Baseball Riot (Nintendo Switch) Indie One Shot

This week, I want to put some focus on a great indie dev company/team that I've gotten to experience quite a bit since I picked up my Switch. 10tons LTD. I've gotten to play a good amount of games since I've gotten the console, indie and AAA alike, but the ones I find myself coming back to and recommending the most in conversation, are the games from these guys. Yeah I've played a lot of Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, the "big league" titles. But, I've gone through and looked at my clocked game time for each game, and Tennis in the Face and Crimsonland, and they have more time spent in them than the big names.

Recently, I have amassed a bit of a back log for things I want to play and review, and a few items in that backlog are from 10tons, so lets give them a little dedication this week. Starting with...

 

Built in the same vein, this is actually a sequel to Tennis in the Face, featuring a new story, new character, and a few tweaks to the gameplay as well. Our baseball star, Gabe Carpaccio, takes a pitch to the knee "accidentally" and is forced into an early retirement where he opens up a sports equipment store. The nefarious Explodz corporation purchases Gabe's old team to further push their energy drink, and Gabe becomes enraged. After all, the pitcher who hit him does share a striking resemblance to the man from Explodz.

You'll guide Gabe on his rampage as he abandons his store and sets out to take down Explodz. All the levels are structured in the same way as they were with the previous game. Various enemies will be scattered around, forcing you to make use of walls, angles, and the physics of the game to wipe them all out. However, there's a couple changes to what you can do, one that can be extremely helpful, while the other drastically steps up the difficulty.

First, you now have the ability to earn extra balls to hit. Simply take down at least three enemies in a single hit, and the ball you used will be replaced in your inventory. A great ability, making it a lot easier to end the level with Golden Balls, which is the equivalent of the crowns in Tennis. This just means that you had extras left over once you completed the level, it serves mostly as a self-bragging point but there are some challenge lists in each of the areas you go to which involve having extra balls (okay that's weird to say but you get what I'm saying). 

But, there's also the addition of three golden stars added to each level. As in, physically in the level, not just stars you earn as a grade. You'll have to actually hit them and pick them up to earn them, all while taking out all the enemies on the level too.

 

So you start with three balls, and have to collect three stars as well as (using the above photo as an example) nine enemies. This is where you'll need to make use of the kill three ability, especially if you're aiming to finish every level with Golden Balls and not just passing. (I'm crazy, I'm aiming for Golden on every level).

I fell in love with Tennis in the Face, so when I got the opportunity to play Baseball Riot I knew it was going to happen all over again. A lot of the enemies are baseball themed too which is great. You'll have amateur players as your basic guys, and everyone else becomes an "enhanced" enemy. Umpires who must be attacked from behind, professional players who can stop your balls movement if it hits their glove. And once again, the amazing and hysterical ragdoll physics are back! 

Its a lot more challenging than Tennis in the Face. That one I was able to completely beat in a single day, however this time around, 10tons is really keeping my busy with this one. So if you got a chance to experience the last game, then you'll most certainly want to pick this one up. In addition to being recently released on the Switch, you can also play this game on Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, PC, and mobile devices. For $4.99, you certainly can't go wrong with this one.

Rating : 10/10

Developed and Published by : 10tons LTD