I must admit that Mutant Mudds has been on my gaming do-list list for quite some time. I have looked at it many times in the eShop and passed it up only to now realize that not having played this series has been a mistake. It’s a good thing I started here, as the Mutant Mudds Collection consists of Mutant Mudds, Mutant Mudds Super Challenge, and the new Mudd Blocks. Better late than never I suppose.

Mutant Mudds looks like it fits in somewhere within the 8-bit to 16-bit era. As I began playing, I almost instantly found myself lost in the game. The protagonist Max sets out to protect his planet from Mudds. I loved being able to jump between the foreground and background of the game. It certainly added a needed change to the normal linear platformers I grew up with. Max is only armed with a water cannon and a jetpack both of which are upgradable. In addition, upgrades can be bought by collecting diamonds that are littered throughout each stage. For those who adore retro style platformers and charming fun, well, then Mutant Mudds shouldn’t feel all too unfamiliar.  

Mutant Mudds Super Challenge is essentially what it says it is: a super challenge. It really isn’t another Mutant Mudds with a fresh coat of paint but more of a platformer for the highly skilled. I enjoyed my time with Super Challenge; however, I died a lot (more than usual) and each stage it counted how many times I perished. At first, with my death toll rising, I began to feel frustrated. After completing a level I would feel the need to go back and try not to die as many times which added some nice replay value.

Much like the great platformers of the 8-bit and 16-bit era, one of my favorite things about this collection is that Mutant Mudds also has its own action puzzler in the form of Mudd Blocks. Whether or not the developer had this in mind when making the game, it is still an amazing touch and makes for a fun game. I could honestly recommend buying the collection for this game alone.

Image result for Mudd blocks switch

The gameplay in Mudd Blocks is quite simple, as you will have to deal with Mudds rising from the bottom of the screen in multiple colors. Max is on a platform above where he is throwing Mudds of different colors on top of the rising Mudds. If the rising hit the platform that Max is standing on, well, then it’s game over. Occasionally, Max will throw a water balloon, which will wash away the Mudds that it touches. If players link together Mudds of the same color they will also wash away. There are also power-up red boxes with arrows pointing from left to right or up to down. Dropping a water balloon on the red boxes will cause the line to clear away according to the directions of the arrows on the blocks. Using the power-ups correctly can cause some decent combinations that clear away Mudds. There is also a timed water bomb that will clear away more Mudds than a normal water balloon. But be careful if you are still holding said item when the timer goes off or else it is game over.

Mudd Blocks comes complete with multiple modes such as two-player versus, co-op, rescue mode,three-minute mode, and numbers mode. Two-player versus is where players go head-to-head against each other for the best score. Two-player co-op has you working together to try and raise as high of a score as possible. Rescue mode has Max, who is stuck  in a cage among the rising Mudds. You must rescue him by dropping water balloons on the cage to try to help him escape. In three-minute mode, players have a time limit of (obviously) three minutes to try to get a high score. In numbers mode, players are tasked with trying to clear the special numbers pieces in order.

One final interesting thing about Mudd Blocks is that if you are playing in handheld mode you can opt to hold the screen vertical. Playing vertically allows you to take up the entire Switch tablet as opposed to having it horizontally which has a smaller playing screen.

My time spent playing Mutant Mudds collection has been overwhelmingly positive. The collection offers a great mix of fun platforming at different levels of difficulty. Having all three games in one collection is certainly a great plus. If you get frustrated playing one game you can always take a break and switch (no pun intended) to the other.  Even if you have played one game or the other, it is certainly worth checking out the collection if just for Mudd Blocks.