Dash & Swing Review

Dash & Swing is a fast-paced action platformer developed by Innominatum Digital. You play as a ball, and your goal is to make it to the end, using a combination of dashes and a grappling hook to navigate the levels. It is, however, much easier said than done, as even in the first world, I was getting to a high number of deaths, but more on that later.

Let’s talk about the presentation. It goes for a neon-punk sort of style with glowing lights and graffiti that also doubles as guides to where your ball should go. It’s not overtly distracting for me, but you can turn off all the glowing and the screen shake in the options menu. However, what I enjoyed the most was the music. The selection is pretty good, with multiple “radio stations” with options to fit any mood, ranging from lo-fi beats to dash and swing to good ol’ rock and roll. Heck, you can actually input your own music, and the game will react to the beats. Who knew listening to “I Don’t Know What We’re Talking About” by Ninja Sex Party would be so enjoyable while raging at your poor reaction times!

Onto gameplay. There are only two controls: dash and swing. You can only dash three times in a row before you need to deal with a cooldown and you can only hook onto the nearest hookable object, indicated either by a little pink indicator on the ball or that object losing its glow. Despite its simplicity, it provides a real challenge throughout the levels, as even in World 1, I was struggling on certain levels. You really do have to time your dashes and swings in order to get to the end, and that’s not mentioning the record times. Beating those unlocks special customisation items to make your ball a little more unique. I recommend using a controller to control your dashes a little more. It definitely helps.

As for the levels themselves, the obstacles and objects seem sort of scattered around, but there is a method to the madness. There’s a sort of freedom in figuring out your path to the goal, and while there is an intended way, there are some hidden paths and tricks to help lower that completion time by seconds. Really cool stuff, but I do see people getting confused and lost on what to do, at least at first glance. I didn’t like that the timer starts automatically, though. I wanted to stop and study the level when I could, but the game encouraged you to just go for it.

To be honest, I really don’t have a lot to say about this game other than it is a good platformer to test your skills in. I do wish there was a level skip button because, after 50 or so deaths, you’ll want to move on. The game runs perfectly, and I didn’t find any bugs. If you want something simple that really challenges your skills, Dash & Swing is recommended.