TowerFall (Switch)

Perhaps known better as TowerFall Ascension since it has released under that name on most consoles, TowerFall is a game that I always knew I would get because of its glowing reputation. This multiplayer-focused action platformer began its life on the ill-fated Ouya console and was lauded as its star game, but it would move on to new platforms and get small downloadable expansions that added more to the game. The Nintendo Switch release contains the Ascension and Dark World DLCs on top of playable appearances by characters from the equally beloved platformer Celeste, meaning at the time of writing it may be the most complete version of the game. That may change if more versions are released after this one, but it certainly felt like waiting to play had paid off.

 

The heart of TowerFall is its single-screen archery battles. A standard match will have players spawn into a level filled with platforms, walls, and hazards that all are meant to influence how you approach your task of killing the opposing player. An arrow will instantly eliminate any player who is hit by one, and its flight path is important to account for if you really want to catch your opponent off guard. Accounting for drop off can let you pick off a foe from above, and you are able to aim in eight directions as well, allowing for trick shots on the ground or while jumping through the air. However, your own arrows can kill you if they fall back down on you, and most levels also feature arena borders where anything that exits the screen will appear from an entrance on the parallel side. This openness in level design means you can still potentially gain the upper hand even if your opponents are on opposite sides of the arena or one has the high ground, but there are options for avoiding trouble as well. A dash can be used to snag an arrow safely out of the air, an important feature because, by default, you only enter battle carrying three arrows. Collecting arrows that missed their marks is important to stay in the game and forces some movement and risk taking, but even without anything in your quiver to shoot you can always land on a player’s head to kill them instead.

 

There are a few different multiplayer modes where you can compete for the most kills and least deaths alone or in teams, a single round of play going by surprisingly quickly while still managing to remain tense. Moving around the different level types can be risky but rewarding, and the gameplay design means the players are always responding to each other’s style of play to try and find the right time to fire. Power ups further add some fun complications to the mix. If your archer can pick up a pair of wings they’ll have as many jumps as they’ll like, a shield will save you from a deadly situation once before disappearing, and there are plenty of different arrow types on offer that add new strategies to the mix. Laser arrows bounce off of surfaces instead of getting embedded in them, bramble arrows will lay down a thorn trap near where the arrow lands, and bomb arrows can damage nearby players even if they miss. Items might cause fire to appear around the edges of the level or have a disorienting screen wipe you can use to your advantage, and any time a treasure pops up players will have to weigh whether its worth jeopardizing their life to grab it.

With death so easy to dish out but easy to fall victim to, the action can involve a lot of quick and exciting decision making that makes it easy to spend a long time playing round after round, although skill is very likely to win the day consistently, meaning it’s not quite the most accessible multiplayer title. The game does offer small mercies to losing players like giving them free shields at the start of a round, but there are also plenty of options to tinker with to try and suit what you want out of the game. You can change the arrow amount to be infinite or only one per player, you can disable certain items or have them already activated on your character to start with, and other little details of play can be shifted around to either help the game maintain its freshness or potentially favor a certain play style.

 

While the game doesn’t put forth a lot of plot itself, there is a lot to be read into the world you play in and the secrets you uncover. Even just playing in multiplayer mode will take you to beautiful pixel art backdrops where hidden unlockables can be uncovered such as new playable archers and new stages, and while the archers all play identically, there is definitely a lot of personality to the character art assigned to the tiny pixel people you play as. Suddenly stumbling across a mysterious inscription or having a meteor slam down on the stage select map can lead you to new content, the game giving some for free but others requiring you to figure out small mysteries or the right actions you have to take. These aren’t just an extra layer to the multiplayer combat either, as they crop up across the three single player modes as well.

 

While the quick, intense action of the archer duels is the game’s bread and butter, there is a surprisingly robust and varied set of structured content to engage with on top of it. If you are going things alone, you can play most of the modes and still have a good time, but target shooting is specifically designed for solo play. Plopped into uniquely designed rooms, these Trials have you try and shoot a set of stationary dummies as fast as you can to earn medals. A good handle of your movement options will allow you to earn good times even as the stages become more demanding and introduce more complex gimmicks, and if you can master the advanced movement options built into things like the dash, you can speed through these like an expert. Trials are definitely more of a side activity to hone your abilities, but it’s an interesting deviation from the combat focus of the game’s other modes.

Quest and the Dark World are similar in concept but dish it their twist on the action differently. Both modes can be played cooperatively with another player and are certainly enhanced through it, because these two modes are all about surviving waves of enemies in the title’s single-screen arenas. Players have a set amount of lives to get through the level’s rounds, and the monsters who attack come in some very interesting and challenging forms. Enemy archers turn your combat style against you, moles burrow through platforms to catch you by surprise, crystals spit out a shot spread or homing blast after they’ve taken damage, and the birdmen and technomages fly around the air and attack from afar. A bat or slime might be simple in concept, but even the smaller foes crowd the play area and ask you to spend time shooting them, because if you don’t, something stronger might distract you and then you’ll find yourself ambushed by a weakling. The next wave only begins once all enemies for that round are defeated at least, and the power-ups featured in multiplayer crop up here too to lend a hand.

 

While Quest mode has a big boss to face off with on top of the enemies, Dark World goes deeper into the concept and presents many powerful boss monsters. From a monstrous plant whose roots shoot up to try and force you into touching brambles to the blind lich who swings two frozen corpses around to crush you, these bosses ask for quick reactions and smart movement, the final foe in the Dark World particularly demanding when it comes to dodging and planning your method of attack. The gauntlets you unlock after clearing the modes are definitely tougher since they have you face everything again but with the same set of lives, but the main part of the adventure is still thrilling because it puts your archery abilities to the test so well.

THE VERDICT: Despite the presence of stage hazards and random items, success in TowerFall always feels well-earned no matter the mode because it so fluidly evolves from your evolving mastery of the archery and movement mechanics. This does mean there can be a bit of a skill gap problem in multiplayer battles, but there is still definitely fun to be had in the quick, high stakes battles where it only takes one well aimed arrow to win the round. The single-player and co-op modes add a lot to the experience, either by giving you an area to truly hone your craft or recontextualizing the highly active combat into a battle with all kinds of different monsters and bosses. Perhaps more options to even the playing field between players of different skill levels would help TowerFall be more accessible, but in its current state it is definitely an exceptional multiplayer title both for quick competitive play and single player action.

 

And so, I give TowerFall for Nintendo Switch…

A GREAT rating. Rapid action and constant shifts as a round’s completion immediately leads to the next battle in a new location make TowerFall easy to dig into and play with friends over and over again. The skill focused play definitely gives the game some legs if you and your group get deeply invested in it and it ensures winning is incredibly satisfying despite the brevity of individual battles. Even though the rules and items could have had more room for modification to make things easier to get into for new players joining experienced ones, it’s still a blast to play once you do start to learn the game’s rhythm and systems. You’re rewarded for being smart but still need to be quick and reactive, the constant battle to track yourself and the other players in a small arena keeping you involved right up to the moment your archer either falls in battle or seizes the win. The modes outside of competitive multiplayer shouldn’t be ignored either, the enemies a good fit for the wave-based action of the Quest and Dark World modes and managing to put up a good fight with their own sets of abilities and cooperative tactics. Trials is a smart side activity for devoted players to test their skill in as well, and the secrets add a nifty layer to regular play and rewards for trying to suss out mysteries. The story and lore around the world could have done with a few more upfront details since character names like Last of the Order and Ancient Exile exude mystery but have little context to hook onto within the game, but the look of everything does a lot to make it still have character despite avoiding an explicit narrative.

 

TowerFall definitely deserves to be recommended as a great multiplayer title with the caveat that skill can heavily skew how your play group might enjoy it. There is plenty to do together both in fighting each other for fun and taking on the monsters of the two adventure modes, so while it might not be as approachable as some party games, it still has a wildly fun and fast paced form of action at its core that becomes more satisfying to play the more the participating players come to understand it.