Developer Luckshot Games caught my attention with the release of 2018’s Sausage Sports Club. The physics-centric game did something that many others that attempt to hone in on this mechanic do not. Rather than allow the physics-based engine to run rampant, there was a guardrail to the game’s playability and controls, thanks to impeccable design. Yes, chaos would ensue, but you wouldn’t be left playing a game that sort of felt broken. Transitioning after this project to an open-world parkour platformer, the studio’s latest game is a triumph that harkens back to the best of 3D platformers while resting its heart on a story and main character that instantly feels classic.

In Big Hops, you play as Hop,  a young frog kidnapped from his home by a mysterious spirit named Diss. To get back to your family, you’re going to need to craft a ship together with parts scattered across three distinct worlds. Even in the tutorial, which is a relatively sparse yet scenic meadow-like area with cliffs and caves, I was immediately all in on Hop’s journey. The main character is void of snark or heroicism, instead leaning on what he knows is right and wrong, and the need to return home. From the get-go, you’re given Hop’s goal, and little by little, you traverse the mysterious world you find yourself in.

You do so using things a frog does best. First and foremost, your tongue is a tool to be used to grab items, hold onto environments, and even create swings to leap over massive gaps. In true physics-engine fashion, this leaves you ragdolling around the map. You can also jump and dive, allowing for creative movement opportunities that are fun to test out before harder challenges. The ability to take a small moveset and let the player explore the game’s engine to get creative on Hop’s journey feels so good, much like playing Super Mario 64. I found ways to manipulate the game using twitch-like inputs to move Hop in wild ways, which was a ton of fun.

You’re also going to gain things like a wall run and belly slide as you play through the game’s three areas. These include the Red Desert, Open Ocean, and Shattered Mountain. I will be honest: immediately opening the main part of the story in a desert area had me a little worried. The sparseness alerted me that we might be in for a game with a lot of space and not much to explore or do. While the desert felt the emptiest, there are plenty of fun NPCs to meet, challenges to try, and ways to move Hop’s journey forward. I do think the game’s colors and character design of Hop are good, but the overall polygonal design of the world does leave a little to be desired.

Of course, this is not a game that pretends it’s going to be something it isn’t. I’d argue that in a day and age where throwback platformers are churned out by studios that only get maybe 50% of the feel and experience, Big Hops is a triumph in that sense. This could have released in the ’90s as a wonderful experience, and it doesn’t feel any less fun to play now. Whereas games from the Nintendo 64 or PS1 era have aged poorly, this is the perfect blend of retro visuals and game presentation with all of the pleasures of a control scheme and camera that don’t leave you wanting to throw your controller.

I think in a day and age where 3D platformers are sort of out of vogue, even with stellar releases like Astro Bot or Donkey Kong Bananza wowing critics and fans, Big Hops is a fantastic game. There’s, of course, a slight jank to it all; very few physics-based engines with ragdoll movements are going to present as highly calculated achievements in precision. Where that may leave some who are itching for that best-of-the-best Nintendo-like experience a little let down, I’d argue it’s not the polish that makes a game but the ways in which it keeps you pushing forward to complete it, especially a 3D platformer.

Big Hops achieves exactly what I hoped it would and much more. It feels like the first truly great game of 2026, and a perfect January release to sink time into before some of the larger studios start releasing their projects. Even if this launched alongside a game of bigger stature, or created by a team larger than the 11 folks who developed Big Hops, I’d still bet my money Big Hops was going to leap over its competition in most cases because of its heart, the fun factor of playing as our little frog friend, and the universal truth that 3D platformers are just a quintessential video game experience. Big props to Big Hops on a fun, froggy adventure.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Big Hops was provided by Luckshot Games for the purposes of this review.

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Big Hops

$19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Fun physics-based 3D platforming
• A great main character with a lot of heart
• Enough to explore and do without bloat or overstaying its welcome

Cons

• Visually just a tad below the top 3D platformers of the 2020s
• The main villain takes a bit to convince you he's a fun foe