Game review: Muchi Muchi Pork! & PinkSweets Boosted (Switch 2)

Around twenty years ago, the Xbox 360 was the place to be if you wanted to release indie games. This is thanks to the Xbox 360 Arcade Originals initiative, and two games that were released at the time were Muchi Muchi Pork! and PinkSweets: Ibara Sorekara.

It's now 2026, and you can finally play both games on modern platforms thanks to the rerelease called Muchi Muchi Pork! & PinkSweets Boosted. Find out what this new version includes in our review below.

Visuals and performance

Despite being released in the Xbox 360 generation, Muchi Muchi Pork! & PinkSweets Boosted have graphics that are more akin to the late '80s and '90s because they are both sprite-based arcade shooters. Much like the famous Raiden series, you control an airplane travelling vertically up the screen to shoot down as many enemies as possible.

Thanks to modern technology, the graphics have been upscaled to 4K, so the games won't look blurry on newer television sets. On Switch 2, I was even able to rotate my console vertically to mimic the look of an arcade cabinet.

The game also has something called intentional arcade slowdown, where the gameplay slows down if too many bullets and enemies are popping up on screen. I thought it was a performance issue, but this is done to ensure the game isn't totally unplayable.

The games themselves

The first game that is available is Muchi Muchi Pork! Here you control three girls who turn into pig-girls, and they pilot flying bikes to fight off General Pork Fillet and his forces. There are three types of attacks that you can do in this game.

The first is the normal shot attack that you can use at any time. You can either rapidly mash the button to fire, or hold it down. I recommend holding down the fire button to shoot because your thumb can get tired if you keep mashing the buttons!

The second attack in the game is the 'Lard Attack'. This is a more powerful shot in your arsenal that fires a huge pink laser. The 'Lard Attack' is helpful to use if you want to get rid of a large number of enemies on the screen.

The final attack is the best, and it's called the 'Bomboo'. This attack allows you to call the aid of a giant robot that comes through and obliterates everything! You cannot use it all the time, but it's damn cool.

The second game in the collection is called PinkSweets, and it's about five sisters trying to save their mother in the middle of a war. Everyone pilots vehicles in this game, but you go up against hot evil women as bosses in most stages.

The gameplay is the same as Muchi Muchi Pork! It's all about destroying every enemy on the screen. The most useful weapon in the game is the normal shot, but you can collect power-ups that increase the number of lasers and missiles you can shoot. The more power-ups you gain without dying, the spread of your firepower gets larger.

The game also has a shield that is helpful because it protects you from all enemy firepower for a limited time. If the shield gauge is at maximum, you can shoot it away, and it acts like a bomb that explodes everything in sight.

While the games are fun, they are quite hard because it can be difficult trying to avoid all of the enemy firepower. There were times I wasn't sure where to go because the entire screen was full of bullets I couldn't avoid. Thankfully, both games offer infinite continues, so you don't have to start a level all over again. The only penalty you suffer is that your score count resets when you die.

Both games also offer two-player co-op, but it's local co-op only. You cannot team up with a friend online. The only online functionality this port has is a leaderboard so you can compare your high scores with the rest of the world.

The price is a bit expensive.

For a collection that only includes two short arcade games from 20 years ago, the price of Muchi Muchi Pork! & PinkSweets Boosted is quite expensive in New Zealand. The game is listed at $65.00 NZD on both Steam and the Nintendo eShop.

Closing thoughts

While I had a blast shooting my way through Muchi Muchi Pork! & PinkSweets Boosted, both games might be hard for some gamers because the amount of bullets that appear on screen can seem unfair. Not to mention, the price is steep at the moment. If you are into old-school shooters, you may want to wait for a sale first.