Review: Under Defeat (Nintendo Switch)

Dreamcast was my first "arcade at home" console, bringing Crazy Taxi, House of the Dead 2, Sega Rally 2 and more through a VGA adapter to a crisp and clear screen. Boy, what a view! Until the PS2 took over the show. 

Long after those crazy days in 2006, Under Defeat popped up as a sign the Dreamcast was still beloved by owners, and a keen target for enthusiastic developers. As a Naomi arcade port by G.Rev, it was pretty easy to get it running on Dreamcast, but outside the community, it hardly made a dent despite many further ports across the generations. 

But don't let that put you off. Hitting the Switch, another console approaching the end of its life, now is a good time to check out a pure 2000s shoot 'em up in full auto-fire action. 

Under Defeat instantly feels familiar with rows of tanks rumbling into view, following the likes of Raiden and many other classic shooters from the 80/90s, but presented in stylish 3D. 

The original mode's tall perspective is a bit squinty in undocked mode, but wide-screen options give things a modern feel, with a New Order Mode+ for added challenge. Other updates include new music and online leaderboards. 

So Under Defeat is a retro-modern-retro-retro game? Whatever, it is lots of kinetic fun, in a landscape packed with details and enemies, and the major challenge of added angled fire from your tilting helicopter gunship.  

Stop firing and you can adjust your aim, left, ahead or right. then blast the enemies as they come at you from the sides. All while watching land, sea and air for new enemies, getting larger and nastier as your chopper skittles through each level. Survival often feels down to more luck that judgement, but its still great fun to wade into battle, whatever your power-up status.  

As with most classic shooters, Under Defeat requires a fair amount of muscle memory and pattern recognition, especially with converging fire. And if you forget the angling technique, or get it wrong, you're toast. And then there's the gorgeous voluminous smoke that can obscure live targets, leading to nasty surprises. 

Fortunately, there's plenty of continues, life options and other modes to keep players busy. Unfortunately, Under Defeat isn't as silky smooth as I'd like, with the odd lag and delay in transition, especially when you take a hit. Tiny annoyances, but still there. 

And the whole UI feels slightly weird, you collect power-ups but what do they do? Some hint would be cool. And what does the name "Under Defeat" mean anyway? The slightest bit of descriptive help across the whole package would be welcome. 

Developer: Take Off

Publisher: Clear River Games

Review code provided 

Score 4/5

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