Splatoon Raiders

Splatoon Raiders may be missing the series’ iconic Turf War, but what we have here is possibly the most variable and exciting game the series has ever offered. Regardless of your skill level or personal play styles, the game is able to cater to practically any taste, and all whilst delivering one of the most enjoyable gameplay loops on the console. It looks good, runs fantastically, and you can play practically the whole thing with friends if you wish. Not only that, but Nintendo’s flogging it for a bargain price. It may not push any boundaries within the genre per se, but it’s difficult to find anything negative to say about it, it really is a must-play for almost anyone.

Splatoon Raiders is such a fun action platformer that it's really hard to put down, especially as you keep unlocking new features and gadgets that make the incredibly entertaining combat even more personal and engaging. Plus, it's so stylish that you'll feel cool just for playing it.

As far as experiments go, Splatoon Raiders is certainly successful at bringing something new and different to the table. It's a game that revels in its freedom from competitive play, offering new perspectives and concepts that recontextualise classic Splatoon gameplay into something that feels both familiar and fresh. While it does wear thin towards the end of its runtime, it never fully runs out of gas, offering a presentational leap for Nintendo that bodes well for the future of the Switch 2.

Splatoon Raiders isn't the definitive story mode fans have been chasing for years, but it’s honestly more fun and ambitious than it needed to be. The gadget system is one of the freshest ideas the series has ever seen, the bosses remain memorable and the presentation is a remarkable leap in quality for Nintendo. It lacks a narrative that matches its mechanical ambition, as well as some trimming down of the repetition in its final hours, but as a first attempt at bringing Inkling ink into loot-and-explore territory, it proves to be a winning formula, one that deserves further exploration from Nintendo's creative minds.

Splatoon Raiders does exactly what Splatoon has always done: deliver instant fun in a colorful shooting festival. Your reflexes and understanding of the mechanics are constantly put to the test in an ingeniously simple design that celebrates Nintendo’s philosophies, as interpreted here by its newest generation.