Mr. Shifty

If you like visceral top down gameplay in a somewhat similar vein to HOTLINE MIAMI... this game will scratch that itch if you still got an itch to scratch.

Hotline Miami, but you're an x-men with the power of teleportation. Loved the game, even if it has some annoying areas near the end. The graphics, gameplay and soundtrack are great. I still wish there was Creed - One Last Breath playing at the credits, but we can't have it all, can we? Mr. Shifty Shellshock is a really good game, 8/10, buy now!

Short version:

Pros:
+ Fantastic gameplay
+ Stylish visuals
+ Cool soundtrack
+ Short but sweet

Cons:
- A few annoying areas near the end

"Long" version:

Mr. Shifty is a 2.5D top-down action brawler that has you play as the titular Mr. Shifty on his quest to steal a plutonium core from the hands of the evil Chairman Stone. You must use your teleportation powers and hand-to-hand combat skills against his army of lackeys in order to achieve your goals. It was developed
by Team Shifty and published by tinyBuild.

Just like Has-Been Heroes, I watched the reveal trailer for this game during a Nintendo Direct and immediately wanted to try it!
The story in this game is not particularly deep – it really is just an excuse to get you into the action. Mr. Shifty does not really get any character development and the other characters and one dimensional at best. Be that as it may, it is serviceable and enjoyable enough.

Gameplay is where Mr. Shifty shines.
You get to teleport at will, with a very short cooldown – unless, of course, you spam it. You can go through walls because of this power and it makes for a very satisfying combat loop. You can also punch enemies into submission or use objects scattered around the levels or that originate from broken pieces of furniture and base defenses. These usually result in one hit kills, which is pretty awesome!

Initially, you will use most of your abilities to dodge bullets and put enemies down, but it soon evolves into a very entertaining loop of dodging traps like lasers and explosions AND dealing with hordes of enemies.

There is also a meter you can build up to get a slow motion powerup for a few seconds that usually allows you to clear a room with little to no resistance.
Enemy variety is OK, but it could be a bit more interesting – the game tries to one-up itself constantly, which I appreciated, but there is not a big amount of enemy types. Some explode when killed, some are weak but very numerous, some are a bit tankier and so on.

Some rooms maybe have mechanisms that disable your shifting abilities, which was alright, but not necessarily fun after a while.

A few chase sequences have you dodge explosions and run away from deadly lasers and those are pretty enjoyable and intense.

Some areas towards the end of the game are a bit frustrating because they are more amount trial and error; you have to deal with a lot of traps that require precise timing. It never got too obnoxious, but it might be roll my eyes a few times.


Mr. Shifty looks really good in my opinion, as it boasts a highly stylized look. The characters are visually striking, and the environments, though minimalistic, effectively convey a sense of futurism. This, combined with the frenetic gameplay, creates a truly enjoyable visual experience.

Same thing goes for the sound effects – the hits feel crunchy and they pack a punch. Objects around the levels, in particular, have a very gratifying sound effect with each hit.
The soundtrack might be a bit generic for some, but I found it very suiting and got me into the action.
Mr. Shifty is a short game, you can finish it in around 3 hours. This, however, is a good thing. It felt just right to me – it did not overstay its welcome. It provided a very enjoyable focused, fast-paced experience and was over as soon as the gameplay stopped innovating. I think it is a stellar title that is priced just right. A total steal during the summer sale – a hidden gem!

Final score: 8.5 out of 10.

If you enjoyed this review, please consider following my curator page.

This might be one of my simplest reviews, but then, this is a simple game.
Mr. Shifty is a fun, tight, twin-stick brawler about an absolutely forgettable main character working for an absolutely forgettable mission-control lady to steal an absolutely forgettable macguffin from an absolutely forgettable villain. However, the story doesn't really matter, because the actual hook of the game is its moment-to-moment gameplay.
In essence, Mr. Shifty is "Hotline Miami but you're Nightcrawler from the X-Men." The titular protagonist is equipped with that character's signature short-range teleport ability, and the influence is fairly obvious given how heavily "comic booky" the art style and color palette are. The immense extra capability that teleportation gives to the player allows Mr. Shifty to throw a lot more enemies and projectiles at the player than Hotline Miami, at times verging into bullet-hell territory but more typically as a form of light positioning puzzle.
That's the entire game. It gradually parcels out more enemies, and more obstacles, and more projectiles, forcing the player to get better and better at spastically warping around the arena, but nothing radically departs from the formula established at the beginning of the game. It's a power fantasy about being a cool butt-kicker with teleportation powers and it doesn't need, or try to be, anything more than that.
Decades ago, this would have made gangbusters as an extremely popular Newgrounds or Kongregate flash game. It still carries that basic feel despite being a contemporary Unity-based indie game. At its Summer Sale price of $3, it's a steal.

Mr. Shifty is an amazing game.
The shifting mechanic promotes strategic gameplay instead of brute force.
The metal pole kills anything in one hit.

Slick as hell on the physics engine and cathartic when you perfectly take out an entire room of henchmen.

They scaffold the game so it's easy to play. I'm currently stuck on lvl 15, but it's a skill issue. Overall I enjoy this game, and can't wait to beat my records of each round once I finish the whole game. Will there be a Mr. Shifty 2?