Bullets Per Minute is pretty much what the title says. Shoot on the beat, dodge on the beat, and jump on the beat. And boy-oh-boy the beat does drop hard! Bullets Per Minute on the Nintendo Switch is the perfect go-to game when passing time in the metro or sitting in front of your TV and rocking with the Motion enabled Joy-cons.
In its first year, Bullets Per Minute was released on Steam and GOG gathering love and affection from the entire community. But that didn’t stop there, in 2021 the game made its way on the Xbox and Playstation. And on its (maybe) final destination, Bullets Per Minute arrived on the Nintendo Switch on September 8, 2022. Bring your best skills because Bullets Per Minute will demand the best in you. Here’s our review of the Nintendo Switch.
The Switch Performance
Our veteran writers have already poured out their love for the game, which you can read right here! Since we have already covered the lore and basics for the game, in this review we will focus on how well it performs on the Nintendo Switch and what points should you know before buying.
Since the Nintendo Switch is an on-the-go gaming console it requires the game to run smoothly without suffering any lags or stutters while utilising all of the pre-existing features of the game. To tackle this, Awe Interactive decided to lower the graphics and textures of the game.
This, in turn, did provide the 30 FPS delivery, but to be very honest the game looks like a very low-resolution old-school game, which it initially was inspired from. On the switch, the game looks blurred, and enemies and shrines are hard to identify and spot. But on the PC and Console versions, it looked beautiful and the environment suited the settings.
However, to gain one, you lose one. The graphics did take a beating, but the gameplay, movement and rhythmic shooting have been delivered with perfect excellence. Any player who has already experienced the game on any other platform will live the same nostalgic memory. On the other hand, someone whose brand new to the genre will also be blown away by the fluidity and rhythmic combat.
Even the loading times are smaller compared to other titles of the same scale on the Nintendo Switch, which makes it even more preferable for a quick gaming session for all the gamers out there. The 3D vibrations make things even more interesting as the intensity clearly defines the amount of damage you receive, making sure you retreat if the visual clues were not enough.
Is it Switch Worthy?
On the US Nintendo Switch Store, the game has been tagged with 24.99$ dollar price which once again will make people want to know more about the game before giving it a shot. Since all other sources point in the right direction of buying the game, casual players and players who don’t want to invest more time into learning the game should think again.
The Learning curve even for the other platforms has been hard and requires more time and dedication. Even with the aim-assist available, it’s easy to jump-dash while shooting on the joy-cons. Personally, while the motion joy-cons are absolutely fun to play with, it will still require you a lot of time learning the gyro-sensitivity to actually clear out dungeons and progressing levels.
It personally took me almost 5-6 hours alone to clear out the first level of the game. I had to repeatedly die before understanding that I need to understand the ropes of the games in the practice mode. Once I cleared the practice mode, I understood the functionality of the game, trails, armours, shop abilities and more. But once you go back to the actual runs, the difficulty is high and healing is almost nowhere.
Even after multiple and repeated deaths, I was never frustrated or bored. The game’s most important perk of being a roguelike genre allows it has procedurally generated maps and dungeons. Creating a different path and experience each time you jump in. This way you’re always eager to explore each room before finally taking on the boss of the level.
But what makes everyone hooked to the game is the music score. Pure metallic beats in each level and stage allow you to be forever hooked to the music taking away all the spotlight to itself. The game offers 2 settings. Auto-Rythm will allow you to shoot on the beat increasing your damage meter and the other allows you to focus on killing the enemy as fast as possible. But we all know, we all will prefer the Auto-Rythm.
Shooting each round to the enemy on the beat has its own satisfaction. The cherry on top? Reload and cock your gun on the beat as well. Either you’re shooting a handgun, an old hunting rifle or using an auto-shotgun. Reload in style, reload on the beat.
In the initial levels, you will be stuck with a handgun, which is both low in range and damage. But trust me, it only gets better with each new weapon you get to fire, making the difficulty arc much easier.
Verdict
Bullets Per Minutes is an absolute badass roguelike game with rhythmic shooting and traversal. The Nintendo Switch version did take a big hit in the graphics, but it still has its absolutely amazing fluidity and shooting style. The difficulty arc may make you call it the Aim Labs of the Nintendo Switch, but that is how the game was built to be. Only if you are up to the challenge, give this game a shot! To the beat!
Final Rating: Recommended