Power-ups are vital to your success, helping give agency on how the run will play out.

As enemies drop dead you’ll collect Rads, little green vials, which act as experience and upon collecting enough, will level up your character allowing you to select a mutation after the completion of the level.

Switching between weapons is done with a single press of the button, feeling seamless as you blast through hundreds of baddies. It controls similarly to most twin-stick shooters, taking aim with the right stick, movement with the left stick, and firing off rounds with R. This starts off relatively tame, keyword relatively, but quickly ramps up the challenge and only continues to push the envelope the closer you get to the main objective. The goal is to reach the Nuclear Throne itself, but in order to do so you’ll have to pass through a magnitude of levels, disposing of all the enemies along the way. Nuclear Throne is a true roguelike, meaning each attempt is unique from one another, presenting different level layouts as well as obtainable power-ups. The difficulty may scare off some, but for those willing to take a beating on the path to the throne, you’ll be in for a treat. This brutally tough top-down roguelike presents a wide range of variation between characters, weapons, and power-ups, making each run feel truly unique. These come in many different shapes and forms, but with the release of Nuclear Throne, there’s a new sheriff in town. The Switch certainly has no lack of roguelikes or twin-stick shooters, with some genuinely great offerings on the platform.

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