Gunkid 99 from Top Hat Studios and Yongjustyong is a hectic arcade-style 2D action platformer. Learn more in our Gunkid 99 review!

 

Gunkid 99 from Top Hat Studios and Yongjustyong is a hectic arcade-style 2D action platformer. Your goal is simple: get as high a score as possible. You’ll play through over 30 handcrafted stages as you use all of the available weapons to learn from your mistakes and shoot at anything that moves. Once you’ve selected your weapon and item loadout, you’ll be ready to take on the many stages that Gunkid 99 has to offer.

You’ll first need to take on the mandatory tutorial so that you can get the hang of things, and then you’ll get to take on each stage as you unlock them. You can first play a stage on Normal Mode, which will require that you constantly collect new weapons to keep the countdown from ending, or else it’s game over. Collecting weapons will increase your scores, and defeating enemies will sometimes yield coins. After beating a stage, you can then select Equipped Mode, where only weapons equipped in your loadout will spawn on the stage.

 

Since you’ll treat this one as a 2D twin-stick shooter platformer, you’ll move your character with the left analog stick as you aim with the right one and shoot with the ZR button. You can jump, double jump, and wall jump with the B button and roll with the ZL button to try and avoid damage. If you’re in a hurry and need to get rid of an enemy ASAP, you can activate aim assist and press the Y button to quick target. If you run out of ammo, quickly press the R button to reload so that you can keep going, or keep the ZR button pressed to automatically reload when your weapon runs out of ammo.

There’s an in-game achievements system you can use to receive extra coins to help you buy new stuff at the store – more on that in a bit. The objectives include completing each of the five worlds that Gunkid 99 has to offer, scoring 100 points or more in Equipped Mode or in Normal Mode in any stage in world 1, world 2, world 3, world 4, and world 5, scoring 200 or more points in any stage in the game, surviving for 6 minutes or more on any round, surviving for 10 minutes or more on any round, having 16 or more weapons unlocked, earning 77 or more coins in a single round, or buying 20 or more items at the store.

 

Speaking of the store, the many coins you collect while playing the game and as you complete the different achievements can be used at the store to purchase more weapons and items. These will include an uzi with a very fast firing rate, a heavy hammer that will fly in an arc, or items such as extra health, a small explosion that is triggered when you collect a weapon, a magnet that attracts coins that are near your character or boosting the drop rate for coins. As you progress through the game, more weapons and items will be available for purchase, so be sure to come back to the store to see what you can get in exchange for your hard-earned coins!

Gunkid 99 is a fun arcade-style 2D action platformer on Nintendo Switch. Since collecting weapons is how you score additional points, which means you can’t get too comfortable with a single weapon since you’re going to have to switch to a new one a few seconds later. You’ll be playing each stage in each world in Normal Mode and Equipped Mode to get enough points to unlock the next world to play as you try to improve your skills and get good. Gunkid 99 offers a simple gameplay loop, but it’s an entertaining one with a good difficulty curve. The game is out on Nintendo Switch with a budget $6.99 price.

Disclaimer
This Gunkid 99 review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Top Hat Studios.