Disco Dodgeball – Remix

Genre: First-Person Sports (Dodgeball)

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local Splitscreen), 2-8 Team Competitive (Online)

.

Review:

Originally released on PC in 2014 as Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball, Disco Dodgeball Remix is an expanded version of that futuristic First-Person Dodgeball game released on multiple platforms in 2018, including Nintendo Switch. In it, players take the role of a wheeled robot in an enclosed arena grabbing balls and tossing them at opponents.

The presentation here is kinda’ a mix of good and bad. On the one hand, the graphics here are extremely rudimentary, with fairly low-poly characters, simple textures, and non-existent animation, and the voiced announcer is cheesy, seems out of place, and often makes comments that don’t seem to match what’s going on in the game (like saying “good job” when the enemy effortlessly annihilated you). On the other hand, the bright neon aesthetic and pulsing electronica music fit in great with the game’s fast pacing and at the very least make the game interesting to look at and listen to. And if nothing else, the resolution and framerate here are both solid, which is also ideal for a fast-paced game like this. On balance, I’d say this game’s presentation is good, but definitely not impressive.

The gameplay here starts with the simple premise of dodgeball and builds on it. Players must seek out balls, then aim at opponents, charge the ball to toss farther and faster, and release to throw. There’s a mediocre jump move, a boost move, and players who aim and time things right can catch balls opponents toss. Some modes have extra power-ups, but otherwise, that’s about it.

Unfortunately, while the concept of the game seems pretty sound, the mechanics are not. Movement feels really loose and a bit unresponsive, thanks to the “roller” element of the gameplay. On its own this isn’t terrible, but unfortunately, the game seems to require precision aiming when tossing the ball. Likewise, players wanting to catch will find that their aim and timing needs to be perfect to do so.

As a result, hitting opponents in this game often feels like a feat of luck more than skill unless you get right up close to the enemy before tossing the ball at them, or else toss into a group. Additionally, I found it was usually wiser not to try to catch an opponent’s ball at all, opting instead to avoid it outright.

The other issue is that this is clearly a game designed around its multiplayer mode, and the online servers are currently empty. Players can play with bots, and they can play in multiplayer split-screen… but the latter will only support two players, despite that this game cannot possibly be so demanding that it wouldn’t work with four. Add in a lack of gyroscopic motion control and just overall this feels like a game that could have made a few simple adjustments that would have made it far more appealing.

In the end, Disco Dodgeball – Remix is not a terrible game, and if you get used to its controls, I can see players getting a lot of fun out of this formula. Unfortunately, with the game’s online servers being deserted, the only way I can see you really enjoying this game is if you can convince multiple friends to buy it with you, and even then all of them will have to get used to the game’s controls. It just doesn’t seem like a very practical stup, and especially now that Knockout City is out, players have other, better options for a Dodgeball game on Nintendo Switch.

.

tl;dr – Disco Dodgeball – Remix is a futuristic First-Person Dodgeball game where players play as a wheeled robot grabbing up and firing off balls at other robots. The theming here is nice, and there’s potential for multiplayer fun, but deserted online lobbies and the lack of local multiplayer beyond only two players robs this game of the main point of playing it, and somewhat difficult controls don’t help either. It’s not terrible, but if you’re looking for a Dodgeball game on Nintendo Switch, Knockout City is probably a better bet.

Grade: C-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Lee, Andy Miller, Stov, u/wonderponder, Johannes, Ilya Zverev, Eli Goodman, and KC. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}