Review: Bridge Strike (Nintendo Switch)

Bridge Strike sat in our review queue for a while; apparently, our crew isn’t widely familiar with River Raid. That classic from Carol Shaw has aged better than most games that originated on Atari hardware. Bridge Strike draws its inspiration from 1982, but how does this attempt work in 2020?

I’m happy to say that if you’re looking for some “retro-fueled action,” Bridge Strike is entertaining, at least for a while. As with the game it’s paying homage to, repetition can be an issue, so this is a game best played for a few minutes at a time. The shooting action will have you destroying bridges, enemies, or both. Occasionally a mission will refreshingly change things up by focusing on coin collecting, for example. I wish these occurred with more frequency, but I’m grateful for what I can get.

I’m also grateful for the gentler challenge, for the most part. If only fuel wasn’t quite so plentiful. I rarely ran low and never ran out completely. Bridge Strike errs on the side of ease more often than not. Options upping the difficulty probably should’ve been added, but it’ll take a while to earn three medals across all missions, even in a smaller game like this.

It’ll also take you a while to buy new ships. The campaign mode lets you use collected coins to fill out your hangar with different vehicles to pilot. The campaign is where I spent most of my time. Raid, and an endless mode where you merely destroy as many bridges as you can, could have succeeded with local leaderboards, but there’s none. For a game that’s “polished with care and nostalgic love for the classic arcade games,” missing this arcade staple is curious, and makes this mode a bit pointless.

Graphically, the pixel art looks pretty good, though it can be hard to distinguish one mission from the next, at least visually speaking. Occasional weather, like rain, offers some pleasing diversity, and (similar to how I felt about the changes in mission structure), I wish I saw more of it. The enemies stick a little too close to the River Raid mold. I feel like, had Bridge Strike gone in more of a sci-fi direction, some alien threats would have provided a more diverse punch. Maybe for the sequel?

Bridge Strike delivers technically competent arcade action that fans of River Raid will appreciate. Repetition, lower difficulty, and no leaderboards in the endless mode combine to make it not as enjoyable as it could’ve been. But it still is a fun little game, one that has me hoping for a sci-fi sequel.