Having never had the pleasure of reveling in the adventures of Epic Dumpster Bear in its Wii U incarnation, I’ll admit to being a bit perplexed by it. Considering even then its looks were pushing bad, now closing in on a full decade later they’re actively awful, though I suppose that could be part of the joke? Similarly, the opening montage and story that chronicles his rise from being a mere forest-dweller, compelled to action by the destruction of his habitat, also felt forced… like something that may have been amusing at one time but whose shelf life has passed.

In terms of the gameplay, on the one hand I’d like to call it a precision platformer, but given the style of its control that feels like an inaccurate description. The hope and expectation, especially the further you go, is to exhibit as much control as possible in order to be precise, but with the rapid acceleration in your movement, surfaces that you’ll slide on being all over, and not the most refined feel in your control in jumping around, that’s a challenge. Your goals at least remain pretty simple outside of survival and that’s to try to collect coins, as well as the special red ones in each stage if you’d like to work a little harder to find and get them.

Aside from what I’d consider to be its dated looks and sense of humor, as well as the controls being a bit on the fast and loose side, I’d say I still have other concerns. Much of the level design feels rudimentary at best, either bland and forgettable, or simply a reflection of other inspirations. Yes, the flow of how you’ll move through the stages may be distinctive, but the layouts and placement of things like the secrets often feel like you’re going through the motions. The experience is just missing a creative spark or sign of inspiration, and that leaves the game’s humor feeling like the crutch that’s instead intended to prop up the entire affair.

While I have no doubts that there will be those who’ve had exposure to this Dumpster Bear of legend may gravitate towards the opportunity for some nostalgic feels, I’m uncertain what the value proposition is for just about anything else. Granted, I’ve played loads of indie games and thoroughly understand that looks aren’t everything, but to clear that hurdle successfully you really need to be demonstrating other qualities that help you to overlook the shortcomings. In my eyes, I’m just not sure what that’s supposed to be given the wealth of budget-friendly options out there on the Switch already. Perhaps in the tragic Wii U era, when the eShop was still in its relative infancy, Epic Dumpster Bear was able to make a name for itself given the general lack of competition. Late in the Switch generation, when there are more games being released in an average week than the Wii U could see in more than a month, the world has changed… and this is a title that failed to correct for that fact.