{"id":136110,"date":"2026-02-18T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-197669"},"modified":"2026-02-18T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:00:00","slug":"missed-potential-or-a-campy-classic-switch-2-exclusive-tokyo-scramble-hasnt-been-a-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/02\/18\/missed-potential-or-a-campy-classic-switch-2-exclusive-tokyo-scramble-hasnt-been-a-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"Missed Potential Or A Campy Classic? Switch 2 Exclusive &#8216;Tokyo Scramble&#8217; Hasn&#8217;t Been A Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ccf0282ce8437\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ccf0282ce8437\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/ccf0282ce8437\/large.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube\" data-videoid=\"mK-NNwccy1g\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mK-NNwccy1g?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\">\n<p>[embedded content]<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Cast your minds back to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/guides\/nintendo-direct-partner-showcase-february-2026-every-announcement-game-reveal-trailer\">Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase<\/a> earlier this month. One of the most surprising games featured during the presentation was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch-2\/tokyo-scramble\">Tokyo Scramble<\/a>, a stealth-horror hybrid where you have to escape from dinosaur-esque creatures. And you can do so alone or with the help of friends via GameChat and GameShare.<\/p>\n<p>Not only was the announcement a surprise, but so was the release date \u2014 11th February 2026, just less than a week after the Direct. Well, that&#8217;s cool! Plus, the game was developed by one of the co-devs of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/ender_lilies_quietus_of_the_knights\">Ender Lilies<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/ender_magnolia_bloom_in_the_mist\">Ender Magnolia<\/a>. Sounds interesting, right?<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, just a week after release, it seems like people aren&#8217;t <em>too<\/em> hot on the game. We haven&#8217;t managed to check it out ourselves, but looking at reviews and discussion online, opinions range to &#8220;a neat experiment&#8221; to &#8220;campy&#8221; to &#8220;very rough&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>With only three critic reviews <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/game\/tokyo-scramble\/critic-reviews\/?platform=nintendo-switch-2\">on Metacritic<\/a> \u2014 all of which score the game at 5 or below \u2014 and an average score of <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/opencritic.com\/game\/20062\/tokyo-scramble\/reviews\">37 on OpenCritic<\/a> (after 11 reviews), Tokyo Scramble&#8217;s big reveal doesn&#8217;t seem to have paid off.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\"><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Images: Binary Haze Interactive<\/em><\/figcaption><\/aside>\n<p>Take <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/monstervine.com\/2026\/02\/tokyo-scramble-review\/\">Monster Vine&#8217;s Spencer Legacy&#8217;s thoughts<\/a> on the main gameplay element, for example: &#8220;The stealth mechanics that serve as the very core of Tokyo Scramble are more irritating than compelling, especially since you die in a single hit.&#8221; Technical issues and poor writing hampered what was otherwise a game with &#8220;some neat ideas&#8221;, with the outlet landing on a 2\/5 score.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/noisypixel.net\/tokyo-scramble-review\/\">Azario Lopez over at Noisy Pixel<\/a> similarly sees the potential, but says Tokyo Scramble takes the &#8220;campy moments&#8230; too far&#8221;. Again, mechanics, gameplay, and visual issues hinder the experience a lot, with Lopez concluding: &#8220;I respect the ambition behind trying something strange and new, especially for a fresh IP, but ambition alone doesn\u2019t carry a game this far&#8221;, scoring it a 4\/10.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not <em>all<\/em> bad, of course; <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendoblast.com.br\/2026\/02\/analise-tokyo-scramble-sobrevivencia-e-drama.html\">Fernando Lorde at Brazilian outlet Nintendo Blast<\/a> awarded the game a 7\/10, praising that ambition, while acknowledging that (translated via Google): &#8220;it feels like a melting pot of ideas and mechanics lost in a feverish teenage dream about relationships and subterranean monsters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Outside of reviews and the <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/casualnintendo\/comments\/1r23fnb\/so_i_bought_tokyo_scramble\/\">odd Reddit thread<\/a> about the game, online chatter seems pretty muted about the game overall. But the consensus seems to be that Tokyo Scramble is a swing and a miss for most, though if you like campy, ambitious experiences, you might find something to love.