There aren’t many times where I don’t sing the praises of the Nintendo Switch, and the same is going to happen here. Albeit not in the form of praise for its power, prowess or its stellar first-party line-up, but more for the fact it is helping me catch up with some games that I have missed on other consoles.
The Switch is the perfect platform for smaller, indie games new or old and it’s great to see so much support for the little guys out there by Nintendo.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Switch Review
Such a title that I missed back in 2013 was Max: The Curse of Brotherhood. Not through ignorance or purpose, it was just something that I never picked up at the time, much like many indie games I must ashamedly concede that launched around this time.
So, Max has had his time already on other platforms, including this generation and the last generation of consoles, not to mention PC. Now, though, is his time to shine for Nintendo…
The Curse of Brotherhood starts with Max squabbling with his younger brother Felix – much like anyone else did when they had another sibling. Rooting through his toys and making an almighty mess, Max puts a curse on Felix that he found on the internet in an attempt to make him disappear.
Somehow it works and both Felix and Max get pulled through a wormhole into another creepy and bizarre universe where Felix has been kidnapped and Max must rescue his brother.
Permanent Marker
The game plays out across your typical 2D platformer landscape with you having to navigate Max over obstacles and dodge enemies to move onto the next area.
Sadly Max didn’t come well-equipped for this task beyond having a permanent marker in his possession when he came through the wormhole. After meeting an old lady who has magic power, she grants his marker the ability to manipulate certain parts of the terrain to Max’s advantage.
This allows the Switch to show off its multiple inputs by having you control Max with the thumbsticks on the Joy-Cons but allowing you to use the marker by using the touchscreen display.
It’s simple, and makes perfect sense, as I imagine most people will play the game in handheld mode – as I did for the duration of my time before writing this review.
The game also looks very shiny on the console and runs smoothly, but it does also show its age sometimes, with the textures and reliance on the same mechanics throughout.
There are also a couple of issues with the detection when jumping and input for the marker pen which can result in you repeating certain sections.
But, for a five-year-old game, this does not detract from the title and it is to be expected that it won’t be as ‘shiny’ as if it were launched today.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is the perfect game for the Switch. It’s a game you can pick up and play at any point and makes use of the Switch’s portability and touchscreen. In fact, if you ask me, playing games like this is one of the biggest selling points for the Switch.