Bugby

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Bugby is an Arcade-style game released on Nintendo Switch in 2024. In this game, players control a bug of some sort (a centipede? a flu virus? It’s not really clear) who must dodge up and down to avoid computer chips (wait, is Bugby supposed to be a computer virus? I feel like someone misinterpreted this game’s theme halfway through designing it).

Bugby’s presentation uses cartoony 2D visuals without any animation, framed by an interface reminiscent of mobile games, and backed by an energetic but repetitive soundtrack. Suffice it to say, this game’s presentation is far from anything impressive.

Unfortunately, it only gets worse when you look at the gameplay. Bugby is an extremely simple lane-based enemy-avoiding score chaser, and apart from moving up and down to switch lanes (using X and B, oddly), you can fire off a limited number of shots with Y to take out incoming obstacles, and you have a limited use of shiels by pressing A, with both limited-use abilities refilling with pickups.

Unfortunately, your character straddles multiple lanes at a time, and trying to move across multiple lanes requires multiple button taps rather than simply holding down the button. The image in the header? Expect to have to quickly tape the X button four times to escape damage, or rather just expect to take damage and curse this game’s controls.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, this game’s hit detection is horrible, and at every turn seemingly trying to get you killed – you collide with enemies even if there’s a decent-sized buffer of space between you as you move, and yet your fired bullets cannot be even a little off. And even if you’re a masochist and don’t mind the unfair difficulty, you’ll soon grow bored with the repitition.

In short, Bugby is ugly, simple, repetitive, has poor hit detection, and features terrible controls. It functions as a game, but only just barely, and I wouldn’t recommend that anyone play it.

tl;dr – Bugby is an Arcade-style game where players control some sort of bug who must dodge up and down to avoid computer chips. This game is ugly, shallow, repetitive, controls poorly, and has atrociously bad hit detection. Do not catch this bug.

Grade: D-

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