It is a cavalcade of joyous colour and onomatopoeic plips, splots and drips. It offers accuracy and control far beyond the usual “map the mouse to the right stick” shit we’ve put up with as console gamers for years with its combination of gamepad gyroscope, touchscreen and dual sticks. It welcomes new players by being just about the most inclusive ‘hardcore’ title to date by ranking players by territorial contribution rather than kills, frags or ‘splats’. It forces you to learn its claustrophobic yet intricate stages through its ‘regular arena’ setup whereby you explore a pair of maps at a time until they make sense both tactically and aesthetically. Its fair and measured levelling system ensures that every rank up is a treat by introducing weapon after weapon, each of which changes fundamentally the rhythm with which you must approach battle. Its single player portion is an unfettered joy, riffing on arcade hits and remaining utterly refreshing in the face of Call of Duty’s yearly faux-bombastic drudge. Its Amiibo support is tangible and rewarding, and feels like content added rather than content cut (a feeling bolstered by the fact the game itself can be had for a paltry twenty five quid). It looks better than every other shooter on the market because it runs at a searing 60 frames per second due to Nintendo’s enduring belief that anti-aliasing and unnecessary ‘filmic’ post-processing can get to fuck if it hinders a game’s core response. Voice chat is non-existent as Nintendo took a leaf out of the Sumptuous Journey’s book and rightfully decided that screaming adolescents would make even a team-centric family friendly game like this utterly toxic. Its developers have pledged regular free content to gradually allow the game to build and grow alongside its player base. Miiverse integration is a beautiful thing with drawings, puns, and excited single line reviews littering the lobby area of the game, highlighting how there is still hope for positivity in mainstream gaming.