Vitamin Connection is a newly released Nintendo Switch game by WayForward, the developers of the Shantae series. But, this is a completely different game as it combines serval genres and glues it together with some J-Pop and gorgeous graphics. It’s unlike anything you’ve played before as it mixes a couple of genres into one. It’s a shmup, puzzle game, and mini-games collection for the same price. Invite a friend and play one of the best co-op games currently on the system!
Enter Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl
You control Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl, cute looking vitamin beings who are set on a journey to save a nuclear family, including the dog, from disaster. Diving deep into the arteries of the victims, Vita-Boy and Mina-Girl use their pill-shaped submarine to fight the evil viruses in order to save the vital parts of the victim. It’s a fun story that’s told with some gorgeous hand-drawn and fully voiced scenes. It’s best compared with an interactive episode of The Powerpuff Girls, as the quality of the cutscenes and dialogues is very similar to the popular television show. WayForward really went all out in the presentation of the game and this easily results in complete immersion. Right from the first seconds, you’ll have a connection with the two small heroes and you’re ready to go on your quest, which is filled with surprises.
Time for some action
Now, the actual saving of the family isn’t as easy as you might think. Controlling your pill-shaped ship isn’t that simple since there’s a lot you need to take into consideration. If you play on your own, this plays as a twin-stick shooter on a sugar rush. You control the direction of the ship with one stick and the direction of the laser beam with the other one. To make it a bit more complex, you’ll also have to rotate the ship itself, which is crucial if you want to reach your goal. Rotating your ship is possible by pushing the shoulder buttons or using the gyroscope of your Joy-Con, physically tilting your controller to tilt the ship. It’s not the easiest way to control a ship but the more you play, the more natural it all feels.
If you invite over a friend to play, the controls change a lot. In two-player co-op, one player holds one Joy-Con vertically to move around the ship and activate the weapons while the other player has to rotate the ship and guide the laser beam towards the targets all while using the Joy-Con horizontally. It’s an interesting way of controlling the game and it’s the perfect co-op experience since both players really have an important job. Communication is key to success and the better you communicate while playing, the faster you’ll clear all challenges. Besides shooting down the viruses on an automatically moving map, you’ll also need to test your luck in a couple of mini-games.
Mini-game madness
From time to time, you’ll end up in one of the mini-games, where working together is once more the key to success. From a dance-off to mechanical arms and electrical wires, the mini-games are as crazy as the main game. It offers some fun and needed variation from the main game and thanks to its higher level of difficulty, you’ll really have to coordinate your movements exactly right. In the main game, mini-games are used as boss fights where you have to beat a certain score or clear the mini-game in time in order to win. If you like the mini-games a lot, you can also choose to just play a couple of those instead of following the main story. It’s a great party starter and having it as a separate game mode certainly is a nice addition to the game itself.
Just like in the main game, the way you control the mini-games is truly unique and taps into the full potential of the Joy-Con. Using the camera of your right Joy-Stick to move your mechanical arm is just one example of how well implemented the unique features of the Joy-Con are. Of course, with controls as complex as these, there are small hiccups from time to time but they never really interfere with the fun. The controls aren’t perfect but once you get the hang of it, you’re in to have a blast.
Conclusion:
Vitamin Connection offers a truly unique experience on Nintendo Switch and is most enjoyable in local co-op mode. It’s not the easiest game and the controls are a little complex at first but the more you’ll play it, the better it all gets. If you’re looking for a fun new co-op game for your Nintendo Switch, this is one you should definitely try.
