[Review] Iron Snout (Nintendo Switch)

Developer: SnoutUp Games

Publisher: Ratalaika Games

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Version Reviewed: eShop download

Category: Action, Arcade, Fighting, Multiplayer

No. of Players: up to 2 players

Release Date: April 19, 2019 (EU & NA)

Price: $4.99 USD

HISTORY:

Iron Snout is one of seven games by developer SnoutUp Games who’s previously released games include a lot of swine protagonist and have been featured on mobile platforms and Steam. Previous games were small bite-sized entries which could be played in short bursts.

Iron Snout had seen release on Steam in 2016, alongside a browser based, iOS, Windows, and Android version. The game can be found free to play in some locations and does have some DLC which is included in the Switch version.

STORY:

Only, hand-to-hand combat isn’t the only way to fight off hordes of wolves, so when the going gets tough, the tough picks up a butcher’s cleaver. After all, how else are you going to defend yourself against wolves that ride wrecking balls and wield chainsaws? It may have been a wolf eat piglet world once before, but this time, the tables are turned in this addictive fighting game that’s got to be played, to be believed.

Iron Snout doesn’t necessarily have a story, though the developers of the game describe it as a revenge story where the pigs are no longer giving in to the wolves and settling into houses of bricks. This is where our hero comes in using his martial art skills of kicks, punches, and dodges to thwart incoming waves of attacks.

GAMEPLAY:

Each level of Iron Snout pits you against varying difficulty of wolves outfitted with chainsaws, axes, wrecking balls, billy clubs, and more. You play each level centered on the playing field and have at your disposal a half dozen or so moves which you can control either via the left control stick or with a combination of buttons.

Your list of moves include double jumping and kicking at aerial enemies like the wolves that swing in on wrecking balls, fly skyward on rockets, or parrot birds which carry bombs. Stopping the attacks in the air can sometimes repel those enemies to the ground and inflicting damage against other incoming wolves.

Besides air attacks, you have your standard kicks and punches which can be used to ward off incoming wolf enemies. You can also duck to avoid enemies as they throw batons and axes in your direction. When enemies throw items towards you, you can attempt to catch them by turning to the item that was thrown and hitting the punch button at the same time.

CONTENT & FEATURES:

Iron Snout features three main levels: forest, city street, and pirate ship. Each level has specific wolves and enemies that you will encounter within them. For instance, the pirate ship has wolves wielding sword, parrots dropping bombs, and wolves rolling in barrels.

The forest has your run of the mill lumberjack and chainsaw toting wolves, along with a red riding hood style wolf in disguise. On the city streets, you will be bombarded with cops, unsuspecting old ladies with wigs and purses, and a mohawked wolf swinging in on a wrecking ball.

Along with the varied levels and enemy types, there are four different modes: classic, sudden death, 2P wolfieball, and Pig VS 100. Within each mode the game keeps track of how many wolves you have slain and the highest score you were able to attain.

Classic mode just put you against enemy wolves which attack from either the left or right side of the screen. You have a health meter represented by 10 pieces of bacon. Each time an enemy or its weapon manages to hit your pig fighter you lose one piece of bacon. Run out of bacon and the round is over.

Sudden death is a one hit kill scenario where swine like reflexes and agility come into play. In this mode, you have to work hard to keeps enemies and items at bay while keeping tabs on incoming foes.

2 player wolfie ball is a game of puts you and a friend against each other with various parameters such as: max score to win, how many balls are bouncing around the map, whether or not the button the ground spawns enemies or adds to your overall score, health points, ball size, and ball gravity. The various settings do add to the overall bland 2 player mode and the variety was enough to make this mode somewhat playable.

Pig VS 100 is a mode that puts you against a wave of 100 enemy wolves where you need to work hard to survive. This is similar to the Smash Bros. franchises 1vs100 mode, though with more bacon and more wolves.

You can unlock various pig costumes in the game for meeting certain level requirements and racking up combos and hits as well. You start off with the standard ‘naked’ pig, though you can unlock Santa pig, pirate pig, Rambo pig, zombie pig, a pig in a running suit, a ninja pig, a pig with pigtails in a school girl outfit, and a cowboy. Each of the outfits are slowly unlocked, but are purely cosmetic changes and do nothing to change the overall gameplay.

AUDIO:

Iron Snout will not win any awards for audio. The slaps, kicks, and items thrown at enemies all make sounds, but none of it is super memorable. At the least you know that you hit something. The audio is more slapstick sound bites possibly pulled from generic audio files. The background music is repetitive and annoying and I opted to lower it or turn it off completely after just a few rounds.

VISUALS & PERFORMANCE:

Visually, Iron Snout reminds me of those stick fighter flash games I used to dabble in making in the early 2000s. The art is simple and cut, the animation is rather basic. About the only redeeming area in the visuals and performance area is that the game runs smoothly and the slaughtering of wolves is a gag of splattered blood, severed body parts, dead corpses.

OBSERVATIONS:

For a $5 USD game, Iron Snout does offer a lot of options. I went into the game knowing and expecting this to be a short time waster type game that would fit better with a mobile platform. I was surprised by the included amount of unlockables which will take you some time to collect if you are at all invested in 100% the game modes and unlock all the costumes.

CONCLUSION:

If you are into small doses of beat ’em games involving the war between wolves and pigs you will enjoy Iron Snout, but I’d advise saving your bacon and porkin’ over money on a better game in the eShop.

THE VERDICT: 4/10

Avoid

*A download key was provided by the Publisher for the purposes of this review