Nearly there.
UPDATE 1/15/2026: A patch was released later in the day after we issued our previous update. Patch 1.0.2 significantly improves frame rates in select large hub areas on the original Switch. Some stability issues remain as of this patch.
UPDATE 1/14/2026: A score has been assigned based on version 1.0.1. Substantial stability issues persist on both Switch and Switch 2 that may impact your ability to complete the game and significant performance issues are present on Switch 1. While the underlying game is excellent, unfortunately too many technical issues exist with the Switch release to recommend playing it on that platform. While the performance issues are largely addressed by playing on Switch 2, stability issues remain, particularly at the very end of the game.
Original review text:
Now and then I review a game where assigning a review score proves incredibly difficult. Big Hops is visually charming, endlessly creative, and boasts a surprising amount of mechanical complexity. Unfortunately, it also has some pretty difficult to ignore stability issues on Switch that are only somewhat mitigated on Switch 2. I have been informed by the developer that they are actively working on what will hopefully be a launch day patch, but I can only really review the version of the game I’ve been given. For that reason, I’m leaving my review unscored for a day which will ideally give me time to test the patch and provide a more accurate score.
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In Big Hops, you play as a frog named Hop. After being separated from your sister you wander into a strange shrine where you are whisked away to an alternate dimension called The Void. Here you meet Diss, a strange being with unclear motives. Ultimately Diss sets Hop on a path through multiple distant lands as Hop struggles between finding a way home and uncovering what Diss wants from him. While I never felt the overall story truly paid off in an interesting way, individual characters in each region were compelling. Every line of dialogue is fully voice acted and the cast includes some surprisingly great talent such as Steve Blum (Spike Spiegel), Kirk Thornton (Shadow the Hedgehog), and Giselle Fernandez (Princess Daisy). The voice direction for some of the smaller secondary characters is a bit hit and miss but each area always has a few legitimately compelling characters.
Hop’s core move-set feels heavily influenced by Super Mario Odyssey, but with a lot of originality stacked on top. As a frog, Hop can use his tongue to grapple and freely swing, zip to certain points, pick up objects, and otherwise interact with the environment. He’s able to climb on vertical or even fully inverted surfaces at the cost of stamina which can be extended by eating bugs. Each area also hosts a variety of throwable vegetables that can do things like generate bounce pads, sticky points on walls, or even zero gravity bubbles. Big Hops places a heavy focus on complex platforming and momentum, but allows the player room to experiment. Hop has a backpack so you can carry vegetables from one area to another, and often find multiple solutions to most challenges. This is especially true of hidden challenge levels which require a much deeper grasp of various mechanics. In the entire game I only found one spot where a challenge forced me to solve a problem in a specific way despite a vegetable I had brought with me theoretically allowing for an alternate solution. I regularly had moments of completing an area and thinking “I don’t know if that’s what they expected me to do but it worked.”
Beyond a reasonably sized opening tutorial area, Big Hops consists of three massive environments that are each built around a self-contained series of quests. Your mysterious companion, Diss, will send you after Dark Drips, which he will exchange for upgrades. At the start you’ll only be able to equip two upgrades at a time, but by the end (assuming you’ve been seeking out challenge stages) you’ll be swimming in a wide variety of upgrades and plenty of slots. It is worth noting that the game doesn’t really force you to engage with its collectibles and makes these upgrades entirely optional. It also doesn’t flood you with Dark Drips, so I never really felt overpowered or like it was a chore to go get one when I saw an opportunity.
Big Hops is an extremely attractive looking game regardless of platform. There isn’t a dedicated Switch 2 version currently, but the Switch version played via backwards compatibility is an extremely smooth experience the vast majority of the time. I did notice a few times in larger areas where I could get some frame stutters, but I only found this impactful to gameplay in one late game section. Needless to say, these occasional hitches are significantly more noticeable on Switch and can be felt in several of the larger areas.
The one significant issue Big Hops faces on Switch and Switch 2 comes in the form of stability. When playing for an extended period of time I’d generally get a loading screen crash after a few hours. A solid autosave system meant this rarely hurt my actual progression but it was a mild annoyance. However, at the very end of the game during some fast-paced platforming challenges I began experiencing crashes with such regularity that I struggled to reach the credits. I wound up bouncing my save between both my Switch and Switch 2 as I found they would crash at different points, and I could leapfrog (no pun intended) around them by making use of both systems. I have reached out to the developer and been informed that they are aware of the issue and that a patch is incoming, hopefully at or around launch.
In the current pre-launch state in which I’m reviewing it, Big Hops bounces triumphantly up to the finish line before tripping on a pebble. With stability addressed I will have no doubt recommending this as an early contender for indie of 2026 on Switch and Switch 2. Until then, consider other platforms or double check that the launch day patch has hit. I’ll be checking back in on Big Hops with the hopes of giving it the positive score it deserves, very soon.
