Review: Oxyjet (Nintendo Switch)

I didn’t get a good first impression from Oxyjet. The menus are bland, and the online mode is plagued with issues. However, when playing locally I discovered that there was much fun to be had… though it comes at a price.

Oxyjet is a multiplayer game where you try to be the last spaceship floating. You propel your ship by making holes in the sides of it, which you can quickly fix if need be. You battle another ship, aiming to be the last one with oxygen, which is lost primarily by not being in the center circle of the game space, though you also lose some from holes. I found that the concept played out very well, and I really enjoyed battling for the center. The fun is further increased with power-ups (like a shockwave, or rocket boost), environmental hazards (lasers, missiles), and the fact that ramming your opponent can create holes in their ship.

The game supports up to four players, two on each ship with one making and one filling holes, but I found playing one on one to be much more fun. You get to control both making and filling, and there’s no one to bump into in the small ship. Oxyjet supports both local and online multiplayer, however in my experience online was barely functional, and fellow colleague Trev and I couldn’t get the friend mode to work at all. A patch is definitely needed. Offline single-player isn’t an option as there’s no CPU to play against, which I found really unfortunate.

In the end, I really enjoyed my time spent playing local 1 vs 1, and plan on coming back for more. The biggest problem I have with Oxyjet is its exorbitant price of $14.99. There isn’t enough there for the money, especially with online the way it is. If it was a more reasonable price, I would wholeheartedly recommend it, flaws and all, because it is really fun. If it goes on sale cheap, and you have someone to play with, go for it.