Disclaimer: Review copy provided by publisher
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed) and Nintendo 3Ds
Publishers: Nintendo
Developers: Nintendo and indieszero
MSRP: $49.99 on Nintendo Switch, $39.99 on Nintendo 3DS
Introduction:
If you would’ve told me that a game where I eat sushi and throw plates at people would be one of my most beloved Nintendo Switch games, I would’ve called you a damn liar. With that said, Sushi Striker: The Way of the Sushido is some of the most fun I’ve had with the console/portable hybrid.
I had personally never heard of this game before it released but when I played it, I was instantly hooked. For starters, the game has the most ridiculous but frankly incredible premise of a world where sushi is outlawed and an orphan has to rebel and bring the joys of sushi back to society.
A ridiculous yet enticing story sold through its presentation:
The plot is silly but the way it’s handled is really great and has a lot of care and thought put into it. The story is presented almost like an anime with great production value, all of the cutscenes are animated in that style and use all of the tropes and intricacies of that genre to make it all the more engaging. Had this been something more traditional for a video game, I genuinely don’t believe I’d care as much
Sushi Striker goes out of its way to use all of the little quirks of this genre to keep you laughing, enticed, and wanting to see more which is something incredibly important for a portable system. Sometimes when I play games on my Switch, I’ll be distracted by things in the real world because I’m in the car or sitting somewhere in public and I just ended up drifting away from a cutscene or something. Sushi Striker doesn’t have that problem because it’s wholly original and pops right off the screen with all of its style.
Sushi Striker’s presentation is just the element that sinks its hooks into you to tell you a well-rounded story with a surprising amount of depth. Nintendo and indieszero have incorporated some serious lore into this world with fantastical characters and rules that set the stage and tone of the universe they live in.
Sushi Striker’s visually engrossing and has the humor to provide efficient laughs throughout the game, it captures you in a way most other games can’t both through story and gameplay.
Fast and easy to master gameplay that requires thought and precision:
When you’re not kicking back and watching a scene that looks like it could be apart of something you’d see on Crunchyroll, you’re going to be caught up in the fast-paced battles in the game. This isn’t a game with massive brawls and ridiculous superpowered characters, it’s a bit more restrained but still just as captivating.
Sushi Striker has a series of battles which sees different colored plates of sushi scrolling across the screen at rapid speeds. It’s up to you to match various plates with the corresponding colors so you can eat the sushi and pile up said plates which are then used to be thrown at the enemy on the other side of the sushi lines.
While you can use the controller, I find myself using the touchscreen exclusively to slide my finger to match plates up. These duels typically last a minute and a half or so but there’s a lot of strategy to it to win. You have to use various tools and mechanics to change the speeds of the conveyor belts with the sushi so you can get more sushi put out to you on a certain line or to prevent some of the sushi you have from sliding off the screen.
It’s a great experience that plays heavily with your brain and hand-eye coordination, creating an exhilarating experience of eating sushi. Someone seriously found a way to make a game about eating sushi super fun and if that doesn’t sell you on this game, I don’t know what will.
The Verdict
While the price may be a bit steep for some right now, Sushi Striker is one of the best Nintendo Switch games out there right now simply thanks to the fact it fires on all cylinders and lands every shot. As someone who doesn’t have much love for sushi in real life, Sushi Striker is a really special game that should be rewarded for its original and high-quality presentation, a unique world filled with depth and brilliant and fast gameplay that meshes instinct with strategy and puzzle solving. Nintendo has delivered yet another incredible experience that only the Nintendo Switch can offer.
