One of my favorite things of the Switch generation is seeing many older games see re-releases on Nintendo’s hybrid system. This is through remasters, remakes, retro collections, or what Japanese developer M2 does. While we’ve seen many ports or retro collections using emulation, M2 is the master of bringing older games to modern platforms. I’ve enjoyed the developer’s M2 ShotTriggers lineup quite a bit, but I also like checking out other releases from it. When Rainmaker Productions announced Assault Suits Valken Declassified for Nintendo Switch, I was interested in playing it as someone who enjoys mecha games but had never heard of this before. When M2 was confirmed to be handling the release, I knew I had to play it to do an Assault Suits Valken Declassified Switch review.
Having now played Assault Suits Valken Declassified over the last few weeks alongside M2’s other releases like G Darius HD and Hishou Same! Same! Same! on Switch, the former is one of M2’s more basic releases. Even a standard M2 release is still massively improved over most developers though, but given the asking price of $24.99 for this single game, I was hoping for a bit more. That’s basically my main complaint with Assault Suits Valken Declassified as a newcomer. It does a great job of bringing Assault Suits Valken to a modern audience on the best platform for games like this, but I wanted a bit more.
Assault Suits Valken is a blend of shoot ’em ups and mecha action games. You take control of a Valken with surprisingly good movement across very detailed levels for the time. It was originally localized as Cybernator, which I didn’t know about until looking into Assault Suits Valken Declassified following its reveal. Cybernator had a lot of aspects cut from the original including translation issues. Assault Suits Valken Declassified, brings the original complete game to the West, and is the definitive version of Assault Suits Valken with a plethora of extras including a translated guidebook, two soundtrack options, new art, and interviews in addition to a few useful emulation options like save states, filters, and more.
Having never played it before, it took me a bit to get used to the controls. I tried a few of the options including gun settings to find one I was comfortable with. Beyond that, Assault Suits Valken is a lot of fun. Whenever I end up enjoying a retro game like this, I regret not checking it out sooner, but it is hard to say if I’d like it as much without having access to save states if the game in question is difficult. If you’re interested in Assault Suits Valken based on its gameplay and enjoy mecha games, this is an easy recommendation.
In terms of extras, the image gallery on the menu lets you view images from the manual, CD booklet, guidebook, and a separate gallery of art. You can zoom in and out or hide the menu, but screenshots are blocked on a system level in most of the extras in Assault Suits Valken Declassified so keep that in mind. The soundtrack lets you listen to the original score and an arranged version. The movie gallery in Assault Suits Valken Declassified is a highlight because it includes interviews with Satoshi Nakai about the mecha design here, his thoughts on the game, its popularity, his career, and more.
I’m glad M2 was the one handling Assault Suits Valken Declassified, but it feels a bit lacking compared to the developer’s other re-issues on modern platforms. I still enjoyed my time with it as someone who never played it, and retro mecha action game fans will find a lot to like here. Hopefully my review of Assault Suits Valken Declassified Switch helped you decide if this classic mecha action game is worth your time.
