Game Freak’s Giga Wrecker headed to the Switch as Giga Wrecker Alt.

Game Freak is mostly know for their work on the Pokémon series (which makes up the vast majority of their output), but that’s not the only games they always work on. They have released many games completely unrelated to Pokémon across the years, such as Drill Dozer on GameBoy Advance or HarmoKnight on Nintendo 3DS. And later this year, another original game will be released on Nintendo Switch: Giga Wrecker Alt.!

It was originally released on Steam as Giga Wrecker, and came to life thanks to Game Freak’s “Gear Project” program, where developers can come up with their own original ideas for games. If their idea gets the OK, then its development can start in earnest.

Giga Wrecker Alt. is a 2D action/adventure/metroidvania where the players can bring down walls, and then use the rubble as a platform for navigating the various levels. It offers a refreshing mix or platforms and physics, served with music by the ony and only Shinji Hosoe.

Here’s the debut trailer:

Giga Wrecker Alt. will feature additional content not found in the original version on Steam, such as 20 additional stages, a new companion character, and even a super hard mode for players looking for a challenge.

Here’s the list of new feautres and content:

– Twenty brand-new puzzle stages added to the game’s Campaign mode
– New non-playable secondary character that assists players with more difficult puzzles/challenges if they become stuck for a period of time
– A new hardcore ‘Ironman’ mode that increases the damage to 5 times greater impact than normal mode.
– Overhaul of the original localization to enhance the user experience
– Italian and Traditional Chinese languages added for a total of 11 in-game languages (Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese)

And here’s some more details about the game itself:

GIGA WRECKER Alt. establishes a 2D world for navigating platforms and solving increasingly challenging puzzles as players progress to unearth the mysteries of a sudden invasion that left the world in ruins. As players explore, they’ll use the abilities of Reika – that game’s main protagonist – to destroy and reconstruct their surroundings for solving each puzzle and fighting back against the invaders.

GIGA WRECKER Alt. is a mixture of exploration and physics where players can bring down towering walls and then use the rubble as a platform for navigating each level. Reika has a power known as ARCHE (Arms Creating and Handling Effect) that allows her to construct various weapons from rubble and scrap. This ability helps her create and navigate platforms, beat traps, and destroy enemies. Of course, there’s also the ability to crush enemies with falling objects as well.

Giga Wrecker Alt. will be released later this year on the Nintendo eShop, worldwide (including Japan). Rising Star Games (the publisher for the console version of the game) even partnered with Limited Run Games in order to offer a physical version.

Here’s what the Nintendo Switch boxart looks like:

Giga Wrecker Alt. (Switch) comes out later this year worldwide. The Upcoming Games page has been updated!

Source: Rising Star Games PR