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9 Nov 2021

REVIEW: Destructivator SE on Nintendo Switch

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff
Destructivator SE is a 1990s style arcade run and gun shooter. Playing this brings me back to playing similar games like Contra on the original NES.

Let's look at the story. 

"The year is 2145. Earth still burns. Zallagor and his army have been vanquished, but at great cost: the once great cities of Earth lie in ruin, its population hungry for revenge.

Zallagor's home planet of Zerkl has been located. Zallagor has gone, but somebody will rise to replace him. Maybe they already have. The Destructivator is ready – it is time to strike!

Take on the role of a tiny super-solider decked out in lime green spandex! Blast and melee your way through hordes of alien soldiers, robots, spaceships, traps, bosses – and more! Fight on foot or commandeer an enemy ship to take out Zerkl's defenses and ensure that the alien menace won't threaten Earth ever again."

Sounds fun right!?

Straight away for those of you old enough, you will think of Contra, and this game certainly pays homage to such great games from the past. But with clear graphics that despite being simple 2D, do really look great, everything is colourful without becoming overwhelming or blinding.

There are 6 missions with over 50 levels to complete.


The game starts off pretty simple, you have one gun, and you have to kill all your enemies, once you have killed everyone, you have "cleared" the level, and you move onto the next. As you move around the levels there are checkpoints that once passed, you will return to if you die, but you can return to a previous checkpoint, activate that, and then you will respawn there if you die. Of-course there are the obligatory boss and mini boss fights, and a decent learning curve. 

One nice touch is that you can steal mini flying ships, and use them to move about too, all the while watching out from fire from all angles.

There are 3 difficulty levels, but it is worth noting that the game doesn't just throw enemies at you for the sake of it, even on the Brutal skill level, if you take your time, and think about what you will do, then you can still pass the level.

I played this on the Nintendo Switch Lite, and at times the smaller screen wasn't the best to play the game on, however it did not become a hinderance, I do think perhaps playing on a bigger screen would be a benefit. Especially as the camera view point does feel quite far away, with a lot on screen.

This is a decent old school run and gun shooter, which would satisfy the older gamer like myself, as well as younger gamers, well if they don't mind retro graphics that is.

The Good
A challenging game, that never becomes too frustrating, brings back great memories from the 1990s arcade, while also being a decent 2021 game in its own right.

The Bad
Some enemy bullets are tiny and hard to see, even more so on the small screen.

Overall
I enjoy classic run and gun shooters, and I am happy to add this one to my collection.

I score Destructivator SE a healthy 8/10

Out now on Nintendo Switch



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