You can never play one of the best games on Nintendo Switch

In the good old days, if you wanted to try out an obscure favorite game on the Game Boy or DS, it was just a case of tracking down a cartridge before taking it for a spin. Unfortunately, in our increasingly digital and online world, games can fall into the cracks of oblivion and find themselves without any way to play – and this is the case for Volta-X.

If you ask me, the Volta-X deserves to be counted as one of the two Best Switch strategy games And one of Best Switch Games Overall, but since it was only available on the Nintendo eShop and has since been deleted, it’s doomed to fall into the pit of obscurity. That’s too bad, because it had really unique (and very addictive) gameplay, and a very compelling story as well.

The premise of the game is basically Gundam meets Star Fox. You play as a young fox named Ian who has just become a Volta pilot. Volta are massive mechs, and the world’s anthropomorphic animals hold combat tournaments with them to ensure they are strong enough to fight off the larger alien invaders. Initially, you’re joined by an elephant named Sheldon and a monkey named Benny, but there are a slew of other pilots you can unlock as you make your way through the story.

While there are plenty of other games that see you controlling giant machines, I can’t think of another game that has you controlling a crew as they pilot one. So, for example, you can send someone to one arm to make sure they fire fist missiles at enemies, or you can send someone to the other arm where they can then trigger defenses that will protect them from other Voltas’ attacks. Or foreigners.

Each pilot has different strengths. For example, some of them are really slow-moving but are great at fixing things that get broken, so you might want to keep one like this in the most important area so you can keep your Volta’s most vital functions running smoothly. Others may move very quickly around the Volta River, but have a small amount of health, making them vulnerable to attacks.

During the battle, there is a lot to manage. You have three pilots in Volta at the same time, and you have to make sure that they keep everything running smoothly and that they repair any damage that may occur. At the same time, those pilots themselves can take damage, so if one of them is defeated, you’ll have the more difficult task of keeping everything running with just two pilots, or maybe even one.

I’ll admit that when I first started, it took a while to get the hang of it, but once I figured things out, it quickly became a game I played every day. There were so many pilot combinations and Volta components to choose from that you could really develop your own battle style, or find a unique way to deal with each enemy you encounter. Finding the right way to get rid of a really annoying boss was very satisfying.

It’s no surprise that it was also great, as it was developed by Gungho Entertainment. This studio will be familiar to a lot of people as it was the mastermind behind the most successful Puzzle & Dragons game. Although I have great respect for Puzzle & Dragons (or at least Puzzle and Dragons

The game also features a special appearance from beloved Playtonic Games icons, Yooka and Laylee. They were the focus of a side quest, where they arrived in the world of Volta-X to see if they could find anything to help them in their ongoing battles with Capital B. Honestly, their inclusion was what put Volta-X on my radar (I’m obsessed with all things Rare and Playtonic) and it’s sad to think that fans who are getting into the series for the first time with the upcoming Yooka-Replaylee won’t have the opportunity to come back and experience all of these things. The past adventures of the lizard and the bat.

Heck, even I can’t go back and reexperience Yooka and Laylee’s adventure in the world of Volta-X and still have the game installed on my Switch. In fact, I won’t be able to experience the majority of the game (just a mini-roguelike mode that gives you a random assortment of pilots and Volta parts to battle with) because for some reason, the single-player campaign requires you to be online, and now that the servers are gone, the game is barely playable.

I think Gungho was hoping to make one of these Best Switch Multiplayer Games With a thriving online scene, when it didn’t take off that way, Volta-X was torpedoed. It’s a shame, because I only briefly engaged in the online mode and got the most satisfaction from the story mode, which had detailed backstories for all the characters, different progression trees to develop them, and the perfect balance between humor and realism. Honesty in the story and dialogue – and now it’s all lost.

This bothers me partly because I feel like maybe Gungho could have done an update to make sure the main campaign would still be playable even after the servers shut down, but it’s also just a sad reminder of the ephemeral nature of modern gaming. When I started playing games as a kid in the 90s, it was easy for me to go back and experience the games of the previous decade by tracking down old copies. How many of the biggest games of our time will be completely lost in twenty years? And that’s not to mention more obscure games like Volta-X that are already fading from consciousness.

I have fond memories of playing this game in 2021 while recovering from coronavirus. Even though it was only three years ago, I’m completely nostalgic for it, but it’s the only game I’m nostalgic for that I’ll never be able to play again. After just one year, the game was removed from the eShop (and Steam, the only other platform it was available on) and a few months later, the servers were taken offline. So, unfortunately, if you haven’t already, you’ll never play one of my favorite Switch games.

For some classic games you can He can Still coming back to, read our listings for Best Game Boy Games and Best DS Games. They’re great – although if you ask me, they’re missing some key Donkey Kong gameplay.