SpeedRunners is the work of 2 friends who took a shot at the Indie game development thing and hit the big shot. The origin of Speedrunners traces back to 2013 but came to full-blown fruition in 2016 with a release on Steam. Not long after the initial release, Xbox and Playstation owners could also join the party. Fast forward to 2020 and the game finally gets a Nintendo Switch release.
Run fast and don’t get behind
The premise of SpeedRunners is quite simple. You outrun the competition using any means necessary. Using excellent agility is the foundation of success but route selection and the use of weapons at the right time are all a part of a successful run in SpeedRunners. Four players start but only one can survive. If you happen to fall behind be sure to catch up as quickly as you can because once you get out of the frame you are eliminated from the round. First to win 3 rounds wins the match.
2D Mario kart
SpeedRunners is a lot of fun to play. This “2D version of Mario Kart” has an extremely smooth feel to it. With the excellent game design, the only thing left to focus on is enjoying the gameplay to the maximum. Everything runs just flawlessly. Everything that can go wrong, goes wrong because of your own mistakes except when you get hooked by another player, that’s just evil… The weapon pick-ups mix things up a little bit more and make for some extra fun to be had along the way.
Local and online multiplayer
Now SpeedRunners offers a story mode where you take on 3 bots per match. The story mode is solely there to get you to learn the different tracks and to practice your running skills. Although the AI bots are pretty competitive, the real fun is in the multiplayer modes. Back in 2016 SpeedRunners, the online mode was getting so popular it eventually made it an official Esport for a brief period of time. I wondered if after 4 years there would actually be some online activity to be found on the Nintendo Switch and to my surprise, each match I played filled up quite fast.
It also became obvious that some players already had way more experience than I did. Some hardened fans already made the switch to Nintendo’s newest console. That being said, those who had their reservations about there being any online activity can safely just go ahead and jump right into the action on the Nintendo Switch. In case you wondered, Local multiplayer and even a mix of local and online multiplayer are all a possibility too.
Conclusion
SpeedRunners got a 8/10 review back in 2016 from us. The game still hits just the right notes to earn just as much 4 years later. The Nintendo Switch version plays smooth and the possibility to play SpeedRunners on the go is an added bonus. With an active community still trying to outplay each other, you’ll have plenty of work cut out for you if you want to be the fastest runner.
