Having been a long-time fan of all things twin-stick shooting, the Switch has generally been very good to me. Whether your preferred flavor is arcade-style, roguelike, or something that simply stands on its own, the eShop is chock full of great options. As I’ve pointed out with some regularity though, that means that newcomers really need to bring something solid to the table to be worthy of more than a momentary glance. Unfortunately, though it may feature the elements in its name that usually indicate the potential for a good time, this is a pretty pedestrian shooter that fails to inspire any excitement.

I suppose to some degree you could say it has a sort of retro arcade look to it, though using simple 3D environments with flat characters moving about on it. The controls and concepts are pretty easy to grasp, you’ll simply move about each stage looking for your objectives, whether they be people, equipment, or whatever, and you’ll shoot anything that moves that isn’t one of those things. Health pick-ups and minor upgrades are laid about somewhat haphazardly, usually not requiring much effort to find, and in general for a twin-stick veteran I’d say the experience skews to being easy.

The thing is, I’ve played shooters before that are on the easier side, but that doesn’t have to equate to dull by default… but in this case it does. Stages are generally brief, there can be some periodic moments of intensity but nothing simple circle strafing can’t typically deal with, and it all feels pretty low-stakes as a whole. The people you’ll escort tend to comically, but without any consequence, walk right into the line of fire cluelessly. Enemies simply meander towards you, and most can only do damage directly so as long as you position well they tend to do little damage most of the time. Ammo scarcity could have been a problem but if you simply stop shooting for a few seconds you’ll be charged up yet again and ready to go. The action just isn’t fast, varied, or intense enough, and it doesn’t help that your weaponry remains quite dull as well.

Put it all together and you have a very forgettable experience, even if there wasn’t a load of competition out there. This just feels like a pretty bare bones effort, checking off a list of requirements to qualify but there’s just not much creativity or heart to accompany it. Even on a budget, there are simply better options out there than settling for this.