When Velocity 2X was initially released back in 2014 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, it quickly became one of my favorite games on both platforms. Its blend of shoot ’em up, twin-stick, and side-scrolling gameplay made for some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a video game up to that point. In fact, it was one of the first games that I ever tried to get perfect scores in. I remember sitting on a plane to my grandparent’s house trying to master each level and not stopping until I did. For the most part, the Nintendo Switch is the definitive place to play Velocity 2X.
For those that don’t know, Velocity 2X puts players in the shoes of Lt. Kai Tana as she faces evil aliens both in her spaceship and on foot. During the course of the game, players need to destroy enemy ships, avoid laser blasts, and activate triggers in specific sequences to complete each level. With 50 levels in the game, plus around 16 extra levels from both the Dual Core and Critical Urgency DLC’s, and the Daily Sprint DLC, players have a ton of content to sink their teeth into since all that is included with the Switch version. That in-and-of-itself is fantastic, as it just gives players more than what they received on the PS4 and PS Vita versions, however, the PC and Xbox One versions also have this incentive.
Just like before, players use the left trigger and joystick to teleport between different walls and the right joystick to fire your weapon. While in ship mode, the screen is consistently moving so you have to make sure you time your teleports perfectly. On the other hand, during the on-foot sections, the game feels much more like a side-scroller. The controls don’t change too much, however, it does take some getting used to in the first few chapters.
Another aspect of the game that’s absolutely outstanding is the art style. The 2D, futuristic art is easy on the eyes during long play sessions while still being impressively detailed, all the way down to the glow of the laser blasts. FuturLab was able to create something modern, while at the same time feeling retro enough that it won’t alienate certain audiences.
To put it simply, this is essentially the same game as you got before. I didn’t notice any graphical changes, control changes, or anything of that sort during my time with the game. The controls feel as tight as they did on the other versions, and the game’s unique art-style works perfectly on both the Switch’s small screen and an HD TV, similar to the PS4 and Vita versions.
This, of course, also means that nothing (besides the DLC) has been added to the game, so if you weren’t a fan of the game’s story before like I was, then this won’t do anything to change your mind.
One thing that I loved about the original version was that the cross-save between the PS4 and Vita versions was one of the most seamless of all of the games that supported the feature. That being said, you still had to manually load your save to the cloud and pull it down whenever you wanted to switch (no pun intended) from one version to the other.
Now, since the Switch is both a handheld and a console, you don’t have to go through any of that to play it on the go. While that’s something that was going to happen naturally, anything that reduces a step to take advantage of a feature is worth nothing in my opinion. It’s nice to know that if I’m on the way out my door, I don’t have to make sure that my save was adequately transferred.
One thing I was concerned about when it came to the Switch version was how comfortable the game would feel when using the Joycons. While the PS4 version always felt comfortable, I was worried how the blocky Switch controllers would feel when trying to make precise jumps, teleports, and shots. My concerns were quickly snuffed out when I played the first level, however, and it feels just as good, if not better, than before.
Even though most of my time with the Switch version of Velocity 2X was filled with addicting levels and unique gameplay, I did encounter one problem while playing it, but I’m still not entirely sure if the game was the cause of it. Every once in a while, when playing the game, both of my Joy-Cons would become disconnected. It wouldn’t ruin my game, as the disconnect screen would appear, preventing me from crashing or running into walls, but still, it took me out of the experience. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was the game causing it, so I tried other games, but was unable to replicate the problem. Again, it’s a very small problem, but I felt like it was worth the mention.
Beyond that, however, I pretty much didn’t encounter any other bugs during my time with the game. If there was one other complaint I had about the game is that, because it’s on the Switch, there are no trophies to go after for those of you who are into that sort of thing. While that should come as absolutely no surprise to everyone since the console doesn’t support anything like that, it’s one of the reasons I played the original game so much, so it’s also worth noting.
Simply put, Velocity 2X feels just as good as it always has. Fans of the game from previous consoles who own a Switch will have just as good of a time if they did on there, and if you own one, you should absolutely consider picking this up, especially if you never played the three DLC packs. While there might be a slight Joy-Con bug while playing the game, there’s nothing here that ruins the experience, and, frankly, since you don’t have to finagle with the cross-save system in order to play the game on the go, Velocity 2X is better than ever.