Side-scrolling shoot ’em up CounterAttack: Uprising from Relative Games is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our CounterAttack: Uprising review!

 

Side-scrolling shoot ’em up CounterAttack: Uprising from Relative Games is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. What began as a malfunction at an automated mining outpost in Proxima Centauri has quickly escalated into a war that threatens Earth. The superior firepower and numbers of the Automatons were just too much for the humans, with Earth on the brink of annihilation. With one last shot, Terran forces launch an all-out attack in hopes of putting a stop to the conflict before it’s too late. It’s a shoot ’em up that has some Gradius vibes to it due to how it handles power-ups – more on his in a bit.

You can take on this one either on your own or in local or online multiplayer. The first thing to do before embarking on this mission will be to select the pilot and spaceship you’ll be controlling. Each one will have different values for stats such as Speed, Spread, Side, Beam, Missile, Power, Plasma, and Drone, as well as letting you know if they have low, medium, or high power and speed. There will also be a max value for each of the aforementioned stats for you to consider so that you know how much each spaceship can be improved and boosted later down the road.

There’s Colonel Sloane, a female pilot who is the top Air Force pilot and the natural choice to lead Earth’s defenses. She’s a skilled warrior that can make a big difference in combat! Next up is Marcus, a formerly institutionalized pilot who escaped and stole an experimental fighter with a special meson shockwave weapon. There’s also Biff, a male movie star, politician, bodybuilder, investor, writer, and philanthropist who started to train heavily when he was very young and won Mr. Universe at the age of 20.

 

And then we have Ayumi, a young female scientist who invented the meson blaster technology used in the most advanced weapons of today. She’s one of the most intelligent people on the planet and has a remarkable reaction time in combat. Major Joe is a young pilot who spent a short time of his life as a commercial test pilot before his talents were noticed by the military, who immediately drafted him into their ranks.

Sarah is a female astrophysicist, engineer, and pilot who is also one of the brightest minds alive. She played a crucial part in discovering Quantum, the extremely rare material that makes the warping of space-time possible. Lt. Col. Carl is a very young flying ace who is always combat-ready. He was quickly promoted within the Air Force thanks to his exemplary performances during special missions. The last one is Jinx, a female freelancer who was fascinated by computers, games, and software from an early age, which gives her a special understanding of computer systems.

After selecting a pilot and spaceship, you’ll be able to customize it by selecting from the available attachments. There are over 500 in total, so there’s definitely a lot for you to collect during your time with CounterAttack: Uprising! You could add the Afterburner module, which will increase speed by 1. Another option is the Targeting Computer, which will add a 2.5% critical strike chance for your attacks. Or you could install the Lucky module, which will add a 10% evasion chance while also increasing the attachment drop rate by 25%. What weapon options will you have when you get started? Well… none! You’ll first have to grab some from your enemies.

You’ll control your spaceship with the left analog stick or the D-Pad, shooing with the A or ZL buttons as needed. Your ultimate attack can be activated by pressing the B or ZL buttons, which will vary depending on the pilot and spaceship combo you select. As you collect the green Q40 left behind from some of the enemies that you defeat, you can see it added to the list of power-ups at the top of the screen. You can then press the X button to obtain the power-up that you want. Do know that when your ship is destroyed, any Q40 you haven’t spent will be lost!

What is it that you can get with the green Q40 you obtain? You could boost the ship’s speed so that it can move faster and avoid obstacles and bullets with ease; increase the spread attack that functions as your vessel’s main attack; add side attacks that will allow you to attack above and below your spaceship; buy a beam which will add a buildup laser to your arsenal; or missiles will add seeking missiles to your spaceship, which can make a big difference when going up against smaller enemies that love to travel in groups.

But wait… there’s more! You can also increase power to boost your attack to deal more damage, which is crucial for boss fights; plasma is a very powerful forward-firing projectile gun that packs a punch; you can add drones that will circle your spaceship, thus adding some extra protection; purchase an add-on, and you will increase the potential max level for all upgradable abilities; and then we have life which, as you can probably guess, will add an extra ship so that you can survive after making a mistake.

If you go into the Garage section, you’ll be able to review the attachments database for the attachments you’ve found during your mission and check the enemy database with information on all of the opponents you’ve managed to defeat. Along with their names, you’ll also be able to review a short description, see their overall health, and see if they have any attachments. There’s even a level editor where you can go in and create your own levels! Add enemies, set how many will spawn, the time between spawns, add power-ups, select movement patterns, movement speed, and more.

CounterAttack: Uprising is a fun shoot ’em up that pays homage to the classics in the genre, with a particular nod to the Gradius series in how it handles power-ups. It offers a good amount of missions to take on, and you can even choose which ones you’ll be playing through, depending on how challenging you want things to be. Also, for some reason, there’s a slight delay between the moment you press a button to make a choice or to return to a previous menu and the action being executed. This happened while playing in Docked or Portable Mode. Nothing major, but something that you should be aware of. CounterAttack: Uprising is out on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 price tag.

Disclaimer
This CounterAttack: Uprising review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Relative Games.