Introduction

Next Up Hero arrives on Switch like a caffeinated mascot with a graveyard pass: bright, loud, and somehow comfortable making death part of the fun. Developed by Digital Continue (a studio started by a 5th Cell alum) and published by Aspyr, this is an action dungeon-crawler that leans hard into the idea that dying should not be the final insult but the start of a new friendship - or at least a slightly irritating AI sidekick. It launched on other formats earlier in 2018 and staggered onto the Switch eShop on August 16, 2018. If you like twin-stick action with isometric angles, a roster of weird heroes, and the kind of online trickery where your fallen buddies haunt you back into the fight, this is the tiny indie cocktail someone shook up in Unity and served with a paper umbrella.

Gameplay

At its core Next Up Hero is a twin-stick, isometric arcade romp where you pick from a cast of heroes, storm into randomized dungeons, and smush monsters until your thumbs file a formal complaint. The twist - and it truly is the game's party trick - is the "Echo" system. When your current hero bites it (which will happen, often and dramatically), the next incoming player can resurrect the corpse as an AI companion. That once-dead pal becomes an Echo: a ghostly bot that follows, fights, and sometimes dies heroically again so the never-ending cycle can continue. The developers describe the experience as "asynchronous co-op," which is fancy speak for "your friends' ghosts can help or sabotage you depending on how much effort they put into their loadouts." It's a neat little loop: high death turnover becomes a gameplay feature instead of a punishment. The game is built around server-hosted sessions, so it pushes you toward online play - you're meant to drop into other players' runs, leave your Echo behind, and generally be part of a communal murder chain. That social glue is brilliant in concept: cooperative chaos, emergent combos between living heroes and Echos, and the odd joy of seeing the person who just disconnected continue to flail through the level as a pixelated shade. But reality is less romantic when your connection craps out or when the online pool is thin. For solo players the game leaves an option for single-player, but Push Square's and other reviews point out that the online-only feel can keep the experience from being as accessible as it pretends to be - you might be hoping to play on a plane and end up conversing with the loading screen. Combat is fast and arcade-forward. Each hero has special abilities that change how you approach rooms: some are melee bruisers, others throw projectiles or handle crowd control. That variety is one of the game's strengths - there's genuine fun in testing combinations and discovering how Echos amplify your kit. Unfortunately, repetition creeps in. Map variety is serviceable but not earth-shattering, and the enemy types, while numerous, can loop into the same pattern after a few hours. Nintendo Life noted the charm of the cartoon art and the monster menagerie, but also flagged balancing and technical glitches. Those criticisms are fair: when balancing stumbles, certain heroes feel either too dominant or tragically undercooked, which makes the promised variety less meaningful. Technical issues were mentioned by critics as well, so expect the occasional hiccup - frame drops, matchmaking misbehaviour or the odd server tantrum. Progression is straightforward: clear rooms, gather loot, upgrade your heroes and unlock new ones. The loop scratches that sweet spot of "just one more run" for a while, particularly with friends. In public matches the chaos of strangers' Echos can produce hilarious moments - your mounted damage dealer might be a ghost riding a dead team's pet, and yes, it looks as ridiculous in motion as you'd imagine. But if you want a carefully balanced, story-driven dungeon crawl with a steady difficulty curve, Next Up Hero is not trying to be that; it's an arcade-first experience that treats failure like a resource. Whether that design pays off depends on how much patience you have for online eccentricities and repetitive level design.

Graphics

The art direction goes full cartoon: chunky, colourful characters, exaggerated enemy designs and a clear visual language that helps tell at a glance what is about to try to murder you. The blend of 2D and 3D with an orthographic, isometric camera works well on the Switch's screen - the visuals are legible during hectic fights and the monster variety genuinely impresses at first glance. Running in Unity, the game leans into stylised charm rather than technological showboating, which is fair - this isn't trying to be a Nintendo-level showcase, it's trying to be clear, readable and cheeky. On the downside, the Switch version sometimes reveals the game's indie shoestring: occasional frame pacing issues under intense on-screen action and a UI that feels tighter on larger screens than the handheld. Still, if you like your dungeon crawlers bright and cartoony instead of grim and preachy, this one delivers personality by the truckload.

Conclusion

Next Up Hero is an idea with pep: its Echo mechanic is clever, social and often hilarious. You'll have moments of genuine delight when a resurrected ally saves your hide, or when a stranger's Echo turns a grinding slog into a glorious cheese-fest. The problems are the kind that stick in your teeth: balancing that sometimes lets certain builds steamroll others, repetition that shows up after the novelty wears thin, and technical/online snags that can spoil the mood. Critics were mixed (Nintendo Life giving a lukewarm 5/10, Push Square a slightly kinder 6/10), and that feels accurate - this is a charming, occasionally brilliant indie with rough edges. If you want a lightweight, social arcade experience on the Switch and you've got friends (or a forgiving internet community), there's a lot to enjoy here. If you prefer polished single-player campaigns, tight balance and a drama-free matchmaking life, you might find yourself annoyed faster than an Echo dying to a slimesplosion. I'll hand it a 6/10: an inventive concept and fun bursts of action, held back by repetition and technical wobbliness. Play it for the laughs, stay for the echoes, and don't be surprised if you spend half your time dying spectacularly - that's kind of the point.

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