Game: Disc Jam
Developer: High Horse Entertainment
I’m a big WindJammers fan after I played the PS4 version last year and got hooked on the awesome array of characters, moves and funky arenas to play in. WindJammers has what I believe to be the most fun competitive action out there along with a great set of added bonuses.
Disc Jam is obviously heavily influenced by the mighty WindJammers and when I began to play Disc Jam on the Switch I was expecting WindJammers Mark 2 but instead, it feels like I got WindJammers 0.75.
Disc Jam was released on PC back in March 2017 and was instantly heralded as the easy to play hard to master spiritual successor to WindJammers. It was the talk of the town for a while and has garnered good reviews but all those reviews have a similar theme as to what I’m about to go through here.
On the face of it, Disc Jam has all the elements that you could wish for in 21st-century reboot of a classic genre. The visuals look great and the gameplay is nailed on. The court looks good but then when you dig a little deeper you found that maybe it’s not quite as rosy as you first think.
The game is mega fun to play and the online matchups seem pretty quick to get involved with but the problem lies in the longevity of the experience and the severe lack of any other substantial options apart from the online mode.
I was expecting stacks of variation on the types of courts I could play on, a whole host of different character models, different types of online and offline competitions to enter* and a substantial single-player offline tournament/cup mode to compete in if I wanted to just improve my skills vs the CPU opponents.
This expectation was dashed as I realised the game is solid but a bit shallow in terms of variation.
If you aren’t fully invested in the online competitive play then you have no other real options apart from the offline Ghost Arcade Mode and a Tutorial Mode. If you look at it coldly and calculated then you might even say that this game is only actually three quarters finished.
The things I do like about this game though do make me want to give the game a chance in the long term as the developers are currently working on trying to introduce online Tournaments, Cups and Leagues to bolster up the online offering and enable you to play for something other than just online ranking points.
Here's a nice list of all the cool things that were introduced to the game recently including some Switch exclusive features:
Nintendo Switch-Exclusive Features
- Cross-platform play with PC
- Local wireless between up to 4 Nintendo Switch consoles
- 60 fps action at 1080p while docked and 720p undocked
- Support for detachable, single Joy-Con controls
Update Features (Switch, PC, PS4)
- Two new modes:
- Ranked Leagues - compete against the best of the best and rise through the ranks of the Universal Federation of Disc, earning exclusive customization rewards each Season
- Ghost Arcade - a gauntlet of ever-increasing difficulty that pits you against real players’ ghost data
- Lannie, a multi-talented Brazilian athlete who strikes the perfect balance between power and agility, and the latest addition to the Disc Jam roster
- The ability to host private matches on dedicated servers
- Updated arena visuals
- A whole host of community-requested bug fixes
I had wondered how this game would transition across onto the marvellous Switch and the Nintendo does a fine job of dealing with the game and also enables you to play competitively versus PC players too!
I think the future of this game depends on how many people buy it and stick with it while other modes and features are introduced to it.
Just a few simple things added would make me turn this review into an Ice Cool. I think that a Single Player Offline Tournament / League / Cup mode would give me enough to stick with it beyond the online.
I’d also like to see some way of levelling up abilities. The current system sees you earn in-game currency to unlock characters and cosmetics but nothing that truly impacts the core gameplay.
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| Waluigi's New Career in Disc Jam was going real well! |
Summary
In Summary, I think that the initial launch of this game has missed a massive opportunity to improve on a classic video game genre. The devs at Disc Jam (High Horse Entertainment) are so close to getting this spot on that, for now, I will stick with them due to the high quality of the game that they have created so far.
I look forward to the new updates due soon for the game and hope that they deliver what we all want…… WindJammers Mark 2!
Right, I’m off to throw an oversized pretzel around a cage enclosed tennis court that is armed with laser turrets!
💧❄️ RATING: MELTING ❄️💧
Ratings Explained
ICE COOL (Great Game Recommended)
MELTING (Recommended with reservations, one to consider if you are a fan of the genre)
MELTED (Not A Recommended Purchase)
Review By Rich
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