Nothing is more important to me than my food being delivered hot, which means it should be delivered as quickly as possible. Although I’ve never attempted food delivery, my experience with Velocity Noodle has made me aware that the food may arrive cold, and rushing could lead to a potential car accident.
Despite having grown up playing 2D side-scrollers, I never expected to enjoy Velocity Noodle as much as I did. However, the combination of jumping, climbing, and sliding through levels in this speedrunner platform game had me captivated for hours on end. Once I started playing, I couldn’t stop until I finished, and I’m sure you’ll feel the same way: can we have more levels, please?
In Velocity Noodle, you play as a female noodle delivery person in a futuristic cyberpunk world. Your objective is to quickly deliver noodles while navigating through a variety of levels both above and underground, avoiding obstacles and dangerous cliff edges that can lead to your demise. You’ll also have to face the ADS, or Anti-Delivery Service, who are opposed to your delivery efforts and will try to defeat you with lasers and drones in challenging boss battles. While I found these boss levels to be both fun and difficult, there were times when I became frustrated
In addition to avoiding obstacles and enemies, you must also collect hidden chopsticks and earn trophies for completing levels within specific timeframes. There’s even a chance to interact with a cute dog!
Unlimited Replayability
Although Velocity Noodle is a relatively short game, it offers plenty of replay value as you strive to beat records and collect trophies. You can also unlock post-game levels, and I was impressed by how much more efficient and skilled I became after completing the game once.
One of the aspects I loved most about Velocity Noodle was its cyberpunk theme. The game’s simple graphics and bright colours, along with its hacker-inspired music, helped to create an immersive atmosphere that kept me engaged and motivated to dash through each level.
The game mechanics in Velocity Noodle are straightforward – you can jump over or slide under obstacles, and in certain levels, use features like elevators or bounce pads to quickly navigate through the environment. I appreciated that I could take a slower, more measured approach to each level, understanding its obstacles before attempting a speedrun for the trophies. Initially, I struggled to even collect Bronze trophies, but as I grew more accustomed to the game mechanics, I found myself zooming through, obtaining the Gold trophy variant.
What I appreciated most about Velocity Noodle was the length of the levels – they were never too long, with most Bronze trophies requiring completion in under 40 seconds. This made it easier to manage my frustrations when I failed a level, as I could quickly start again without feeling overwhelmed. That being said, some levels were challenging and required multiple attempts before completion. The boss levels, in particular, were tough, and I found myself restarting them countless times before finally succeeding. While these levels detracted somewhat from my overall enjoyment of the game, I believe that returning to previous levels to collect trophies can help players improve their skills and ultimately overcome the challenging bosses.
“Velocity Noodle is excellent value”
I played Velocity Noodle on the Nintendo Switch console and found that there were no noticeable differences in performance or quality compared to the PC version. The game ran smoothly on the console and was easy to use. However, I did experience some minor glitches where I got stuck in a wall or a click interaction didn’t work properly. But, I’ve seen the same feedback from PC users, so it’s probably unchanged. These glitches didn’t cause any significant issues or detract from my enjoyment of the game. I did find the slide control a little challenging on the controller, but there was an alternate control that made it easier. This issue was also noted by PC users, so it’s not specific to the Nintendo Switch.
At $12.99 USD, I think Velocity Noodle is an excellent value for a game that provides hours of fun. Overall, I highly recommend this fast-paced and enjoyable platformer with unique challenges and obstacles. You can take your time or speedrun through the levels, and none of them are too long. In my opinion, the Nintendo Switch is a great console for playing this game, and I recommend giving it a try as a change from PC.
*Disclaimer: Reviewed on Nintendo Switch; code was provided by the publisher.