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\"><figcaption class=\"caption\"><em class=\"credit\"><span class><\/span> Images: Binary Haze Interactive<\/em><\/figcaption><\/aside>\n<p>Of course, we&#8217;re just going by what others have said, so we&#8217;d love to hear from any of you lovely readers who have actually played the game \u2014 or are even a little bit interested in it! Do you think Tokyo Scramble is a misunderstood gem? Perhaps the camp and clunk have won you over? Or are you disappointed you jumped in head-first?<\/p>\n<p>Vote in our polls below and let us know in the comments what you think of this unusual Switch 2 surprise!<\/p>\n<div id=\"poll-11526\" class=\"poll\" data-uri=\"polls\/have_you_picked_up_tokyo_scramble_on_switch_2\" data-id=\"11526\" data-question=\"Have you picked up Tokyo Scramble on Switch 2?\">\n<div class=\"results hidden\">\n<h3 data-toc=\"skip\">Have you picked up Tokyo Scramble on Switch 2? (481 votes)<\/h3>\n<ol class=\"poll-results many-results\">\n<li class=\"result first\"><strong class=\"answer\">Yes, I bought it day one and have beaten it<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"11 votes (2.3%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"2\"><span class=\"val\">2<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">Yep, already own it<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"19 votes (4%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"4\"><span class=\"val\">4<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">Not yet, but I&#8217;m considering it<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"89 votes (18.5%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"19\"><span class=\"val\">19<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">No, I&#8217;m waiting for a sale<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"98 votes (20.4%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"20\"><span class=\"val\">20<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">No, I don&#8217;t have a Switch 2<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"42 votes (8.7%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"9\"><span class=\"val\">9<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result last\"><strong class=\"answer\">Wait&#8230; what game?<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"222 votes (46.2%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"46\"><span class=\"val\">46<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"poll-11527\" class=\"poll\" data-uri=\"polls\/what_do_you_think_of_tokyo_scramble\" data-id=\"11527\" data-question=\"What do you think of Tokyo Scramble?\">\n<div class=\"results hidden\">\n<h3 data-toc=\"skip\">What do you think of Tokyo Scramble? (365 votes)<\/h3>\n<ol class=\"poll-results many-results\">\n<li class=\"result first\"><strong class=\"answer\">It&#8217;s a masterpiece, don&#8217;t listen to the hate!<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"8 votes (2.2%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"2\"><span class=\"val\">2<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">It&#8217;s solid! There are some good ideas<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"9 votes (2.5%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"2\"><span class=\"val\">2<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">It&#8217;s like a good low-budget horror, people are being too harsh<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"29 votes (8%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"8\"><span class=\"val\">8<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">It&#8217;s a mess, but I still love it<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"5 votes (1.4%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"1\"><span class=\"val\">1<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result\"><strong class=\"answer\">It&#8217;s awful, maybe the worst Switch 2 game yet<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"25 votes (6.9%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"7\"><span class=\"val\">7<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"result last\"><strong class=\"answer\">I haven&#8217;t played it but I still want to vote!<\/strong><span class=\"votes\"><span title=\"289 votes (79.2%)\"><span class=\"bar accent-bg has-votes\" data-value=\"79\"><span class=\"val\">79<\/span>%<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- cache: html:nintendolife.com\/ssl\/nintendo-switch-2\/related-articles:197043 @ 1771490433 --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"block object-related\"> <\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[embedded content] Cast your minds back to the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase earlier this month. One of the most surprising games featured during the presentation was Tokyo Scramble, a stealth-horror hybrid where you have to escape from dinosaur-esque creatures. And you can do so alone or with the help of friends via GameChat and GameShare. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}