This game was originally covered as part of our Nindie Round Up series that sought to give coverage to a wider breadth of Switch eShop games beyond our standard reviews. In an effort to make our impressions easier to find, we're presenting the original text below in our mini-review format.

A standard arcade shoot-a-thon, The Bug Butcher has you slaying hordes of ugly enemies resembling rejected Pokémon designs within a time limit, allowing you to take only a few hits. It’s standard wave-based fare, though the lack of an option to shoot horizontally as well as vertically is a bit of a surprise when you first boot up. After a few minutes of play, however, you’ll get the hang of it and find a simple shooter that grows appropriately harder as you progress and the hordes get increasingly larger, bigger, and tougher. You’re of course armed with an array of power-ups which are generously dispensed, especially on easier difficulties.

A particular joy is getting the laser beam that shoots straight up, allowing for a quick sweep of the room. After a certain number of kills, you’ll be rewarded with a brief 'God' mode, bestowing invincibility and a faster strain of fire upon you. The Butcher also has a sweet dash at his disposal, which can be useful for tight spots.

The game modes are split into three sections, with the section dubbed 'Arcade Mode' strangely acting as the main story. The other two modes are what you’d commonly refer to as an 'arcade' mode, here dubbed Panic Mode. It essentially has you fighting waves with no context, instead inviting you to make your way through a variety of different stages. The third is Panic Mode again, but with co-op, which is pretty much unchanged from the base mode, except with two players.

Presentation-wise, it’s okay, but not great. The art style harkens to Saturday morning cartoons, but the alien designs are bland and unoriginal. It’s also jarring how the enemies are generic aliens/monsters rather than resembling the titular bugs. The sarcastic dialogue between the Butcher and the Scientist gives our protagonist a little more personality and the Animal Crossing-inspired chibi sounds they make in place of words render it that bit more amusing. Overall, The Bug Butcher is enjoyable but forgettable.