Mighty Switch Force! Collection

Genre: Compilation / Puzzle-Platformer

Players: 1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local Multiplayer)

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Review:

Mighty Switch Force! Collection is a Compilation of four family-friendly games in the Mighty Switch Force! Series (well, three games plus one remake) released on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2019. It includes Mighty Switch Force!, first released on the 3DS in 2011, Mighty Switch Force! 2, first released on 3DS in 2013, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, first released on Wii U in 2012, and Mighty Switch Force! Academy, first released on PC in 2015.

The earlier games in the series have been ported over to a few other platforms prior to this release, but this marks the first time these games have been seen on Microsoft and Sony’s platforms, and the first time a Nintendo platform has received Mighty Switch Force! Academy. I should note that this is not a comprehensive collection – it is missing Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down!, a Puzzle game spin-off based on Mighty Switch Force 2.

Here is what I thought of the games in this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Grade
Mighty Switch Force!	Puzzle-Platformer	1	B-
tl;dr Mighty Switch Force! is a solid Puzzle-Platformer built around the mechanic of players having a dedicated button that can turn on and off blocks in the environment to help the player’s futuristic cop lady catch the escaped female criminals in each level. This mechanic is used well, with some really clever level design. Unfortunately, the game is pretty short, with only 21 levels. Still, this is an excellent bite-size game.
Mighty Switch Force! 2	Puzzle-Platformer	1	B-
tl;dr Mighty Switch Force! 2 builds on the gameplay of the first game, swapping out the cops and criminals theme in favor of fire fighters and helpless civilians. The mechanics here do a good job building on what was already great in the first game, but this game is unfortunately even shorter than its predecessor, with only 16 levels.
Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition	Puzzle-Platformer	1	B-
tl;dr Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition is a very faithful remake of the first game that upgrades the original game’s pixel art visuals to a hand-drawn look, and adds five additional levels. It’s a nice addition, but it’s not a significant upgrade over the original game.
Mighty Switch Force! Academy	Puzzle-Platformer	1-4 Co-Op / Competitive (Local Multiplayer)	B+
tl;dr This game makes multiple major additions to the series formula, changing the view to encompass the entire level, making the level repeat infinitely, and adding multiplayer Co-Op and Competitive modes that really help to make up for the game’s otherwise short length of only 25 levels. The zoomed-out view can make it a bit difficult to see things at times, but otherwise I would argue that this is the best game in the series.

In short, each of these games is great, but most of them individually suffer from the same problem – they’re just too short. However, that issue is less significant in a Compilation like this, as players will have plenty to play through in Mighty Switch Force! 2, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, and Mighty Switch Force! Academy. However, unless you’re a huge advocate for pixel art visuals, there’s little reason to play the original Mighty Switch Force, as all of its content (and then some) is found in Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition.

It also bears mention that while most of the included games here are single-player only, Mighty Switch Force! Academy includes some great couch multiplayer options, with full campaign co-op and a clever competitive mode that plays like an arena-based Arcade-style Platformer.

For $20, Mighty Switch Force! Collection manages to be an excellent Puzzle-Platformer that works out to be a pretty good value thanks to the collected games here making for a good amount of content when each game individually would have been found lacking in that regard. If you’re looking for a superb entry in the Puzzle-Platformer genre, you should find this Compilation to be well worth getting.

tl;dr – Mighty Switch Force! Collection is a Compilation of four family-friendly games in the Mighty Switch Force! Series (well, three games plus one remake), and while each of these games on its own would be a bit too short, together they make for a solid collection with great level design that’s well worth playing.

Grade: B+

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