Prinny 1 & 2: Exploded and Reloaded

While it's possible to get into the retro groove of Prinny's perilous platforming, neither game does anything interesting enough to earn your patience. And collecting two games together only reveals how much of the same ground is covered by both. If anything, additions in the sequel water down the formula. If you simply must experience an unathletic penguin falling to its death again and again, stick with the simpler original. Or better yet, search for 'penguin falling over' on YouTube. Cheaper and a lot more entertaining.

For someone who isn’t a fan of the original Disgaea games, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed my time with Prinny 1•2: Exploded and Reloaded. It’s not the best remaster I’ve seen and the challenge can be overly frustrating at times, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had in its simple-to-learn, hard-to-master mechanics and charming characters.

Prinny 1 • 2: Exploded and Reloaded is a bit frustrating, but at the same time it offers a good feeling of reward when you finally overcome the hard obstacles. Perhaps hardcore or nostalgic players will appreciate the high difficulty, as it is certainly not a game for beginners. In short, the bundle brings together two niche platformers that will only make sense to anyone who knows Disgaea - or perhaps, who knows, to people who have plenty of patience.

It is really cool that this rather obscure title has been ported to Switch and I do hope that this trend continues from NIS America. I just wish there could’ve been a couple more things tossed in to make this more appealing for a wider audience.

Taking characters from an RPG game and turning it into a crazy, hilarious and tough platform game, is not something that’s done every day. Prinny 1•2 Exploded & Reloaded comes bounding onto the Nintendo Switch from the guys over at Nippon Ichi Software and NIS America. Does this hard platform game live up to its lineage? Let’s dive right in.

It is undeniable the charm that this pair of games will have both for fans of the saga and for those who, like me, live with the curiosity to know more and better the Disgaea universe. Of course, have your nerves prepared because on more than one occasion you will want to send your Switch to fly very far.

My final thoughts on this collection are - for what they are they’re great. The updated art is great, and to my memory, these are the same games I played back on the PSP (though never beat them back then). I believe there’s a solid foundation present which can be used as a springboard to make another Disgaea themed platformer title featuring our favorite demon mascots.

A fantastic but barebones rerelease of titles everyone a fan of the old school should experience dood!

I recommend Prinny 1 & 2 Exploded & Reloaded for those that love the niche. For those looking for that tooth and nail gameplay. However, the needless frustration induced by the awful level design in the 2nd makes this unattractive for the casual player. To play this for a long stretch will take any semblance of fun out of the experience. You’ll then take a break and may never even return. For these reasons, I say to wait for a sale.

A nostalgic action-paced 2D side scroller