


Fortunately, developer ThirtyThree Games allowed for this quick fix. This will allow you to grip the Switch more comfortably when an errant fire blast incinerates you and you consider wrenching your console into oblivion. What might help you is a switch from the default L/R button setup to a more ergonomic ZL/ZR system. This is an incredibly fast-paced game, and if you have twitchy fingers like myself, they will not help you here. Just before you can shut it down, you’re back at the start of the hallway, run gunning like a madman. You never get enough of a breath to commit to quitting. There’s no lull in the breakneck pace the game establishes. While frustrating, the game is incredibly forgiving, which honestly saved me from throwing my Switch across the room when hitting my twelfth or thirteenth attempt at a level taking a page from Super Mario Odyssey, you don’t have to worry about managing lives or continues. Stay ahead on the deadly side-scroll or you’ll be thrust back to the beginning of the challenge. Your gun is not just a rocket pack, but can also shoot barriers and baddies that stand in your way. Thankfully, you have some starter levels to get your run-gunning legs under you and figure out the pacing. You have two ways to move: run forward and fire your gun downwards to propel yourself into the air with the greatest of unease and clumsy timing. Running, rocketing, and gunning your way through spiked tunnels and countless rocket turrets covering your pathway with fiery death, ATOMIK: RunGunJumpGun is super addictive and just frustrating enough to have you saying, “Oh, just one more run then I’ll stop,” but you won’t. Each level will challenge your courage, patience, and soul, knowing that just a nanosecond of extra button pressure would have let you thread the needle and make your way to safety. The objective in this 8bit-inspired indie title is to reach the finish line of over 100 puzzles while collecting “atomiks,” swirling green collectibles dotting the landscape of beautiful retro-futuristic space hallways. ATOMIK: RunGunJumpGun brought me close to the edge, while also granting me countless opportunities to laugh at myself. I’ve only come close to rage-quitting a game once, and I don’t plan on doing so anytime soon.
