Subtle but effective HD Rumble effects that makes each platform you land on haptically resonate.
- Cute arcade pixel art style with lively lighting aesthetics.
- Chiptune music with a lot of personality.
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Bad
- No option to play the game in vertical mode – would have loved to play this game with my Flip Grip.
- When jumping/landing on and taking out multiple enemies before touching down on a solid platform, it would have been nice to accrue combo multipliers to entice and reward the player with more coins.
- Counting the player in when unpausing could avoid in some unnecessary deaths.
- Levels are randomly generated, meaning that you can’t beat the levels by learning their patterns (could be seen as a positive depending on the player).
- Complete absence of story/plot.
- Music can get very repetitive.
Final Score: 70%
If I was to compare Serious Scramblers to a fine steak dinner, it would be tender and juicy but ultimately lacking meat on the bone. Its controls are slick and the gameplay loop is a whole lot of fun, providing that frantic 80s arcade feeling that it aims to replicate. However after playing through its 27 levels, I was left wanting more, which is both a testament to its quality but a negative to its replayability.
Thank you for checking out our Serious Scramblers Switch review (Quick), thank you to Chinykian Games for providing the review code and thank you to our $5 and up Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
- Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out!)
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