Smash Bros. is weird. Nintendo's fighting mashup drew the masses in with the promise of seeing what would happen if Yoshi were to get really upset with Kirby. Hardcore fans developed a splinter scene, where ultra-competitive players stripped the game to its essence – no items, Final Destination...

When Angry Mob Games' Brawlout was first revealed to the public, it received comparisons left, right, and centre to the Super Smash Bros. series, and it's easy to see why. Now the game has landed on the Nintendo Switch, and we've been playing both at home and when we've been out and about.

Brawlout's core action is a lot of fun; with a huge amount of ideas inspired by genre greats such as Super Smash Bros., the action feels tight, fast, and can be a pleasure to play.

Brawlout is currently the only Smash Bros. Alternative, and Angry Mob Games built a solid foundation on which to grow from, to keep this momentum going forward, the studio will need to support their game post-launch with updates, tweaks and balancing patches.

Fun; frantic gameplay; Creates a unique experience similar to Smash Bros; Guest roster features great cameos

Single-player AI is far too simple

Brawlout follows in the footsteps of the Super Smash Bros. series, featuring intense platform fighting. Originally starting out on the PC, and still in Early Access, a full release on the Nintendo Switch seems rather dubious.

With all these enhanced Switch ports we're getting, you'd imagine that fans are clamoring for a Smash 4 port or sequel. While we're still a ways away from even an announcement for a new Smash, in the meantime we have Angry Mob Games' Brawlout, which is a fun little clone that will appeal to...

Quick and frantic gameplay that's deep and accessible; Rage and no-blocking mechanics set it aside from other fighters; Unique and varied initial roster

...That's unfortunately padded by variants; Unnecessary grinding for unlockables; Some performance issues that can hamper enjoyment