Ruffy and the Riverside

Ruffy and the Riverside is an enjoyable return to the colourful 3D platforming romps of the late 1990s, and it's one that brings its own clever idea to the table, rather than just simply copy/pasting everyone else's homework. With nods to Mario, Zelda, Crash Bandicoot and more, levels jam-packed full of fun puzzles and the easy, breezy nature of Ruffy's copy-pasting abilities at the heart of it all, this is one of the better odes to this sort of caper that I've played and, performance issues aside, a very impressive debut to boot.

Ruffy and the Riverside is a delightful adventure whose charm takes precedence over its jank and repetition. It performs well on Switch 2, which is where I reviewed the game, and has a lot of content for completionists to sink their teeth into. Some of the puzzles can be frustrating or obtuse, but the unique swapping mechanic makes for a fun departure compared to other 3D action-adventure experiences. It may be a bit Ruffy around the edges, but this Riverside is one that I was happy to dip my toes into.

Ruffy and the Riverside is an unbelievably fun and imaginative 3D adventure-puzzler. In some ways, it feels like it could have been a third Tomba! game due to its playful visual style that goes against the grain. Not everything works as intended, and it could use an extra pass of polish, but pound for pound, this is one of the more ingenious 3D platformers out there. If the developers can iron out some of the irregularities, Ruffy and the Riverside could be all it can be.

Ruffy and the Riverside is an adventure-platform that seems to have come straight out of the 64-bit golden age, but the “swap system” integrated into its gameplay manages to make it quite unique in its genre and to give life to truly unique and fun puzzle elements. The perhaps excessive “richness” of some levels makes orientation more difficult than it should be and some performance issues on Switch 2 (in backward compatibility) would require prompt intervention by the development team.

Ruffy and the Riverside takes us back to a time where the 3D platformer was king, controllers had three prongs, and analogue sticks were a new-fangled invention. There’s the same vibrancy and creativity here as classics like Banjo-Kazooie and Mario 64, cribbing a few of their tricks along the way while making something that still manages to feel fresh and unique.