Mighty Switch Force! is a series of puzzle-platform games developed and published by WayForward Technologies. It is part of WayForward's broader Mighty series, with the first Mighty Switch Force! title being the third Mighty game, following Mighty Flip Champs! and Mighty Milky Way. Gameplay The player controls a cybernetic woman named Patricia "Patty" Wagon who is either a police officer of fire fighter, depending on the entry.
The goal of each level is to find all of the Hooligan Sister and return to the exit point as quickly as possible, with each level possessing a Par Time that dedicated speed runners can try to beat. Along with the ability to jump and shoot, Patty is able to push in and out blocks dotted around the stage with her "Siren Helmet", using them as platforms or a means to destroy certain enemies. There are also various other types of blocks such as launcher blocks that send Patty or an enemy in a certain direction and colored blocks that allow the player to change which plane they switch on. During each level, the player has three hearts called "Heart Drives",Mighty Switch Force digital manual, December 22, 2011. WayForward Technologies. with the player losing one heart if Patty is hurt by an enemy, comes into contact with spikes or is pushed into the screen by a block change (checkpoints created allow Patty to respawn at that point in the case of the latter two). If Patty loses all three hearts, she will have to start the level over. Throughout the level she can collect floppy disks which restore hearts, either by finding them, or from shooting enemies.
Premises & Reccuring themes Mighty Switch Force! centres around Patricia "Patty" Wagon, a cybernetic "peace officer" who lives on Planet Land. She wields a "Siren Helmet", which can control the various blocks around Planet Land. Each game deals with Patty encountering the Hooligan Sisters, a group of all-female criminals, either to apprehend them, as police officer, or to save them, as a firefighter.
The Hooligan Sisters are depicted as typically skimpily-clad blondes. In the first game and the third, they are clad in striped prisoner attire, while in the second, they wear civilian clothing after reforming of their criminal ways (they are also depicted in various in-game illustrations in firefighter attire).
Patty is aided by General Gendarmor, a mechanical suit of armour, as well as "Ugly Twitching Dog" (U.T.D), her special service animal. A recurring dark comedy joke in both the second and third games is the depiction of Patty kicking babies.
Patty's cybernetic status, and how 'robotic' she actually is, is subject to revelations in each game. Although visually cued to resemble a police-cyborg, and stated to be cybernetic in promo content, the post-credits of Mighty Switch Force! seemingly revealed that she was an ordinary woman wearing a cybernetic-looking uniform. Mighty Switch Force! 2's post-credits then stripped her down to a robotic skeleton, revealing that she is actually a human-looking cybernetic robot. Mighty Switch Force! Academy, a prequel, then openly showed Patty with an ordinary human appearance (promo material released by WayForward confirms she is cybernetic in Academy, cementing the revelation shown in the second game).
Main Titles
Mighty Switch Force! The first game was released on the Nintendo eShop on December 22, 2011. An update to the game, including five new levels, was released in May 2012. A high-definition version, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition, was released for the Wii U in 2012, featuring re-drawn graphics and other new features. A Steam version of the game was also released in June 2015.
Plot A group of convicts called the "Hooligan Sisters" escape custody on Planet Land. As they escape, one of them breaks open a canister, which causes Planet Land to become infested with monsters. The "Galactic Penal Squad" contacts "cybernetic peace officer" Patricia "Patty" Wagon (voiced by Stephanie Komure), authorizing the use of her Siren Helmet and Pellet Shooter, in order to capture the criminals. Helping her along the way are General Gendarmor, a mechanical armor that can extract her from battles, Ugly Twitching Dog (U.T.D), who can create reload points, and HQ, who are monitoring her actions.Mighty Switch Force digital manual, December 22, 2011. WayForward Technologies.
After travelling across Planet Land, Patty confronts a giant purple monster, which has trapped the Hooligan Sisters. She defeats it, rescuing the Hooligan Sisters, after which Patty arrests them all.
Post-credits, Patty's "cybernetic" parts are revealed to be a removable uniform, and she is shown stripped down to gym clothes.
Development The first game was released for the Nintendo eShop on December 22, 2011. A free update to the game was released in May 2012, featuring five new levels, improved 3D effects and the option to restart the level. In the same year, WayForward developed Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition as a downloadable title for the Wii U. The game features redrawn graphics similar in style to A Boy and His Blob, and also features off-screen game play with the Wii U GamePad, as well as the downloadable content from the Nintendo 3DS update. New to this version of the game is also the inclusion of Hyper Mode levels, which remaster all previous levels making them even harder. The game was released in conjunction with Wii U's American launch on November 18, and in Europe on December 6.
Reception
The fight game received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN praised the 3DS version's gameplay and presentation but criticized its short length.
Legacy A sequel, Mighty Switch Force! 2, which has a focus on firefighting, was released for Nintendo 3DS in June 2013. This was followed by a puzzle game spin-off title, Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down! A third game, Mighty Switch Force! Academy, was released in November 2015 for PC and features multiplayer elements. Academy is a prequel to Might Switch Force, set during Patty's training days. A downloadable content pack for Shantae: Half-Genie Hero adds an additional story campaign featuring character costumes and gameplay mechanics from Mighty Switch Force. A collection titled Mighty Switch Force! Collection, which includes Mighty Switch Force!, Mighty Switch Force! 2, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition and Mighty Switch Force! Academy was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on July 25, 2019, and for Amazon Luna on November 24, 2020.
Mighty Switch Force! 2 Main article: Mighty Switch Force! 2
Mighty Switch Force! Academy The third entry in the trilogy which was released on November 23, 2015 for Steam.
The gameplay borrows heavily from the first Mighty Switch Force! following it's same game formula, however the key difference is that the entire level is now zoomed out and displayed as one screen. This allows for various new gameplay quirks for level solving, such as the ability to fall out of one side of the screen and end up at the opposite side. The game is also the first to both have, and be largely built around, the inclusion of multiplayer, although it can also be played single-player as well.
Plot Academy is a prequel to Mighty Switch Force! that is set during Patty's training days at the Planet Land Police Academy. During training, Patty's training module goes haywire and the loses all it's safety protocols, leaving Patty to try and arrest simulated versions of the notorious criminals, the Hooligan Sisters, armed with her pellet shooter. At the end of the game, Patty manages to escape the module after defeating a final boss. A "Baby Bomb" (one of the hazards in the simulation) falls out of the module in the form of the "Ugly Secret Baby" from Mighty Switch Force! 2.
Reception The game had little fanfare upon it's initial release, and sold in poor numbers. Academy was praised for it's inclusion in Mighty Switch Force! Collection for bringing a unique multiplayer experience to the collection, although reception to it as an entry in the series was mixed.
Mighty Switch Force! Collection A collection titled Mighty Switch Force! Collection, which includes Mighty Switch Force!, Mighty Switch Force! 2, Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition and Mighty Switch Force! Academy was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on July 25, 2019, and for Amazon Luna on November 24, 2020.
The collection received "generally favourable" reviews according to Metacritic. Praise by critics was given to the high value for money, quality of each game included, the graphics, the original multiplayer elements of Academy, and the enjoyment for fans of the genre. However, criticism was given to the short length of each game, the lack of bonus content such as concept art or behind the scenes content and the simplistic presentation of the collection, the lack of inclusion of the Mighty Switch Force! 2 spin-off Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down!, and the decision to include both the first game and Hyper Drive Edition as separate entries.
References
External links Official site for Mighty Switch Force! Official site for Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition