Standby
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : NoClip
Published By : Hypetrain Digital
Category : Arcade, Platformer
Release : Aug 01, 2019

I feel like over the past decade, the term “platformer” in gaming has become such a broad term, where it once was a lot more narrow. It’s become everything, from a way of offering some simple game mechanic while telling a story, to just balls-to-the-walls intensity that’s (seemingly) meant to want to make you break your controller. Standby for the Nintendo Switch easily falls into the latter category.

Prepare yourself to be tested to the extreme in the games over-fifty levels. You’ll control a nameless man who has the sole purpose of getting to the end of every level he begins. The courses are broken down into six groups, each group having nine levels that need to be beaten and each new course will bring you a new mechanic that will make you want to pull even more of your hair out.

Initially, things start off pretty easy as you learn your characters moves. You are able to run, perform a single jump, a powerslide, and you also have a gun that can be used to shoot down barriers. It may not seem like a lot, and at first it isn’t, until you start dealing with many of the game’s mechanics, and dealing with everything all at once.

There are tons of obstacles in your way, naturally, as you try and blast through each level as quick as you can. Gaps will need to be jumped, red floors mean instant death unless you’re utilizing your slide move. Blue sections of the floor are places where you can trigger a force jump that will keep you moving until you hit a flat surface or force yourself down to the ground.

You’ll also encounter barriers which can only be passed by shooting them with your gun. The gun can only be shot if you’re standing completely still, or if you are sliding along the ground. When the barriers are lying horizontally on the ground, you’ll need to ground pound them by pressing the slide button while you’re in mid air. Some boxes will be featured in your levels, ones that are open, and others that have an X through it. The open boxes will allow you a second jump in mid-air, while the other boxes will destroy part of the level opening a path for you. Eventually the game introduces portals and…well this party is already starting to sound pretty crazy.

Similar games have put their focus on overwhelming you to make use of the platforming mechanics. Celeste gives you lengthy puzzle-like sections before you can hit a new screen and be safe. Super Meat Boy hurls a non-stop litany of obstacles in your face that require almost pixel-perfect precision to navigate around. Here, in Standby, the focus is on you and your reflexes.

All the levels are short and sweet, and you’ll need to perform the right move at the perfect time if you want any chance of completing it. If you’re really good at reading situations on the fly, you just might get to breeze through this game a bit. If not, well you’re looking at things being more like a memory game. Either way, you’re sure to be tested in this game.

Standby is a really fun title. I love the colors that pop in every single level and the music that accompanies it definitely carries the frantic feeling along with it. Definitely expect a challenge from this one, because as the game implements not only new obstacles but new ways to encounter them…that combined with the limited view of the screen means you’ll have the barest minimum of preparation time. In the end, thought, it’s a challenge that is worth experiencing. So don’t waste time and…standby. Get over to the eShop and grab this game today!