Six months after the launch of the Nintendo eShop, only a trickle of 3DSWare titles populate the storefront’s digital shelves. I guess that’s better than taking the same approach as DSiWare; Nintendo’s first misstep into the world of downloadable games consisting mostly of poorly ported cell phone games and meager applications. For better or worse, the current drought of 3D downloadable games doesn’t hurt the eShop thanks to the sheer variety of what’s available — gamers can choose from a selection of Virtual Console games, a few 3D Classics, DSiWare gems like Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, or get their early 3DS buyer’s compensation via 20 free games gifted to members of Nintendo’s Ambassador program. While there’s plenty to download and play, I find the limited number of games specifically designed for 3DS disturbing.
Then again, If more titles of Mighty Switch Force‘s caliber are the reward for patiently waiting on 3DSWare releases, consider me a changed man who’s learned the value of waiting. The latest entry in developer WayForward’s downloadable series of Mighty titles — following DSiWare-only games Mighty Flip Champs and Mighty Milky Way — Mighty Switch Force is a puzzle platformer that tasks the player with rounding up escape criminals known as the Hooligan Sisters through 16 stages (referred to in the game as “incidents”). Each level requires finding the location of all five hidden Sisters through exploration, platforming, and the use of a special switch ability: A mechanic that’s signaled by a siren on protagonist Officer Patricia Wagon’s hat and allows the player to switch specific blocks between the foreground and background of the stage — creating makeshift platforms or even launch pads to help her hop to out-of-reach areas.
