These days, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a video game that tries to recapture the aesthetics of some of the best Sega Genesis and SNES titles from yesteryear. While some of them are genuine successes in their attempt - such as the recently released Super Hiking League - many titles fall a bit flat. But if you’re not into speedrunning hiking games, Goblin Sword on the Nintendo Switch provides a simple, but fun platforming RPG adventure that perfectly nails the old school, 90s console vibes.
Stick ‘Em With The Pointy End
Goblin Sword’s story isn’t exactly enthralling, but what do you expect for a game that's regularly priced for $4.99? An evil wizard has invaded the playable character’s hometown, bringing an army of big baddies with him. Players are tasked with reclaiming the various surrounding lands by defeating enemies and bosses before taking on the evil wizard himself.
Goblin Sword is touted as “a retro-inspired action platformer with light RPG elements,” and, really, that’s exactly what it is.
2D, pixelated graphics provide a nice callback to the early days of gaming. Overall, the visuals look great, especially as the background scenery shifts while players make their way through each level, of which there are an impressive 89 in total.
Each level is made up of enemies to fight, traps and obstacles to avoid, and gems, coins, and other secrets to collect. Levels feature an “open-world” type of feeling, in that players can backtrack as far as they want as they search for collectibles and other secrets. Levels are both vertical and horizontal, meaning that there can be multiple platform levels to explore within a single level. It’s a fun mechanic for this type of game, but the ability to look up or down would have definitely elevated the experience, since it can be hard to differentiate a bottomless pit from a safe passage.
Prepare For Platforming
The platforming aspects of the levels are fine, with players having a double jump that really elevates the fun factor. That said, some of the mechanics could use a little bit of tightening. The proximity for getting injured seems to be a little inconsistent with certain types of enemies, while some are so big that they take up a sizable amount of the platform that you need to jump on in order to progress. A perfectly executed jump is needed in these instances, but honestly, this is a bit of a nitpicky issue, since most fans of this type of game have plenty of experiences with the early Mario and Sonic games and those controls that required a bit of perfection.
Levels are collected into various areas strewn about on the World Map. Players can use their coins to upgrade their armor and weapons at any time, adding in the light RPG elements. Upgrades are great, though not necessarily essential, being more like quality of life improvements since enemy AI isn’t all that… well, intelligent. That said, the boss battles in Goblin Sword are quite enjoyable, and nice changes of pace between the run-of-the-mill enemies encountered in the regular levels.
Made For Switch
Goblin Sword likely won’t blow players away, but it is a fun game that provides plenty of replayability, especially for completionists. The game is available on mobile devices, but it feels like a game that was made for the Switch. Plus, for the price - Goblin Sword is actually on sale for $2.99 on the Nintendo eShop at the time of this writing - you really can’t go wrong with the well-executed platforming adventure.
A Switch copy of Goblin Sword was purchased by TheGamer for this review. Goblin Sword is available now for Nintendo Switch and iOS devices.
Goblin Sword