Given that The Binding of Isaac was both one of the first indie games I ever played, and one of the titles I played the hell out of in the early days of the Switch, I’ve been surprised at the lack of games at least attempting to crib its style. Perhaps some of this is out of respect for how well-made the original was, or the fact that its look, feel, and gross-out humor were so distinctive, but there have been very few titles that have chosen to swim in that lane since its release. While Deep Deep Deep Nightmare may do things a bit differently, there’s no question that it took some cues from this classic, at least to some degree.

Feeling like a mix of the oddball look and tone of Isaac, with elements far more reminiscent of a classic twin-stick arcade shooter, I’ll at least credit the title with showing determination to stand on its own. Rather than being limited (except for when you had specific power-ups) to the 4-axis shooting of Isaac, in this case you’ll thankfully have the power to shoot in all directions. Armed with up to 4 weapons that you’ll be able to switch between on the fly, and a short-but-effective dodge roll, you’ll need to survive hordes of enemies that will hit in old-school arcade-style waves.

Help will come in a small variety of ways with periodic health or ammo drops that will replenish you, a spinner that will appear to bring you either help or added harm every once in a while, and the ability to buy and then assign upgrades between runs using the currency you’ve collected. To some degree this will allow you to slowly customize your build, which is nice, but in general the core gameplay doesn’t change all that much other than introducing new enemies and challenging bosses as you continue to make deeper runs. The thing is, while it’s at least nice and performs well enough, I can’t say that it had any particular spark to it that got me excited. Given that there are numerous contemporaries that may not share this particular sense of style, but still deliver more consistent thrills and fun, that makes it tough to recommend with much enthusiasm.