Ever since the release of Vampire Survivors there has been a steady stream of games in that same sort of vein showing up on the Switch. While typically a few steps behind, there have been some valiant attempts to improve on the formula. But one substantial challenge is simply the fact that it would be hard to undercut its price, and then the fact that the game works so well without being more expensive than it is.

In the case of Space Mercenary Defense Force you have a mixed bag of elements that help it to differentiate itself, but not all of them are a win. I think its best feature is its variety of ships and the weapons and other skills you’ll be able to acquire as you level up. Yes, many of them are pretty stock overall, but I at least ran into a few that felt fresh and helped me prolong my runs. Another semi-positive is that I think this is the only one of its competitors that was sure to include some random rewards every once in a while. I think the chests are one of Vampire Survivors best simple features, as they’re unpredictable, sometimes can save your run, and I love the simple but effective music they use to indicate which quality of loot you’ll be getting. SMDF at least has both a slot machine and a coin flip special spot, which do introduce a random element of luck, but unfortunately the magic is lost without more effort put into the presentation, sort of squandering the potential good will for trying to include it.

Aside from that I think my biggest complaint has to do with your very big, chunky, and sluggish ship, which always feels like a cheap way to ensure people will take on damage more quickly. Mix that with the default slow pace you’ll start at (you’ll need to unlock turbo mode, unfortunately) and the action at first doesn’t feel very good. That isn’t unusual, and with a strong first few runs you’ll be able to make purchases to improve your performance as you go further, but that still doesn’t explain why the ships were made so bulky overall. 

The challenge here is to figure out where to place it among its peers. The good news is that, for the most part, there has been no truly serious challenger to the throne Vampire Survivors has made for itself. The bad news is that even though this isn’t a terrible take on the formula, there are clearly some options already out there that feel more refined and worthwhile. If you love the roguelike dodge-em-up feel, and have already burned through some other contemporaries in the space, this may be a title worth picking up, but otherwise you at least can feel free to be patient and wait for a sale.