Super Animal Royale Switch Review – A Cute Battle Royale

Super Animal Royale is very now. Or very was. You see, this is an indie multiplayer battle royale that is basically a Fortnite but simplified and cuter. The title initially released in a beta form a couple years back, and now the full release is available on many platforms, including the Nintendo Switch. After a decent time playing the game (And dying a whole lot), it is time for the indie game review.

So does Super Animal Royale meet the expectations of a free-to-play battle royale game in this day and age? Or does it fall short? Let’s find out!

Super Animal Royale is an adorable animal-based, free-to-play, 2D, top-down, 64-player, cross-play battle royale with premium cosmetics to boot. Wow. That is a mouthful. If you have played games like Fortnite, then you will be right at home, as this game feels like a marriage between the battle royale aspects of a Fortnite and the gameplay feel of something like Hotline Miami. It is a wild combination, but it actually works really well.

When the game boot up, you are presented with a few choices: one-on-one Solo games, a tag team Duo match, or joining a Squad for big team battles. Matches begin in the standard lobby, where players can practice for a bit before a countdown leads them to the actual game. Players are then flown around S.A.W. island on a giant eagle until they reach a spot they would like to parachute toward in a way all-too-similar to Fortnite’s Battle Bus.

There is surprisingly a lot of variety here, and Super Animal Royale is genuinely a lot of fun, especially if you can get together with friends in a lobby. I tested the game both with an Ethernet connection and WiFi, and I honestly had very little problems in regards to connectivity, latency, and lag, which is great news for a game that boasts up to 64-player lobbies.

This is essentially a twin-stick shooter, so imagine the combat as something similar to The Binding of Isaac or Hotline Miami. You frantically move around with the left stick while aiming in a circular motion with the right stick. When compared to other battle royale games on the market, Super Animal Royale may be one of the most user-friendly and easy-to-jump-in titles out there because of its relatively simple controls. The game does not expect too much of you in regards to learning how to play, and that is a great thing for casual players who just want to burn some time and have fun.

Once you decide where you land on the map, it is basically a free-for-all where you need to hunt down better weapons to take out the other players and claim your right as the top animal. Games are thankfully rather fast, so if you want to stay in a lobby after dying early, you do not have to wait too long for the next game. This is another reason why this is so much more user-friendly than others.

I will say that the importance of a match is lacking, if that makes sense, and that may be due to the fact that this is a cute title and rounds do not require a lot of investment. In something like Fortnite, winning is a really big deal, because to make it to the end demands a lot of skill and time. In Super Animal Royale, that sense is still there but not nearly as big. Because of this, the desire to keep playing and investing is not so high, but thankfully the game is still a solid experience and a fun time despite.

A concern about these types of games is the free-to-play structure. For many out there, this is a scary term that has corrupted the gaming economy in a lot of ways, but I will give Super Animale Royale credit as its model is more akin to Team Fortress than the game it mimics most, Fortnite.

You see, that’s because Super Animal Royale‘s payable structure is purely cosmetic, meaning there is no pay-to-win approach at all. People who pay for packages will simply be able to decorate their animals more and provide them some flair, but they will in no-shape-of-form have an advantage because of their purchase. This is great news for those that really do want to play a free-to-play game casually compared to those who want to support the developers by purchasing some clothes and bling.

This is a great model that I am a huge fan of as it does not take advantage of any particular player out there. It gives you everything you need right from the get-go, and from there it is about perfecting your gameplay by practicing, dying, and trying again.

For a simple-controlled, easy-to-jump-into battle royale with adorable animals, I can say that Super Animal Royale is a solid free-to-play game on the Nintendo Switch. It may not be the deepest or most challenging in the genre, but it provides a safe place for both casual players and battle royale fanatics.

The best thing about games like this is that it is free, so if you want to try the game out, there are no hassles or commitments. Ultimately, your enjoyment of Super Animal Royale will boil down to how quickly you can get a handle on the simple controls and mechanics and how many deaths you are willing to put up with in order to get to that point. The game contains enough charm and cute unlockables to keep you coming back for more, and there is enough bite-size fun to make it a decent time-waster for those interested.

Super Animal Royale Review provided by Nintendo Link
Publisher: Modus Games
Developer: Pixile Studios
Release Date: August 26, 2021
Price: $0.00, £0.00, €0,00
Game Size: 795MB