Splatoon Raiders' Pudyin Den Boss Fight Pushes Switch Handheld
There aren’t many Nintendo villains that I truly fear, but John Smallfry — the overpowered pipsqueak hiding in Splatoon Raiders’ Pudyin Den — is the stuff of nightmares. And on Nintendo Switch handheld, that nightmare sharpens into a 50-second sprint of pure anxiety. You’re already fighting the camera, the tiny enemy hitbox, and the relentless clock; add a 6.2-inch screen and Joy-Con sticks with limited throw, and you’re not just fighting a boss — you’re fighting the hardware’s portability compromises. The Polygon community has rightfully crowned this the hardest fight in Nintendo’s 136-year history, but nobody’s talked about how much worse it is when you can’t hide behind a big monitor and a Pro Controller.
Why Pudyin Den Punishes Handheld Play
The fight drops you into a compact arena with one single target: a Smallfry that moves erratically, absorbs absurd damage, and splats you in one hit. On a television, you’ve got the real estate to track its darting path and line up shots. In handheld mode, that tiny salmonid becomes a speck against the colorful chaos of your own weapon effects and gadgets. James of Polygon noted that having too many gadgets active actually blocks your view of the enemy — and on a small screen, that occlusion is crippling. The 50-second timer compounds the strain; you’re mashing the right stick to track an enemy that’s barely a few pixels wide, all while fighting Joy-Con drift that inevitably creeps in during extended sessions. Battery life takes a hit too: Splatoon Raiders is an always-online looter shooter that keeps the Switch’s GPU churning, and a single failed attempt at Pudyin Den can eat through 10-15% of your charge if you’re playing at maximum brightness to see that dreaded fish. This isn’t a fight you can brute-force on handheld; you need to approach it with the same surgical precision you’d bring to a competitive Splatoon ranked match.
Community Strategies That Translate to Portable Combat
The Splatoon subreddit has already turned John Smallfry into a meme, but buried in the frustration are builds that specifically rescue handheld players. One commenter reported success by modding a gadget to freeze enemies, then using a weapon that deals extra damage against frozen targets. That combination is a godsend on Switch handheld: freeze gives you a stationary target for a few precious seconds, letting you land direct hits without wrestling with the camera. It’s a control-friendly strategy that reduces the need for lightning-fast flick shots. Another approach involves stacking weapon power boosts to an unimaginable degree — essentially brute-forcing the fight by overleveling. That works on handheld because it lets you survive a hit or two, but the community consensus is clear: solo is actually easier than multiplayer because the Smallfry’s HP scales with squad size. For handheld players, running the den alone with a freeze build is your best bet. You can tackle it during a commute or between work tasks — just don’t expect to beat it in one session. Bring a power bank, and prepare to chase John Smallfry across many short sessions until you learn every pixel of his erratic dance.