Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
Fast, fun puzzler's only real flaw is fishy controls.
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is an action/puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS game systems. Players set out on a quest to save their land from oppression through the mastery of the lost art of "Sushido," battling by throwing stacks of empty sushi plates at their opponents and using various magic powers to boost their abilities. The game has a simple premise, but the controls can take some time to get used to, especially when you're using a controller instead of the touchscreen. The game has scenes of mild, cartoonish violence, with some characters shown visibly hurt, but there's no blood or gore. And some female characters are shown in revealing outfits with exaggerated physical proportions.
Community Reviews
An underrated Switch game, great for anime and puzzle fans
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What’s It About?
SUSHI STRIKER: THE WAY OF SUSHIDO is a game in which sushi isn't just a tasty bit of food but a truly magical dish. This is a world without fish, in which sushi is conjured up by mystical creatures dubbed "Sushi Sprites" -- and where the desire for sushi led to an epic war that decimated the land. Players take on the role of Musashi, a young child whose parents disappeared during the Sushi Struggle war. After a fateful encounter with Jinrai, a powerful Sushi Sprite, it's discovered that Musashi has the potential to learn the Way of Sushido, defeat the Empire, and bring the joy of sushi to all. Players join the fray by chowing down on plates of sushi and attacking opponents with their stacks of empty plates. You'll have to move quickly to match multiple plates of the same color and use your arsenal of Sushi Sprite powers to gain the upper hand in fast-paced food fights. You can defeat the Empire in the game's single-player story mode or test your Sushido skills against friends in both local and online multiplayer.
Is It Any Good?
Most kids are told repeatedly not to play with their food, but leave it to Nintendo to find a way to fly in the face of that advice and turn food fighting into a martial art. And if duking it out at a sushi buffet that's magically conjured out of thin air seems strange to you, that barely scratches the surface of the absurdity that Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido has to offer. If you try to make sense of the game, you're just going to get more and more confused. From its premise to its characters, Sushi Striker is so unapologetically over the top that you just have to roll with it.
As crazy and fun as Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido's premise might be, the gameplay is where things get a bit "fishy." There's so much happening on the screen that it can be hard to keep track of what you need. It can also be difficult to follow the action and see which plates are certain colors until you commit to a chain. It's even more frustrating if you're using a controller versus the touchscreen. The game was originally announced as a 3DS exclusive, and it shows. It's much easier to slide a stylus or finger across the screen and tap icons to activate special abilities than it is to use the joystick to move a cursor around the screen. It's still a lot of fun to play, but if you don't stick with the touch controls, you're adding a whole new layer of complications to an otherwise fantastic experience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the violence in Sushi Striker acceptable because it's cartoonish in nature?
What are some positive ways to make new friends? How can a person you've had conflict with before potentially become a friend later? How can you improve your communication skills to strengthen friendships?
What are some ways to encourage kids to try new/different types of food? Why is it important to maintain a good, well-balanced diet?
Game Details
- Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Release date: June 8, 2018
- Genre: Puzzle
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Sports and Martial Arts, Adventures, Friendship
- ESRB rating: E for Mild Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Theme
- Last updated: December 18, 2021
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