Dimension Drive (Nintendo Switch) Review

Dimension Drive fits comfortably into the vertical scrolling space shooter category that has been popularised by games like Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga and the timeless Xevious. Booting up Dimension Drive and jumping straight into the campaign mode will begin the tale of Jack, a female, who explains that the main antagonists, the Ashajuls, attacked planet Aidan and destroyed all of what existed there. As time passed, Jack has built a ship known as the Manticore equipped with its very own A.I named V.E.R.A. The first stage opens by explaining whilst even in another dimension the Ashajuls have tracked Jack down, and so the fight begins with her trusty AI partner (V.E.R.A) to take down the enemy.

Immediately, the player is introduced to the slightly obscure gameplay concept by being thrown directly into the action. Whilst Jack's ship travels vertically, the screen is split down the middle, creating two separate screens, which represent different dimensions. The Manticore will only be present on one side of the screen at once, either the left or the right, which is easily switched by pressing B. Each side of the screen poses a different set of enemies, obstacles, and collectibles to wade through, and it is recommended to switch between dimensions to defeat and collect everything that is in sight. Sticking to just one dimension is feasible but will significantly weaken the Manticore's power, which is automatically replenished when it is in the opposing dimension. Furthermore, as the game progresses there are certain obstacles and bosses that require switching between the dimensions.

Benefits to this set up are that when the action gets overwhelming in one dimension, then switching over to the other can somewhat ease the pressure, but teleporting without looking where the Manticore is going could end up in certain death. Instant death via teleportation is due to the layout and terrain being different between the screens, so jumping between dimensions can be risky, especially if the Manticore is going to be transported into the middle of a rock, or a wall. This concept is used to interesting effect in particular missions, which serve as a puzzle style obstacle course.

Progressing through the missions and collecting data cubes will unlock different weapons and manoeuvres for the Manticore, which can make later playthroughs less hectic, particularly the 'reverse drive,' which essentially turns the ship in reverse and slows down the vertical scrolling significantly by pressing X. The initial missions will start off somewhat easy but the difficulty soon spikes, which will lead to a high level of frustration, yet despite this Dimension Drive never feels unfair but, if anything, actually makes the player assume the fault. The pre-determined level layout allows for multiple play-throughs with a trial and error approach. Learning enemy and terrain placements might be the best way to progress through a difficult mission. Learning the terrain can be more frustrating than it looks as Dimension Drive doesn't make it abundantly clear what is in the background and what isn't, which can make the decision-making process of switching between dimensions harder to execute.

This aside, it shouldn't be overly taxing to learn the level layouts as Dimension Drive only spans across 12 missions, which shouldn't take the average person any longer than a couple of hours to breeze through. The high score perfectionists out there may spend longer honing their runs to bump their way up the online leaderboards that are present on each mission, or those with friends can play local co-operative in both docked and handheld mode, which can significantly help those struggling to defeat large waves of enemies.

Graphically, Dimension Drive holds up to others in the genre, with colourful lasers, bullets, and explosions all running at a smooth frame-rate, with no lag or slowdown. The story is told via a static comic book style cut-scene that is somewhat in contrast with the rest of the game; however, the differentiation between the two is never really jarring. The soundtrack is buzzing with great themes that are fit for purpose and gel well with the setting of a shoot 'em up, yet with that said, there aren't really any memorable themes that overly stand out.