At Gamescom we got in touch with the developers of Hyper Sports R. They gave us a presentation about what to expect from the switch’s upcoming sports title. After the presentation, we got our hands on the game and played a couple of modes to check out this pre-alpha build of Hyper Sports R. Let’s get into it!
The developers made it clear that Hyper Sports R is still in early development and not everything we’re talking about is final. Hyper Sports R is an arcade kind of sports game that’ll let you help discover your sports talent in different disciplines, there’s running, jumping, throwing, swimming, playing volleyball and a lot more. The game will have a couple of modes where you can sink in some hours of playtime.
The game is built around the campaign mode where you as a player takes on the role of a sports rookie. This career mode will feel like a sports film where the protagonist wants to get on top and meet some mates or rivals along the way. These rivals or friends can become part of your team during your playthrough. You’ll be able to improve your team’s stats since they’re all been trained to be the best in something. Some teammates will be stronger than others but a lot slower. It’ll be up to you to play different disciplines with the right character.
If you’re done with the campaign, there are still some things you can do alone or with real-life friends. There’s a quickplay mode where you can boot up a certain discipline and battle it out against NPC’s or friends. These disciplines include long jump, hurdle, 100m run, … but there will also be swimming and playing volleyball. Each discipline will have a different gameplay mechanic and will use all of the Switch capabilities: button smashing and motion controls. For example, the 100m hurdle wants you to take the Switch controllers and start swinging in order for your character to move. The better you perform this swing, the faster your character will run. Before the obstacles, you’ll see 2 areas and it’s up to you to click the shoulder button at the right time to make your character jump over the obstacle.
“This career mode will feel like a sports film…”
Another mode that’ll be available at launch is the “Multi Athlon”, this will put your team really to the test. It’s the perfect mode to test their endurance and other attributes. This mode will set up a Marathon with different disciplines, it’s your job to get to the end as best as you can.
My take on Hyper Sports R
The developer and I played a couple of matches and it was really fun to play the game. It’s the perfect game to get in shape and have some fun with your real life friends. The use of the controllers is something you’ll have to get used to and just like any other party game, the person that plays this game the most will definitely have a big advantage. I could tell from the first moment I started playing this game, with each game mode, you just need to hit the right button at the right time. You don’t need any skill at all to conquer the first place. The matches are also pretty intense and can be quite exhausting. Due to the fact that the controllers aren’t heavyweights, it’s easy to get some arm injuries, so be careful during your play sessions. One good tip, use the wristbands to keep the controllers to yourself.
During my play session, everything ran fluently but just like in any other pre-alpha versions, there’s still some work to do. The developers seemed to have the basic core mechanics under control but they still need to fine tune the game to make it a lot more consumer friendly. The first time we played the 100m hurdle, I sucked so bad that my character wasn’t in the picture anymore.
“It’s another fun party game to play with your friends.”
The in-game camera was still following the developer because he was winning but my character just vanished behind the borders of the screen. I could still see when to jump but it’s hard to get the right jump at the right time if your character isn’t visualized. Other bugs were feet getting stuck in the ground and some crashes during the game but like I said, it’s pre-alpha, it’s normal for these kinds of things to happen. However, even though the game didn’t run flawless, the game does look great. It has a great vibe and atmosphere that a lot of people will appreciate.
The game has a great concept and as I mentioned before, it’s another fun party game to play with your friends. It looks good but it’s not perfect. The developers still need to do a lot of work to get this game running perfectly. Like You’ve probably already guessed, there’s still no official release date, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Check out our hands-on of the game:
