Sushi Striker
Sushi Striker
Nintendo's puzzling sushi comedy
The dual screen era of Nintendo, the DS, 3DS, and Wii U, was one that opened the door to many new styles of gameplay. Even just the convenience of being able to put menus on their own screen so you don’t need to pull them up led to a distinct flow of gameplay. Sushi Striker was among the last of the dual screen era Nintendo games, releasing on both the 3DS and Switch, but I definitely feel I made the right choice going with the 3DS version, as it feels like a decent send off to that era.
The Story
This game’s story is just outright absurd in a really fun way. Fish do not exist in the world of Sushi Striker, instead sushi is made by magical Sushi Sprites, compete with plates. The Empire and the Republic had a war called the Sushi Struggles over if sushi should be shared freely or kept to only a select few despite being a literal infinite resource conjured from thin air. Naturally since this is backstory the empire won. The titular Sushi Strikers are people who fight by eating sushi, which seems to be the only form of combat in this world.
At the start the player character, an orphan in the now occupied Republic, hates sushi because their parents died in the Sushi Struggles. After getting one bite they become obsessed with sushi. Unfortunately the wandering Sushi Striker who gave them sushi gets captured by the Empire, so the player character forms a pact with a Sushi Sprite to fight back against the Empire and share sushi with the whole world.
It’s the sort of story where even at moments where the plot gets a little dramatic it tends to still be hilarious due to the premise. The blatant Char/Darth Vader clone fights the same way as anyone else, by eating sushi. One boss is given the title of ‘Sushi Heretic’ with complete seriousness after the horrifying reveal that he throws away the rice that comes with his sushi. Prisoners are tortured by being force fed wasabi nonstop. It loops around to being even funnier because it’s taken seriously.
Of course most of the time the game is in full comedy mode. One of the Empire’s generals is an adult fully grown woman who calls herself ‘pwincess,’ accompanied by a simp butler army that goes along with it. Most of the time the player character is playing the straight man to comical one off enemies.
This is a game that is deeply silly and owns it, keeping up the sushi theming all the way no matter how absurd it gets. My main complaint is that some questions in the plot are rather clearly left unanswered in the end, where what I thought was building up to something led to nothing. It feels like they were leaving things open for a sequel, but in a way where things could end there and it’d mostly be fine aside from still wondering what the fuck was up with that weird guy.
The basics of gameplay
In terms of gameplay, Sushi Striker is a puzzle game about eating sushi by lining up plates of the same color and then throwing the empty plates at your opponent until their health reaches zero. The sushi comes across the screen on three rows of constantly moving conveyor belts, so you have to eat and stack before they pass by. Thankfully on most stages the central lane goes in the opposite direction of the top and bottom, which will lead to same colored plates lining up.
Stacks of plates are thrown automatically once you have more than five ready, but you can also throw them manually. Throwing stacks of the same color one after the other will make a combo, with more damage if taller stacks start the combo, so you want to use manual throws to optimize damage. There’s also a ranking of plate colors by strength and rarity, with less frequently appearing colors being more powerful.
The speed of the conveyor belts can be increased by selecting a plate and staying still. With increased speed it can become harder to stack up the plates, but you also have the potential for larger stacks by jumping back and forth between lanes.
Once you’ve eaten enough sushi, a Sushi Bonanza will start. While it lasts plates come in at least pairs of the same color, plates of higher quality start appearing, and stacks you throw will inflict more damage. This is when you want to go all out, but with the limited time you need to balance making stacks of more powerful plates versus throwing all your stacks while they get the damage boost.
However, your opponent will also be eating sushi from their own lanes and throwing plates at you. When enemy plates hit, they can knock some plates off of your own prepared stacks. They have their own Sushi Bonanza gauge as well.
There’s also another interaction with your enemy. You actually have access to four lanes, the fourth being the shared lane that both you and your opponent can use. Using the shared lane to build up a stack can be risky if your opponent grabs the plate of sushi you were counting on first, but you can just as easily deny them openings to use it.
If you get a stack of seven more plates a glowing plate that can go with any other plate will appear. You can’t use it to change colors mid stack, but any stacks, including a glowing plate won’t be lessened by enemy attacks. And when thrown a glowing stack will combo with whatever comes before and after it. You want to make and get glowing plates whenever you can, there’s no downside to them.
On the 3DS your lanes and the shared lane are on the bottom screen, while your opponent and their lanes are on the top screen. You can tell the game was made with the 3DS in mind with how naturally things divide between the screens. Lining up the sushi with a stylus also gives the game a more intuitive feel. That’s why I suggest playing the 3DS version rather than the Switch, even if the 3DS version no longer has online multiplayer.
Surprise it’s also a monster collector
Where the game creates a lot of variety is with the Sushi Sprites. These are creatures you can equip up to three of before a stage who let you use their skill during a stage once you eat enough sushi. Some skills create sweets that heal you, others put obstacles in enemy lanes, and a large list of other effects. And enemies can use these Sushi Sprites as well.
Most importantly, Sushi Sprites contribute their stats to yours. There are only two stats, health and attack, whose functions are rather self explanatory.
As you use a Sushi Sprite it will level up, letting you use higher tiers of plates and eventually transforming into a stronger form. By the end of the game the upper tiers of plates become a regular part of your strategy while at the start they were impossible to get.
Getting new Sushi Sprites can be annoying however. You can get new ones by doing well on stages where they appear on the enemy team, but it comes down to chance both in even getting one and then which one joins you. And having multiple of a Sushi Sprite join you is how you make their skills stronger. I did not bother with the skill increase grind and just used items for boosting skills instead.
You go from one stage to the next by moving to it on the world map. While stages are unlocked in a linear order, you’re free to go back and replay past stages, upgrade your Sushi Sprites, or play optional bonus stages if you unlocked them, before taking on the next one.
Bonus stages are unlocked by completing enough of the three optional objectives in each stage. Some optional objectives are about clearing quickly or making a tall enough stack, but others require you to use a certain Sushi Sprite or withhold from using a certain mechanic.
The bonus stages are naturally much harder than what precedes them. At times I had to put doing them on hold until I got further in the game and had leveled up more. Completing them however rewards you with a unique Sushi Sprite that has a powerful ability, like being able to stack plates that have obstacles between them.
I’d suggest playing the game in short bursts, since it’s the same core gameplay throughout and easy to pick up and put down between stages. But, I got so into it that it wasn’t how I played.
In general Sushi Striker caught me off guard with how much I liked it. Nintendo has no shortage of hidden gems once you look past the familiar franchise labels, and this is one of them.