Review: Ruffy and the Riverside (Nintendo Switch)

Ruffy and the Riverside is a 3D platformer for the Nintendo Switch. If you like your retro gaming set squarely in the polygonal times of the late ‘90s, then this throwback will be right up your alley.

The game follows the adventures of Ruffy, a bear on a quest to save his homeland from a dark entity known as Groll. Along the way, he meets many varied characters, all of whom are brimming with personality. There’s a lot of dialogue to get through initially, but the set up is promising as Ruffy begins his journey through various lands to chase Groll down, and save the world.

Graphically, Ruffy and the Riverside sports a retro 3D look reminiscent of the Nintendo 64 era. This is a relatively rare style for new games, so fans will have an absolute field day. It successfully thrusts the player back into the glory days of the ‘90s visually, while providing a few new tricks to keep it feeling fresh.

Despite the blocky, 3D look of the game, Ruffy himself is 2D. It’s a little like Paper Mario found himself in Mario 64’s world. It works well enough, with cute designs. There’s a deliberate throwback to the games of yesteryear that you’ll either love or hate. I found Ruffy’s constant bobbing up and down during character interactions a little distracting, personally, but it’s all in good fun, and the developers have done a great job recreating that old-school vibe. 

As with any platformer worth its weight in salt, Ruffy needs a gimmick to set gameplay apart from every other hero. And Ruffy delivers, sporting a special power that allows him to copy the texture of surrounding objects and use it to change other areas. It’s a copy-and-paste mechanic, really. For example, a waterfall can be transformed into long, green vines, making the cliffside accessible. Metal could become wood. You get the idea. It’s a creative way to play that opens the path for plenty of puzzles and collectibles.

The characters are interesting in a scruffy kind of way, though the enemies are a little on the underwhelming side in their design. There’s a slight performance issue, too, with some framerate drops and general sluggishness in certain sections of the game. This is present when playing on the Switch 2, also. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s not optimized as well as it could be.

Overall, Ruffy and the Riverside is a retro-inspired 3D romp full of color and creativity. Its appeal is mainly in its retro style, though the texture-swapping ability is a unique concept that adds an interesting flair. It’s not going to appeal to everyone, but the decent story and satisfying gameplay make up for the slight performance issues.