This is a tough game to review because of how simple it is, but being simple isn’t necessarily a bad thing….

Javier

Big Crown Showdown is a party game which you can play with 4 people locally or online (And I think a mix of both) – The aim is to collect 20 crowns before your opponents, but how do you do this? There are various race courses with obstacles along the way, and you need to get to the end with as many lives as possible; each life retained at the end of the course counts as a crown, towards your 20… That’s it! Now the fun comes in as you can punch each other off the course as you race, and you also have a shield to rebound your opponents off the track… And this is kind of it! The game is pretty minimal and is provided as a party game, kind of like the Play Link games where you can just jump on for some quick fun with mates and have a laugh. To give you an idea of how small it is I earned 47% of the trophies in an hour..!

So what do I actually think of it? Well, it is definitely a fun game and I think it’d be a great couch game, especially if you can get 4 of you, and there is some degree of skill as you can time your punches and blocks to not fall of the track… But it’s hard to review it properly as it’s just a basic party game, which it does well. I’ve definitely enjoyed it more than ‘Knowledge is Power’ or ‘That’s You’ for example, and I can imagine it being a perfect Switch game. When I first started playing it, I thought that I wasn’t really going to enjoy it, but after I’d played a couple of the tracks and courses, the competitive element kicked in and I didn’t want to lose. It reminds me of an older generation of video games where you just played for fun, and is definitely something I’ll keep installed so I can pop it on for some easy fun.

The game’s crowns add another fun element as you can buy new hats with coins you can collect during the race course to slightly change your appearance – Collecting these can add a bit more challenge if you’re looking for it as you can easily get punched off when picking them up during the race; I also like that the camera moves by itself, meaning that you can’t stay in 1 place for long, and it’s also just 1 camera – No split screen, which really adds to the couch play feel.

This game is only £10, so it’s definitely worth it as I can imagine you’d play it lot with mates; I’m already starting to think of ways to turn it into a drinking game!

At the moment I sit at a 7, and it’s definitely worth the £10 price tag.

7.0 / 10

Mikey

Simple is not always a bad thing, and Big Crown Showdown proves that. This 4 player party game is undoubtedly a lot of fun, and a lot of that is thanks to its easy pick up and play mechanics. Whether you are playing online or local, this is a great game for bringing you together with friends and family. Maybe the biggest appeal of this game is that its simplistic nature of run, jump, block and punch means that anybody can pick this up within seconds; this works out great if you are a gamer who is wanting to play with your family, as anyone from your grandmother to a toddler could play this game.

In my experience, the game ran with no issues at all and that is no surprise given its simplistic yet effective graphical design – Online play was extremely responsive, though it’s worth pointing out that I never experienced online play with all 4 players on the map.

The levels that I have encountered have all been extremely fun with bright and colourful designs; each one brings on a new set of obstacles and challenges to think about while remembering to try stay ahead of your fellow competitors, who are desperately trying to one up you. I think it’s a testament to my enjoyment of Big Crown Showdown that I was disappointed to find that there was only 15 levels to play through, as you’ll find yourself coming across repeat levels in no time at all as you fly through each map in quick succession.

The only real drawback is that outside of the quick match and create-a-game options, there’s not a lot going on. Throughout the game you’ll come across chests containing coins that you can collect to buy swag, but unfortunately the only real customisation you can do is change up your helmet, and even then it won’t take you too long to unlock them all. Even in-game you are assigned your character’s colour depending on if you are player 1,2,3 or 4.

Also, gamers looking for a story with this should look elsewhere. Even though the game opens with a quick fun cartoonish cutscene, that’s about where this story ends.  

Sure, this isn’t a massive game with a ton of things to do, and you are unlikely to ever play it for more than an hour at a time, but Big Crown Showdown isn’t trying to be that. It wants to be a game you can throw on at a party with friends, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it achieves that.

I agree with you Javi; 7/10

7.0 / 10

If you want a bit more on how this game plays check out our stream here!