Game Review: Aces of the Luftwaffe (Switch)

The German Luftwaffe conquers New York City – sounds like an alternate timeline scenario?! It’s the plot of the dramatic 2D shooting game “Aces of the Luftwaffe”!

“Aces of the Luftwaffe” was produced by the German developer studio “HandyGames™”. Handy is the German word for smartphone – but does the game feel like an smartphone game? Yes and no – “HandyGames™” makes lots of mobile games for Android and iOS, but “Aces of the Luftwaffe” is optimized for the Switch – you don’t want to miss “real” buttons to control the action on the screen!

But what to do? You play through 25 stages, every fifth stage is a boss battle. And you get a goal in every stage – kill all enemies, survive, save your companions or creep up on the enemy’s base. It offers more variety that it shows on the first view!

And before you start you can choose between three difficulty levels – from normal to very hard. So it is a game for everyone, for the casual players up to the advanced shooting pros.
Does it look good? Sound good? Yes, the soundtrack is epic, but the graphics are not better than on a smartphone. OK, when you are deep into action you don’t care about but you don’t have to expect great optics like in Super Mario Odyssey or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But – the action is fantastic and this is what counts ultimately!

Before I started the game I thought “OK, it will be a solid port from a smartphone game”, but the longer I played the more I enjoyed it. It is not on a level with the great shooting classics like Ikaruga or Parodius, but it is a very good and unique –Luftwaffe, c’mon– 2D shooting game everyone should look at who likes this genre. It seems a little bit overpriced, but when you look on the whole package, the price is fair. You can experience 3-10 hours full of great shooting action!

And an achievement system and a coop mode make the package more and more interesting!

If you search for a game you can play everywhere, that doesn’t need the best graphics and if you are interested in dramatic and great shooting action, don’t look any further. Go to the eShop and give it a try!

The Good

+ Great shooting action
+ Nice soundtrack
+ Achievement system
+ Challenging
+ Co-op mode

The Bad

– Looks like a smartphone game

Soup Verdict: This soup is not a sludge, it’s hot and clear! It doesn’t look like a superb meal, but it tastes goooooood! Give it a try!

A review code was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.