Mr. Shifty (Nintendo Switch) Review

Mr. Shifty is delightfully satisfying. It's like recreating that exceptional scene from the film X-Men 2 where Nightcrawler teleports gracefully around the oval office, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches on the secret service officers. Indeed, like the name suggests, here you 'shift' a few feet in any direction chosen, quickly and effectively teleporting around the area in order to traverse the office complex you're invading and fell the goons that are trying to hinder the heroic quest.

The quest itself is a shallow excuse for crime fighting mayhem, with players looking to topple an evil kingpin but, fortunately, the fun is in the mechanics, not the tale. It ends up facilitating a constant stream of different enemy goons to confuse and frighten with the shifting ability, before flinging them into each other, walls, and through windows. Meanwhile, whether through enemy weapon's fire, the protagonist's attacks, or shifting, furniture and windows are smashed and each area organically changes as the battles play out, littering the floor with debris and the odd weapon that can be picked up and used for a limited time before breaking. Swords, bottles, planks of wood, and much more, offer an edge when the heavy enemies show up, or when the screen is utterly filled with baddies, with precisely the kind of sound effects and rumble feedback expected from wielding them. It all comes together so smoothly and satisfyingly.

Even when completely outnumbered and shifting becomes frantic, the scene still looks remarkably controlled and intentional, as the blue trench coat, baseball cap wearing hero darts around the room, unleashing the odd punch and appearing to deftly dodge incoming attacks. This is especially cinematic when the heavy weapons show up, with rockets launching across the screen only to miss the protagonist as he shifts and the rocket explodes a group of goons instead. It's these moments where the strategy behind Mr. Shifty becomes apparent: it's not about felling the strongest enemies as quickly as possible but instead it's about allowing them to live long enough to turn their weapons against the masses that threaten you.

With the top-down perspective, oodles of enemies and crime fighting action, most could be forgiven for comparing Mr. Shifty with Hotline Miami, but the cel-shading subtly brings it back on superhero brand, and indeed the shifting ability immediately reveals it to be something else entirely. In the end, it feels familiar but fresh, which is no small feat. The experience is largely focused around combat, although the odd traversal puzzle comes into play here and there. However, combat itself very much plays like a puzzle, albeit one that asks players to solve it in a very reactionary manner of frenzied shifting, kicking, and punching. As you figure out where to shift, who to attack, and what weapons to pick up, though, facing a particularly tricky set of enemies in a frantic display of teleportation, slows down in your mind, and uncovering the tactic that takes them all out and leaves you alone and victorious in a room full of debris and bodies is wonderfully cathartic.