Mr. Shifty

be are do are never can don't can not never do not never ever do for it

No walls can hold me.
Story:
You play as Mr. Shifty. A hired protector whose main job is to put a stop to really bad people from talking over the world. Your new assignment is to assault a skyscraper belonging to an enigmatic rich guy named Chairman Stone. He finds himself in possession of something called Mega Plutonium and of course he's up to no good, so you have to stop him.
The story itself is a pretty generic tale of good guy has to stop a bad guy. There's nothing really of depth here as it's as generic as it sounds. Each floor which as a level in the game adds some more story as your companion Nyx and Stone contact you to update you. It's fine for what it sets out to do, but I do have to say that the jokes mostly do not land, they're just not that funny at all.
Graphics:
Mr. Shifty is a slightly cel shaded ordeal and honestly visually it looks pretty striking. Your attacks and shifts leave clouds of smoke which looks pleasing to look at and adds depth to it, the levels themselves are rather bland. The skyscraper itself isn't that particularly interesting location as most of the floors look like bland office spaces with only a few floors having an interesting look to them.
I like the visuals overall, but I find that it really suffers from not only the design of the levels, but also of the color scheme chosen for the game. Overall the colors are well contrasted and I enjoyed the design of the titular Shifty, I wish they would have kept the motif for the levels too which would have saved the boring looking environments just a bit.
Audio:
The audio design is a mixed bag, but I'll begin with the positives. I genuinely love the sound design for the combat. Shifting and delivering a beat down to enemies is quite satisfying. Just something about the way the punches land just puts a smile on my face and when you die I didn't feel quite as mad cause it meant I could deliver another beatdown to the respawned enemies.
The soundtrack on the other hand is not that great whatsoever. There's a few decent action packed tracks that mesh with the fast combat well, but a good chunk of it isn't that interesting. Also I know it's supposed to be for comedic effect, but I still have to point it out and that's the elevator music which is stock free and Although it's pretty funny, it is very noticeable.
Gameplay:
Mr. Shifty is best described as Hotline Miami, where walls do not stop you. For those who haven't played Hotline Miami (shame on you first of all), here's how it works. Mr. Shifty is a top down beat'em'up where your goal is to clean up a floor and get to the end to ascend further, but there's a catch. Mr. Shifty has an ability which allows him to shift his location which allows him to bypass walls, laser walls or enemy fire.
As I slightly mentioned in the audio section. The basic combat is really well designed and I loved delivering a beat down on enemies. You can also pick up different items like broomsticks to aid you in combat and I had a fun time mixing and matching with these weapons.
The basic shift mechanic is also pretty interesting and works pretty well. I do like how strategic it allows you to be. You can pick off enemies standing alone in rooms or avoid getting your handed to you by a crowd of enemies gunning for you and in those instances it works really well.
However once it boils down to using it in actual dodging, like bypassing lasers then it becomes really finnicky. You can chain multiple dashes before you run out and have to recharge and the distance between shifts isn't that crazy and that's fine considering a lot of the levels are small and confined spaces. But when avoid lasers the hitboxes feel a lot larger, than they should be.
Also the difficulty has weird difficulty spikes. The game is overall pretty fair, but there a few levels where the difficulty ramps up and becomes just really challenging in an instant, but this is mostly towards the end of the game, so it's not that big of a deal, but still something worth pointing out.
Verdict:
Mr. Shifty is a really fun Hotline Miami like and the central gimmick is a fun one to experiment with and makes the overall really satisfying gameplay even more fun and hectic. There are a few central issues with level design and difficulty spikes, but I still have no trouble recommending this fun little brawler.
Final Rating:
8.5/10
Pros:
+ The shifting mechanic is a ton of fun
+ Combat is incredibly satisfying
+ Audio design is really good
Cons:
- Shifting feels really finnicky when dodging instant kill attacks
- Soundtrack is pretty bland
- Game has some crazy difficulty spikes
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If you enjoy playing videogames then you should know this is one of the greats.
It's a sort of Hotline Miami but with a teleport mechanism, and puzzles.
The story isn't that great but the action is very satisfying.
I already said it's one of the greats, so you either believe me or don't.

I have never hated a boss more than Chairman Stone...
Even though this game has no great story, it convinced me more than any story-rich game I've ever played that the boss should be hated and dead. Yes, I wanted him to be dead so much. So in that sense, it's doubtful whether it has an amazing story. Maybe it has! Apparently, we have to redefine our standards as to what is a great story.
I almost broke the joystick in anger. The fact that you die in a single mistake, that it is difficult to accept the mistake, makes you crazy.
The game is unnecessarily difficult and it becomes almost like a chore after 10 stages.
After starting the game, the famous shift movement was very enjoyable to me. (see: Hotline Miami) It resembles the style. Then the chapters started to repeat each other all the time. You are disconnected from purpose. You just try to reach the result with two moves in the new chapter, which is a little more difficult than the previous one.
It has 18 stages, I think it would be logical to play 10 stages and leave. The remaining 8 stages are drudgery and there is no story in the game anyway. As there is no proper story, there is no motivation to play after 10 stages.
Pros:
+ Interesting Graphics
+ Quick and fast-paced gameplay
+ Unique mechanics (shift and slowed time)
+ Environment interactions
+ You can punch through walls (I am Kool-Aid Man)
+ Great controls
+ Plenty of different enemies
+ Achievements and trading cards
+ Quite creative and original theme.
Can it be recommended? Well, it depends. It's actually very unique and has a smooth gameplay. But also take into consideration the fact that it's going to turn into a chore and become extremely challenging at some point.
6/10

This is a damn fun beat 'em up.
I wasn't too sure at first because it starts off a bit slow but later on there's so many bad guys to beat and each level offers up new hazards to deal with so it becomes more like a puzzle where you have to think on your feet to survive.
Punching dudes the fuck out and using the enemies own weapons against them is so fun and satisfying to do.
I'm not a huge fan of the art style, i think it would have been much cooler with pixel art like in Hotline Miami but this is still a fine game.
Also the last level is a gauntlet of hair pulling nonsense so be ready for that.
A hidden gem for sure, grab it in the next sale.

I originally played this at a local kind of internet cafe I would frequent, anyways I really liked it and then promptly forgot about it. It's been 3 years since I last was at that internet cafe, the place is now closed, and a few months ago I was trying to go to sleep when I remembered this game.
I immediately started trying to figure out what it was called because I had forgotten it, either way found it and have been enjoying it, not too far in but still loving it.

Rating:
Recommended at full price
Recommended at a discount
Recommended but only at a discount
Not Recommended
Duration: about 4 hours, maybe twice that if you go for 100& completion, which involves replaying levels without dying and doing speedruns
Best features:
+ The combat, simple but effective and each hit feels impactful, you feel very powerful but it manages to remain tense due to your character dying in one single hit.
+ The teleport ability, really spices up the encounters and allows you to do some very entertaining maneuvers.
+ The level design, really good attempt at making you use your teleport ability in a multitude of ways, very amusing shenanigans towards the finale with enemies and stuff teleporting all over the place
Feedback :
+/- No collectibles nor any sort of level progression nor ability/weapon unlocking, your character ends the game exactly as it started it, very little replayability outside of just replaying levels for fun or going for faster/no death runs (which could be said of any action game if you think about it).
+/- Maybe not as tactical as something like Hotline Miami, you can play tactically but you are encouraged to play aggressively due to the slow mo meter.
Overall thoughts:
Really fun game to spend an afternoon in, one of my favorites of the genre.