Review: City Hunter (Nintendo Switch 2)

I really like platformers. I really like retro gaming. Metropolis Hunter checks each of these packing containers. It options side-scrolling, run-and-gun motion with anime-based characters, boss fights, and extra. This isn’t only a retro-impressed title; it’s really from the heyday of the ‘90s itself. Sadly, not all video games age effectively.

Metropolis Hunters is an early ‘90s arcade-action sport that was solely ever launched for the PC Engine in Japan. That’s already fairly obscure. It’s primarily based on an anime, which itself was primarily based on a manga collection. It follows the adventures of Ryo Saeba, a womanizing detective who solves mysteries. Within the sport, our hero performs by means of three chapters that contain searching down and stopping a sinister megacorporation.

The gameplay is straightforward. You stroll left and proper throughout platforming sections, climbing up and down ladders. You sport a gun, used to take down the quite a few guards continuously coming at you. The degrees are quick, with the complete sport playable in about an hour or two.

Metropolis Hunter is a product of the ‘90s, however not in a great way. Retro gaming has its place, with NES and SNES video games nonetheless in style and obtainable on the Change On-line service. Metropolis Hunter, regardless of its nostalgic issue, was a mean sport on the time; this makes it even much less so now.

To be honest, there are some good parts added to make this a worthy celebration of a cult traditional. A picture gallery and music participant present additional content material to dabble with. There are additionally a number of methods to play: the unique sport, an enhanced model with “smarter” CPU characters, and a tough mode. You may also swap between video modes to recreate a traditional CRT look. The very best factor about this version is a rewind function, which helps appropriate errors as you play. This enhanced remaster is one of the simplest ways to play the sport.

Sadly, none of that counters the truth that the sport itself is fundamental and bland. There are “humorous” moments involving scantily-clad girls, which could enchantment to followers of the supply materials. However working and gunning has by no means felt so uninteresting. Enemies spawn in odd locations; one enemy spawns in entrance of a door as you exit, that means I used to be immediately hit whereas popping out. And it occurred each time I attempted. 

It’s additionally repetitive, with flooring after flooring of comparable enemies and encounters. Each door and part appears the identical, so it’s straightforward to get misplaced. A map can be useful. On the plus aspect, you may select to start out from any of the three chapters. A brief intro offers context for the mission, nevertheless it’s onerous to care. Particularly whenever you attain the tip and the boss simply .. vanishes. I used to be whisked again to the primary menu, left puzzled as to what had occurred.

General, Metropolis Hunter was a mediocre sport in 1990, and it’s nonetheless mediocre in 2026. Just a few additional options might present a kick for hardcore followers, however that is an underwhelming expertise that’s not solely quick in runtime, however overpriced for the quantity of content material. Let me be clear: this one is strictly for the followers.