Iron Snout review for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Platform:PS Vita
Also on:Xbox One, PC, PS4, Switch
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Snout Up
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T

It?s important not to go into Iron Snout with anything in the way of expectations. It describes itself as a ?fighting game?, which I suppose is true in the sense that it?s a game that does feature fighting. However, if you?re expecting an actual fighting game in the traditional sense, in the vein of Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, you?ll be sorely disappointed. After all, the entire game consists of a main character — a nameless pig — punching and kicking away wolves that come at you from either side of the screen.

And that?s it.

There are no special moves to master. There?s nothing in the way of a story. You can chain together hits to build up combos, but they have no impact on the game beyond giving you a trophy once you reach 50 hits in a row. There are a couple of different environments in which to fight off the wolves, the enemies eventually get a little more frantic, and you can also play the game in one-hit sudden death mode, but at no time does the game every change.

That said, if you?re just after a quick, mindless diversion (and an easy Platinum), you could do worse than Iron Snout. You can control the pig with the D-pad, and there?s something almost zen about flicking back and forth, kicking and punching away the wolves as they launch at you from either side. It?s rarely particularly challenging, but it?s certainly fun for what it is.

But again, what it is is not very much. I can?t emphasize that enough. If you go into Iron Snout hoping for anything more than a quick time-waster, you?ll be sorely disappointed. If you?re okay with that, then you might get your money?s worth here.

Ratalaika Games provided us with an Iron Snout PS4/Vita code for review purposes.

Grade: B-