Trifox (Switch)

Trifox is a Twin-Stick shooter developed by Glowfish Interactive and follows a fox through his adventures through several worlds as he tries to get his TV remote back from a cast of evil villains. The game released 14^th October 2022 for PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox.

The story of the game has a pretty basic premise. Pirates attack you in your home and blow up your TV and steal its remote. The rest of the game is you travelling through each of the games worlds and defeating the enemies as you try to get your TV remote back. The game is pretty light on story with most of the story being told through TV screens in the hub world without much to flesh out the games characters. This isn’t all bad though as the game is really focused on the gameplay aspect and lets the story take a backseat. However, I would have liked to have seen the characters have proper dialogue to create more charming characters like the 3D platformers the game pays homage to.  

The game plays out as a twin-stick shooter with some platforming and light puzzle solving elements. There are 3 worlds with 3 levels and a 4^th boss level each along with a final level, this makes for a fairly short game for a casual playthrough with some extra time thrown in if you decide to hunt down the hidden gems scattered throughout the levels. These levels mostly follow a similar gameplay loop of travel through the level, fight enemies and fight a miniboss or boss at the end.

The combat of the game is where it truly shines. The game has 3 classes to choose from: Engineer, Warrior and Mage. Each of these classes has their own unique skills to unlock and use. Each class also has their own movement ability. For example, Mages can blink a short distance while Engineers can use a backpack mounted helicopter to fly across gaps. These three classes all feel unique with varied sets of abilities that match their theming fantastically. Some highlights are the engineers flamethrower turrets and the mages shard bombs. The game also doesn’t force you to commit to one class which means you can mix and match abilities from different classes to make your perfect loadout for each level. The combat itself is fun with the abilities allowing you to get through the level with whatever playstyle you want to.

The game throws wave after wave of enemies at you in some sections so its definitely worth trying out as many abilities as you can to keep the combat from feeling repetitive. The boss fights are particularly fun with them requiring you to destroy the bosses defences before you get a chance to damage them directly. Overall, the gameplay of the game is definitely fun and the classes abilities keep the game fresh throughout its short runtime. However, the game is definitely short and could have benefitted from an extra world or two.

The games art style is fantastic with vibrant colours that ooze charm and remind me of classic 3D platformers like Crash Bandicoot in the best way. The visual design of each world is also great and each feel like a totally different world from the beaches and jungles of world 1 to the deserts of world 2. Attacks and abilities also look great with them adding a distinct chaos to the environments with enemies and weapons all over the place.

The games visual style is arguably the game’s greatest strength with its striking visuals being a great selling point. The music of the game also complements the visuals well and really adds to the games light-hearted tone and wouldn’t feel out of placed compared to the soundtracks of classic 3D platformers. Overall, the games presentation is fantastic and its cartoony art style and upbeat soundtrack make for a fitting tribute to what the developers call the golden age of 3D platformers.

Overall, despite its short length and lacklustre story, Trifox is an incredibly charming game with fantastic visuals and fun combat to back it up that is able to keep itself fresh throughout the games runtime. The game is definitely worth a look for fans of twin-stick shooters seeking a game that’s full of charm.