How does New Star Manager handle the transfer to Switch?
Pretty bloody well, it must be said
New Star Manager landed on mobile late last year, and we loved it. I mean, seriously loved it. Harry gave it a perfect 10, for crying out loud. I've seen how many hours that man has put into the game. It is not unsubstantial, let's leave it there.
The game has now made the leap to Switch, and as a devout worshipper of Nintendo's console, I felt compelled to give it a go and see if Harry was right about how good it was, and if the move to console had made any major changes for better or worse.
He was right. It's bloody lovely.
I won't re-tread well-worn ground - if you want to know how good New Star Manager is, just read our mobile review, or watch the video below. The Switch release is basically the same game anyway.
There are two pretty major changes, however. First off, you can now play with a controller, though touchscreen controls are available and you can happily flit between the two whenever you like if you have your Switch physically in your hands.
Controller usage makes a particularly big change to how you control players on the pitch. Now you have a little better control to make tighter turns with more finesse, and it feels closer to a FIFA game than ever before.
You can still pull off all the same moves too, such as setting up a through ball by drawing a line for another player to run to, and kicking the ball in specific spots when striking to add some lob or curve to it.
Getting around menus with the controllers is, admittedly, a little fiddly. There's a lot of icons on-screen, and flicking between them all can get tiresome - this is still a mobile-first game, after all.
But as previously mentioned, you can switch between controller and touchscreen whenever you like, without even having to go into a menu. So, you can happily use the touchscreen to navigate menus before shifting your hands around to take control of the match.
It's pretty much perfect, honestly. Those coming in from mobile will feel right at home with the touchscreen controls, while new players can pick and choose which style they like at a moment's notice.
The other major change is the complete removal of free-to-play mechanics. New Star Manager on Switch is a premium experience, coming in at £14.99/$19.99.
It's a little bit more of a splurge than starting out for nothing on mobile, but you won't be asked to spend any more money afterwards either.
Nothing has changed progression-wise though. You'll still be collecting cards to boost player stats, recover energy, and so on. This is the same New Star Manager experience as you'd get on mobile, without IAPs.
So, would I recommend it? Absolutely. If you're yearning for a strategic football game that captures the best parts of the sport and gives you tons of control over your club, you can't go far wrong here. I totally see why Harry gave it a 10. It's brilliant.
If IAPs scare you and you like to use controllers, this is definitely worth a punt. Or maybe you could give the mobile version a go, see if it's your thing, then pick it up on Switch? The choice is yours. However you choose, make sure you choose to give New Star Manager a go.
