While the genre got off to a pretty slow start on the Switch, over the years I’ve been pleased with how well-represented beat-em-ups have been overall. Granted, it would always be nice to see more, but the quality of the top-tier titles in the space is truly impressive. Normally, making a statement like that has been a setup for how high that has made the bar of excellence, and how difficult it is to then make a name for yourself with a new and unknown title out of the blue. Thankfully though, in the case of Big Helmet Heroes, it more than makes a case to be counted near the top of the pile.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the game has its own distinctive visual style that helps it to stand out, and helps to make it feel more fresh. Rather than going down the classic 2D route, BHH has you moving around in a 3D space that both looks great and even allows for more creative design. In particular, by changing the camera from an isometric view to one that’s overhead, some sections are able to take on a completely different feel and help keep feelings of repetition at bay. The fact that there are so many different heroes, most of which play with very different feels, that you’ll continue to discover and rescue is also a big plus. Ranging from play styles that are big and beefy to extremely quick, almost to the point that they can be hard to keep up with in some cases, there are plenty of opportunities to find your signature style or simply enjoy regularly changing things up for fun.

If that was all there was to crow about, it would already be a good time, but when you start to look at the moment-to-moment play and fun, the picture continues to improve. I don’t make this statement lightly, but overall it actually feels a lot like Castle Crashers in its approach, just throwing crazy attacks, animations, and weird enemies at you. Pick-ups are more than plentiful (almost too much so) and varied, and more often than not the action feels like controlled chaos, but that can also be a real blast, and it also further makes the style of play feel distinctive. Perhaps you could make a case that it trends towards being too easy overall, but aside from being able to select from 3 different difficulty levels I found that if you get out of your groove, things can quickly go south on you as well.

In the end, this all comes together to make for an extremely fresh, fun, and satisfying beat-em-up that distinguishes itself from its peers with its own look and style. While it has beats that could have been inspired by classics in the space, it hasn’t hesitated to simply do things its own way as well. While you won’t be able to enjoy it with up to 3 of your friends, you can at least party up with 1 good one, and honestly that makes for plenty of on-screen chaos as it is. If you’re a genre fan, I’d consider picking this up a no-brainer, but it should still have plenty of appeal for just about anyone who likes well-made games.