Pocket Rumble

A neat little curio that channels a cult piece of hardware, and some of the fighting greats.

It's a beautiful game, but that beauty can't hide the fact Pocket Rumble still needs a bit of work. When playing with friends locally the game is an absolute blast. That's when it's at its best. It's all the other modes that weigh the package down. I'm not too keen to return to any of the single-player options until the AI is fixed nor do I wish to endure the spammy assaults of the same three or four characters I face online. With some fine-tuning, Pocket Rumble can get to where it needs to be, but Cardboard Robot Games should probably hurry because the Switch isn't short on quality fighters and the field will only grow more crowded as we continue the march towards the end of the year.

Despite being a useful tool in your training, Pocket Rumble's arcade mode is slight, but in multiplayer the game excels thanks to a diverse (albeit small) lineup of characters. Fighting games can be complicated things, off-putting to newcomers with their wide array of moves and techniques, but Cardboard Robot Games has crafted a fun and easy to learn experience here, bundled up in a wonderfully nostalgic audio-visual imitation of the old Neo Geo Pocket Color brawlers. By employing just two attack buttons and simplifying the special moves, it may not offer as much depth as some fighting games, but there's still enough to keep even a genre veteran happy here. As newcomer friendly as the game is, timing and correct move choice are still key, so experience is undoubtably a factor. Working well with any controller, the game is good fun and perfectly suited for quick bursts of play, whether that be in online battles or playing tabletop against friends. Admittedly the Switch is not short of decent fighting games, but Pocket Rumble still provides great entertainment.

The only part of Pocket Rumble that might frustrate is the unexpected level of cruelty for newcomers out of the gate. The smooth online play should be varied and level at least. With a friend, Pocket Rumble makes for quick, accessible fun and another feather in the Switch’s giant cap of local multiplayer games. Cardboard Robot has constructed a fighting game as simple and advanced as players want it to be. After an agonizing year-and-a-half wait from announcement to release, Pocket Rumble‘s belated arrival on Switch was worth waiting for.

If you, like me, find a lot of fighting games intimidating to approach Pocket Rumble might just be the game for you. The easy to learn controls, but hard to master characters gives plenty of room to really sink into this one.

After a year of delays, the Switch version of Pocket Rumble unfortunately disappoints on multiple levels. While it has a distinct art style and some great multiplayer options, the overall lack of content and limited moveset hinder the game's true potential.

It's one of the best fighting games available on Nintendo Switch even with its issues, and it's yours for a bargain price. If you want a fast-paced fighting game that has got huge amounts of character, you really can't go wrong.

On the whole, Pocket Rumble is a game that fits snugly on the Nintendo Switch due to its portable inspiration and simple control system. I would even go a far as to say that I would love to see it streamed as a side tournament at some of the bigger fighting game events out there.

"The most portable home console fighting game."

As a whole Pocket Rumble stands up very well as an extremely budget-friendly fighter that has few frills but delivers what is most crucial. Looking and playing great whether in docked or handheld mode it’s light, easy to get into, and has a surprisingly-diverse roster with some very unusual characters. Throw in Online support that even competitive games with higher prices have been known to lack or implement with higher instability and it very much delivers a fair value for its humble price tag.