Fall Guys review (Switch eShop)

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Installed)

fall men It was a surprise back in 2020. Then-independent developer Mediatonic took on the battle royale genre starring those funny little jellybean characters, who took over the world during the height of the COVID pandemic. After nearly two years of waiting coinciding with its free release, Fall Guys finally It landed on Nintendo land with a powerful, albeit flawed, transformation.

For those of you uninformed, Fall Guys is a 60-grain Battle Royale offering. Instead of the usual battle royale fare of blasting your enemies into bloody dough – or sending trash in Tetris 99 Fall Guys is a platform game where you compete in several different rounds of mini-games to be crowned at the end of the show. Think of it as the equivalent of a video game Takeshi Castle (of which some rounds are taken directly at Fall Guys), a show any American might know by their Craig Charles-less version of it, MXC.

The Fall Guys team matchmaking process is divided into shows; You have the “Main Show” in which you and 59 other types of beans compete solo for the elusive crown, which is also rotated. You also have the option to compete as part of a team of two or four people to win pieces (of which 60 make up a complete crown). There are also a selection of rotating show types that range from as simple as three-player teams to specialized shows such as Jump Around, which gives you two consecutive rounds of “Jump Club” (followed by its variable ending of “Jump Showdown”).

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Installed)

The game rounds are divided into different categories. The majority are races, where you have to maneuver your Bean through treacherous courses with only the highest percentage of players eligible for the next round. Then there’s Survival, where – as the name suggests – you have to survive as long as possible, either until the timer runs out or a set number of players are eliminated. Hunt focuses on objectives such as having a tail when the timer runs out or spending a certain amount of time within a certain area, and Logic, which consists of two fruit-based memory games. Rounding these categories out is Team and Finals, which are different types of other categories that focus on teamwork or being last stand.

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So what’s new in the Switch version? Aside from the obvious addition of handheld and docked styles, not so much. All six seasons of content are included off the bat as well as a brand new seventh season called ‘Season 1’, with each season having a specific theme such as Jungle, Future or Medieval. Since the Switch version coincides with the free launch, new features are included in the game such as the premium Battle Pass.

Fall Guys runs at 720p/30fps in portable mode and 1080p/30fps in docked mode, unaffected by switching to Switch. While we haven’t seen any noticeable drop in frames during our time using it, the menus and end-of-round screens look a little slower than usual (while this can be well attributed to server issues, it wasn’t there when we were checking out other versions from the game). However, the big catch is that every other player in the match appears to be rendering at half the frame rate in both portable and docked modes. While this doesn’t have any effect on gameplay, it does look incredibly choppy and appears like a sore thumb in the smooth transition to the Switch.

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Captured on a Nintendo Switch (portable/not included)

The Switch version includes cross-play and cross-progression through the use of an Epic Games account, which means that all of your progression, emotes, and costumes (yes, even Playstation characters) will carry over to the Switch. If you previously owned a copy of the game on Playstation or PC, you’ll also get the Legacy Pack, which includes exclusive outfits, nameplates, and free access to the Season 1 Premium Battle Pass. However, it’s worth noting that there’s no guarantee that Switch owners will be able to access old content like Sonic costumes and Doom crossovers – unless, of course, they cycle through the store again.

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However, due to the introduction of the Premium Battle Pass and “Show-Bucks” premium currency along with it, Mediatonic has made some changes to the previous in-game currency. Kudos – the game’s main currency – will not be awarded after each game and can now only be earned through challenges, only spent on items of common rarity. In addition, crowns – which were previously earned from winning bids and could have been spent on special clothing – are no longer spendable, with their only use now being the crown ranking system. All crowns remaining in your account will be exchanged for Kudos. For the veterans of the game, this is very disappointing considering that the tiaras used to feel like a huge bonus allowing you to get the best costumes.

conclusion

Fall Guys’ brand of chaotic fun has remained great all these subsequent years, and the free Switch version is no different, assuming you can ignore your opponents’ choppy framerate. Although there are some disappointing elements associated with the cross progression, these in the end won’t matter if this is your first time entering the Bluunderdome. Aside from some moments lag and frame rate quirks, the Switch version offers a solid gameplay if you’re looking for some intense 60-grain battles, and the barrier to entry has never been lower.

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