Jan 16, 20204 min read

Big Crown: Showdown (Nintendo Switch) Review

By Gaming Australia

If you’re anything like me, you probably enjoy the odd Friday or Saturday night in with friends playing video games or board games. If that is the case, then Big Crown: Showdown is the game for you! In a nutshell, this is a 4 player battle royale-racer / party-brawler! Read on while I elaborate on that. Not unlike a Mario Party Minigame, the objective of this game is to be the first over the finish line while collecting treasure and running interference on you opponents along the way. The most entertaining part of this game is the ability to punch your opponents into the path of traps or off the edge of the very quirky race tracks. This feature is sure to create some healthy competition between friends. I mean we all have that friend that is waaaayyyy to competitive right?

On face value, this latest game from Hyper Luminal games offers far more entertainment than its current $13.99 price tag suggests. You could easily pass a few hours having fun with friends but beware there is definitely the potential to complicate a few of those friendships along the way when you “accidentally” knock your wife off the course somewhat conveniently close to the finish line 😊.

It’s obvious that a game like this isn’t going to be about the storytelling therefore it comes as no surprise when you load into the game and the first thing you see is a short, somewhat vague cutscene and with little to no guidance on how to play the game. However, I do feel that this only adds to the fun, especially when playing with a group of friends.

I’m not sure if it was just me, but Big Crown: Showdown gave me a bit of a TMNT vibe. It’s hard to say if that vibe came from the 4 different coloured characters that sit on a couch in the sewer like dungeon or if it’s the constant references to pizza! Either way, I felt like all we were missing from a full blown reunion was a bit of Master Splinter action.

I want to take a moment to talk about the courses of Big Crown: Showdown. There are 15 courses in total that are set across 3 different settings and honestly they are all great. They are fun, quirky and downright deadly! My personal favourite was the Egyptian stages as they were visually beautiful. From the colours to the decorations, even the way the traps tied into the theme really impressed me!

That brings us to the characters. You play as one of a rather unique team of heroes who it seems are addicted to TV and pizza. Here is a brief description of all the main characters as described by Hyper Luminal Games themselves:

THE GRUMBLEGARD

Our intrepid ham-fisted heroes. Their rivalry knows no bounds and they care for nothing more than screwing each other over at any opportunity. They’ve found themselves trapped within the Big Crown Showdown by Fonkin and should probably try and get themselves out…if they can pull themselves away from their DringleBox for long enough.

GREAT WIZARD FONKIN

This guy means business and boy does he know it. Narcissistic, vain and delightfully theatrical, Fonkin will stop at nothing to show the world how dastardly a villain he is, even though the four Knights really don't care as much as they should. He created the Big Crown Showdown to amuse himself, going as far as to put his own stolen Crown up for grabs. What a weirdo!

OLD KING KRABBIT

Old, wrinkly and now pretty dead, Old King Krabbit lived his life the same way he died: falling through stuff. The all-powerful Big Crown used to sit atop his crusty old head until that dastardly wizard Fonkin pinched it. Krabbit was never seen again after being booted out of his chamber window by that no-good wizard. Some folks say that he’s still falling out of that window…

Big Crown: Showdown is intended to be online multiplayer but honestly in the time that I played it, I found it impossible. It seems that this game does not currently render the same level of support from the wider gaming community. I spent a good couple of hours over the course of a few days knocking on the proverbial online door, but it seems nobody is home! I am unsure if this is an underlying problem with the servers or online capabilities or if it is purely down to poor adoption from gamers? I suspect the latter which honestly surprises me! Big Crown: Showdown, to me, seems like the almost perfect match for the Nintendo Switch!

Big Crown: Showdown; as far as indie games go, is as good as you’re going to get! It’s fun, exciting and most of all it’s an Indie. This means, not only are you investing in the potential future of this particular developer by purchasing, but its priced like an indie game! This means you absolutely get bang for your buck! It’s the perfect Saturday night game to play with friends with the only let down being the lack of online activity which is reflected in my overall score.