Gotta eat them all! Salmon Roll!
Help Musashi end the Empire’s tyrannical monopoly of the world’s sushi supply by becoming a Sushi Striker! Devour conveyor-belt sushi, matching plates and sushi types to defeat any enemy or boss who stands between you and victory. Befriend Sushi Sprites and use their powerful skills in battle. Deliciously strategic action-RPG-puzzle battles await!
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is perhaps the craziest game from Nintendo in many years. The opening scene is a song that looks taken directly from the most bizarre anime you’ve seen and is actually quite catchy, I haven’t skipped it yet. The game itself sees you gather sushi sprites to use their skills in fights and this is where it gets even weirder…
Battles consist of lining up sushi bowls of the same colour within 7 seconds and using it against your foe. You can let go beforehand if you think you can’t make it match beforehand, or risk it all and maybe lose out on that attack. Finding the right balance is tricky but ultimately satisfying when you pull it off. The plot itself is just bizarre too with a whole war being fought over sushi and now an empire making it illegal to mention the word, let alone eat the stuff. On top of which, Sushi Sprites produce sushi out of thin air for even more randomness.
Cutscenes and dialogue is very anime, I’d say perhaps over the top anime but then again what anime isn’t? The visuals are a nice touch and fit with the crazy nature of the game and it looks pretty good in either handheld or docked mode. The voice-acting is typical of anime, as is the crazy intro song that I’ve already mentioned. Perhaps the gameplay is a little one-sided and repetitive, but it’s charming all the same and I seriously doubt you’ll play anything as bizarre anytime soon.
The Verdict
Sushi Striker is an odd choice of game from Nintendo, but odd is what they do best and this is no different. The madness of the story, characters and basic premise is one worthy of checking out.