Nintendo Switch Critic Reviews

Itadaki Smash is a humble beat 'em up that pays homage to arcade games and is fun, despite its short length and lack of variety. It doesn't add anything new to the genre in terms of gameplay, but the enemies' design is fun, pretending to be Japanese dishes.

The core gameplay and design of Itadaki Smash make for a zippy beat 'em up, but the lack of extra servings may leave you wanting a bit more.

Itadaki Smash is a pretty decent beat 'em up. It has its problems, such as a not too interesting story, or boring graphics, but it entertained us. With different game modes, an acceptable local multiplayer and a very classic gameplay (although somewhat repetitive), the game is a good choice if you are looking for a new classic arcade game.

Itadaki Smash has some decent humour in places and can give you a few hours of slightly underwhelming fighting fun. But with so much better available out there, we would suggest looking elsewhere to get your belt scroller fix.

Itadaki Smash draws inspiration from classic side-scrolling beat'em ups and it does a good job at presenting different characters with their own characteristics and differentiated game modes, as well as a touch of humour. It does a less good job when it comes to its hit box, which needs to be better implemented, a rather simplistic visual world that doesn't quite captivate our senses, and an experience that overall feels lacking in profoundness.

Itadaki Smash isn't exactly the worst beat-'em-up on the Switch, but it gets close. The graphics are drab, with some bad-looking character models and mediocre animations. The humor is tiresome, and the lack of moves reveals the game's shallowness. The game is short, but the cumbersome saving combined with the overall instability makes it difficult to like. The Switch has a plethora of very good beat-'em-ups, both old and new, so there's no need to check out this offering.