[Review] Splasher

Developer: Playdius                                   Publisher: Plug In Digital

Release Date: 10.26.2017

Splash. Spat. Stick. Bounce. Climb. Shoot.

These are all words that come to mind after running through the first few levels of this addictive game. Splasher has become a wonderful addition to the plethora of platformers available for the Nintendo Switch.

The story of the game is quite simple, but that doesn’t interfere with it being a fun game. You are an employee of Inkorp, seemingly a Janitor when you come across a door that is slightly cracked ajar. What you see shocks you and you realize that Inkorp is evil and you must save your coworkers while running from their evil monstrosities.

The game play is fun and quirky. Inkorp is set in a cartoony world, which makes the game appeal to both young and older players alike.  It definitely reminds me of Rayman, which makes me very happy.

As I first started playing, I found myself dying several times because you run fairly quickly and I tended to overshoot the platforms and fall in to the bubbly green acid (insert cute death graphic here). The game play definitely doesn’t want you to stop and really think about what’s going on, it encourages you to keep moving and jumping.

Ink plays a big role in the game; Red ink makes you stick (and be able to climb steep edges…or walk across the ceiling), Yellow ink makes you bounces really high, and Water can wash both of these inks off, so time yourself accordingly when jumping between ink splashes!

There is no tutorial to the game, but that doesn’t put you at a disadvantage; the game gradually shows you the game mechanics as you progress through levels. As you master the mechanics, Splasher becomes increasingly more challenging and fun. A major bonus is that there are no lives, this is where check points come in very handy. You can retry that damn jump 100 times without having to restart the level…something I very much appreciated.

Splasher does great with making each level gradually more difficult. It doesn’t start off too simple, yet also doesn’t hold your hand from day one; you learn the mechanics and what you can do simply by doing. Trying out different jumps and splats and seeing what you can accomplish. Each level has 7 Emplyees to save, some in quarantine levels, which you can save and spell out “Splash“. Stand up to Le Docteur – Inkorp’s evil boss, and with the help of your handy paint fun, you can splash your way to freedom.

Splasher may have a short campaign, yet it focuses on its replayability. You can do Time Attack and Speedruns to add in an extra layer of challenge. Overall, I do recommend Splasher to your library of games. Now excuse me while I go attempt a Speedrun.