Fast-paced couch party game Rocket Wars from Rooftop Panda is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our Rocket Wars review!

 

In Rocket Wars from Rooftop Panda up to four players can duke it out in six different gameplay modes full of local couch mayhem. There’s Deathmatch, which is a free-for-all match in which anything goes. Whoever makes it to ten kills first will win the Deathmatch. The next one is Survivor which gives all players five lives each, and whoever is the last one standing will be the winner. For Nuke King you will need to have the most points at the end of the match to be declared the winner. Points are earned from killing other players, surviving as the Nuke King, and for being the Nuke King at the end. How do you become the Nuke King? You do it by killing whoever is the Nuke King.

 

Space Ball tasks you with destroying your opponent’s goal to win. Each hit you land with a ball will destroy a section of your opponent’s goal, but that means you also need to be on high alert as you try to protect your own goal from danger. While you can still kill your opponents as well, the damage you deal in this mode is considerably reduced. The last mode I got to try for this Rocket Wars review was Free Play which, as the name suggests, has no points and no goals, per se. You’ll just fly around and give it your best shot.

Oh, and each of the six gameplay modes also has a team mode variant, so that you can play in co-op, except, of course, for Free Play. In its place we get a mode called Entangled. What this presents to you is basically Team Deathmatch with an extra twist: players who are together in a team are linked, so if two team members are near each other, their attacks will be stronger, but if they’re apart their attacks will be weaker. Because of this, communication is key so that you can work together as a team, maximizing your potential.

 

Controls are simple and to the point, so that you can focus on the action on the screen. You will use the left analog stick to steer your minimalist spaceship around the playing area, thrusting forward with the ZL or ZR buttons, shooting at enemies with the B button with your regular attack. If you manage to get any special weapon pickups, you’ll be able to put them to good use with the Y button. The A button serves a dual purpose, since it can activate a shield to protect you from long-range attacks, while also functioning as a short-range melee attack.

 

As you play more and more, you will receive experience points based on your performance. You will get points for how many kills you got, how many power-ups you collected, if you were victorious for that particular match, as well as a bonus set of points for completing the match. Get enough points, and you will level up, which will reward you with new spaceships and new skin patterns for you to customize your vessel. You can go into the Hangar from the main menu to change between the ships and skins you’ve unlocked.

Each ship will have different stats, so you’ll need to take this into consideration when selecting which ship you’ll take to battle. The Fighter ship that you start with is an average ship that has been used in pretty much every battle for more than two decades thanks to it being an easy one to manufacture. Without spoiling too much, the first ship you will unlock is the Vector, which was designed in the year 2979. It features superior firing mechanisms, boosting its fire rate, but it features less overall health.

 

Rocket Wars is a fun and fast-paced couch party game on Nintendo Switch. It has six modes to play – with team variants for five of them and an extra team-only mode – as well as twelve different spaceships to play as – most of which you’ll have to unlock. You can play with up to four players at once, but if you’re on your own, you can add bots into the mix, of competent AI. Rocket Wars is out on Nintendo Switch for $9.99.

Disclaimer
This Rocket Wars review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Rooftop Panda.