Ruffy and the Riverside Switch Review

Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 

For me, the golden age of platforming will always be the Nintendo 64 era. It started with Super Mario 64, then Banjo-Kazooie joined the fray, and before long, the genre exploded with all kinds of imaginative worlds and mascots. While Yooka-Laylee gave us a more modern taste of that era, Ruffy and the Riverside by Zockrates Laboratories aims to take us right back, this time with a charming 2D/3D platforming adventure and a clever twist: the ability to swap textures in the environment to solve puzzles and uncover secrets. What’s It Like? Put on your cowl, swap out your games, and get ready to revisit the golden era of platformers as we dive into Ruffy and the Riverside for Nintendo Switch 1 and 2.

A Lighthearted Quest in a Living Painting

This review is based primarily on the original Nintendo Switch, with performance notes for Switch 2 covered later.

Ruffy and the Riverside starts you in a rather precarious situation, giving you some exposition before flashing back to where it all began. You play as Ruffy, a fuzzy bear-like creature who works a humble day job swapping paintings around the town of Riverside. But after a mysterious event shakes the town, Ruffy is revealed to be the chosen one, destined to restore the world’s balance by recovering the scattered letters of “Riverside” and putting things right. To do this, he will employ his texture-swapping powers to alter the world around him during his epic quest. The story leans into whimsy, with a self-aware tone and a world full of personality. Nearly all the characters are presented in a charming, hand-drawn 2D style that pops beautifully against the 3D environments, and it’s a look that immediately sets the game apart. The cast is memorable and quirky, though their enthusiasm sometimes leads to a bit too much chatter. While I appreciated the writing’s light touch, I often found myself skipping through dialogue just to get back to the platforming. Still, the story provides a cheerful framework for your adventure, and it’s clear the developers had fun with it.

Puzzling Through a Painted World

Ruffy and the Riverside is first and foremost a puzzle-platformer, and it plays to that strength with confidence. Rather than relying on combat to fill space, the game focuses on exploration, clever traversal, and inventive problem-solving, with minimal moments of combat. Movement feels smooth and satisfying and Ruffy’s basic toolkit, including a double jump and hover ability, makes getting around a breeze, with tight, responsive controls. Whether you’re leaping across moving platforms or gliding through vertical spaces, traversal is consistently enjoyable. At the heart of the experience is the texture-swapping mechanic. With the tap of a button, you can copy certain materials in the world and paste them over another, turning water into ice, for instance, or metal into wood, to solve puzzles and open new paths. Some uses are straightforward, like making boxes float by changing them from metal to wood, while others had me properly scratching my head. Thankfully, the game never leaves you stuck for long. Helpful NPCs are often nearby to offer clues or even solve puzzles for you, which makes the experience more accessible without diluting the challenge. One of these lifesaving moments came during a bottle-collecting side quest on one of the islands, a clever mix of exploration and puzzle logic that genuinely had me stumped until I turned to an NPC for guidance. It’s this kind of layered design, where curiosity is encouraged yet help is never far off, that makes Ruffy and the Riverside such a pleasant and rewarding game to play.

A N64 Throwback with a Hand-Drawn Heart

Ruffy and the Riverside wears its influences proudly, and even sometimes cleverly nods to it with easter eggs, delivering a world that looks like it was plucked straight out of the Nintendo 64 era, and I mean that as a compliment. The low-poly 3D environments are chunky, colorful, and charming, giving everything a playful retro energy. But it’s the hand-drawn 2D characters layered into that world that give the game its unique personality. Ruffy himself is especially expressive, with detailed animations that bring him to life, even if he can be a little on the noisy side. The blend of styles brings to mind Paper Mario, but to call it a clone would miss what makes Ruffy feel fresh. There’s a flickering, storybook-like quality to the hand-drawn art that makes the characters pop off the screen, and the hybrid presentation does a great job selling the game’s sense of wonder. Visually, the engine pulls its weight too. Environmental clues are clear, especially when it comes to the texture-swapping mechanic. One standout moment involved surfing across a lake on an ice comet, watching the surface around you freeze in a perfect radius. It’s equal parts functional and flashy, and always feels consistent with the game’s world.

A Tale of Two Switches

When it comes to performance, Ruffy and the Riverside tells two different stories depending on which Switch you’re playing on. On the original Nintendo Switch, the game holds up well overall, but there are noticeable stutters when loading into new areas or moving quickly through the world. It’s never game-breaking, but it is noticeable, on the Switch 2, however, those issues are gone. The game runs much more smoothly, with quicker transitions and a more stable overall experience. The upgraded hardware helps bring out the best in Ruffy’s vibrant world, making it feel just that little bit more polished. During my playthrough, I didn’t encounter any game-breaking bugs or crashes on either system, which, for a game with the texture swapping mechanics complexity, is worth noting.

At $30 AUD Ruffy and the Riverside provides a charming adventure and a unique experience worth the price of entry. The story will take “Ruffly” 6 hours to complete, but completionists will see more value due to the game’s collectathon nature. For my Riverside residents looking into accessibility, there are a few camera sensitivity and adjustment options, but no additional accessibility features to speak of, so as always, I recommend further research into finding out if Ruffy and the Riverside suits your needs.

A Love Letter to Platformers, with a Twist

Ruffy and the Riverside doesn’t just rely on nostalgia to make an impact, it understands what made that golden era of platformers so special. With tight controls, a wonderfully quirky world, and a central mechanic that’s both clever and satisfying, Ruffy’s adventure feels like something pulled from the N64 days and polished just enough to work today. Sure, the dialogue runs a little long in places, and the performance on the original Switch isn’t perfect. But none of that gets in the way of what makes the game so enjoyable. It’s playful, inventive, and above all, charming. It’s a game that feels like it was made by people who genuinely love the genre. If you’re someone who grew up on bear and bird duos, moustachioed plumbers, or slippery geckos, Ruffy and the Riverside will feel like coming home.

So, What’s It Like? Ruffy and the riverside is like Paper Mario, crossed with Banjo-Kazooie.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by the publisher but this doesn’t influence my score.

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