Mr. Shifty

 Switch
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 54
  3. Negative: 10 out of 54

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  1. metaknightmare
    Apr 14, 2017
    8
    I wanted Mr Shifty as soon as I saw its trailer because the gameplay looked really fun. It delivers on that. I wasn't expecting some complicated story. This is an arcade brawler from the top-down perspective with linear levels. The gameplay and controls are excellent, simple and as smooth as they look. It gets really intense at times. Every level adds a new feature that makes the gameplayI wanted Mr Shifty as soon as I saw its trailer because the gameplay looked really fun. It delivers on that. I wasn't expecting some complicated story. This is an arcade brawler from the top-down perspective with linear levels. The gameplay and controls are excellent, simple and as smooth as they look. It gets really intense at times. Every level adds a new feature that makes the gameplay more exciting. The story is there only to guide you along and it makes fun of itself, which made me laugh throughout. The art-style is a visual treat too. If you wanted this before these "professional" reviews came out, I recommend it. I'm excited to see this developer make a Mr. Shifty 2 with more features and silliness. Super fun few hours for 15 bucks is, for me, better than a longer game that is more stressful and boring than it is fun.… Expand
  2. jarko314
    Apr 16, 2017
    8
    I was intrigued by the concept of this game, it looked a lot like the "nightcrawler white house infiltration" in X-Men 2. And it´s like that, but much more. The game delivers a burst of non-stop action after each other, Once you grasp the mechanics of the game, the game start adding new challenges after each level. First basic enemies, then lasers, missiles, grenades, mines, anti-shiftingI was intrigued by the concept of this game, it looked a lot like the "nightcrawler white house infiltration" in X-Men 2. And it´s like that, but much more. The game delivers a burst of non-stop action after each other, Once you grasp the mechanics of the game, the game start adding new challenges after each level. First basic enemies, then lasers, missiles, grenades, mines, anti-shifting fields and more things I won´t spoil. The many deaths are easy to forget because you respawn almost immediately, and from the last room you were so you don´t need to repeat longer sections before trying again, much appreciated since you will die a lot, but once you finally overcome the room you'll feel like a total bad ass. The game has its faults, a few locations (always inside of an office like building it´s a bit monotonous), repetitive music and longer a campaign would be appreciated, but for the price, I really enjoyed the game. It also has a nice HD rumble if you play with the Joy-cons. If you like action arcade-like games, this one it´s a good option.… Expand
  3. B-Knock
    Apr 13, 2017
    8
    This review is for the switch version of the game. First, stop comparing this game to Hotline Miami. There is absolutely no comparison Mr. Shifty is a better game, regardless about what the idiot professional critics say. Mr. Shifty's story is meaningless, and truth fully it really doesn't have to. Game-play & controls are excellent. Everything feels smooth to control and the learningThis review is for the switch version of the game. First, stop comparing this game to Hotline Miami. There is absolutely no comparison Mr. Shifty is a better game, regardless about what the idiot professional critics say. Mr. Shifty's story is meaningless, and truth fully it really doesn't have to. Game-play & controls are excellent. Everything feels smooth to control and the learning curve is short. Graphics are quite nice and decent for an indie game. The amount of content offered is just right for the price of this game. However just to note. The game does have a few issues such as it crashing in the later levels and the game stuttering due to the amount of enemies on screen at once. Hopefully the developer fixes this with a patch. Overall, I would recommend this game.… Expand
  4. Fred_GameOnBatt
    Apr 14, 2017
    7
    Mr. Shifty reminded me Hotline Miami so much but this game just doesn’t present enough new ideas to sustain itself. I think it’s worth a playthrough, but I don’t believe we’ll be talking about Mr. Shifty for years to come. Just as quickly as Shifty himself enters and leaves a room, so too does this game enter and exit your mind.
  5. Aloco
    Apr 14, 2017
    8
    Mr. Shifty is a fun game for the Switch and at the price it is at it is a must have for Switch owners. The game offers great controls, interesting story, and overall a really nice game play.
  6. MrFoxhound
    Apr 13, 2017
    1
    This game is garbage. Start to finish it's terrible. The game throws tons of enemies at you and demands that you kill them all to move on. The checkpoint system is a complete joke. You have to redo entire rooms WHEN you die, and you will die a lot because of how cheap this game is. The final level is even worse than the rest of the game because instead of going through a door and getting aThis game is garbage. Start to finish it's terrible. The game throws tons of enemies at you and demands that you kill them all to move on. The checkpoint system is a complete joke. You have to redo entire rooms WHEN you die, and you will die a lot because of how cheap this game is. The final level is even worse than the rest of the game because instead of going through a door and getting a checkpoint, the door dissolves and you are forced to do an entire two room area over and over again as the entire building shifts around you. Whichever one of the developers thought it would be awesome to put so few weapons in the game and doesn't allow the player to use the guns strewn about everywhere, stop making games. Now. Just stop. I want my $15 back for this game. It's terrible. You may be hurting for games to play on the Switch, but skip this game, unless you enjoy just wasting money, even then I would just take the money outside and throw it into the wind instead of spending it on this. In the end, you'll have just as much value for the money spent. Waste of money; waste of time. Terrible, terrible game.… Expand
  7. ItzADino
    Apr 15, 2017
    5
    This game had a lot of potential but it fell extremely short. It was an instant buy based on the trailers but with both technical/performance issues coupled with less than subpar support towards the community made this a game I'd love to refund.

    First off, performance wise, the game runs locked at 30 fps according to the CEO/Devs but is further tied to the physics aka it's pretty much    This game had a lot of potential but it fell extremely short. It was an instant buy based on the trailers but with both technical/performance issues coupled with less than subpar support towards the community made this a game I'd love to refund.

    First off, performance wise, the game runs locked at 30 fps according to the CEO/Devs but is further tied to the physics aka it's pretty much going to always be lower. The first 4 stages were painful to say the least as its a noticeable fps drop. However that issue went away until the last 3 stages in which quite literally it was halved fps at many points such as when spawning lots of enemies or forced explosions by the game AI. It actually got so bad that at one point the game actually crashed some resources, all enemies despawned and my fps was stuck at 5-10 fps. Couldn't proceed due to their system which checks how many enemies were killed so I had to restart the game and waste another 10 minutes going through the stage.

    That wasn't the first nor last time I had to redo a stage, the game crashed due to an 'error' 4 times throughout my 3-4 hours of finishing the game thus wasting another 20-30 mins.

    There is no replayability as there is no leader board or scoreboard nor would I want to repeat this game with all the issues. When confronted the devs just suggested getting the Steam version and I'm dumbfounded. The CEO stated that a patch would be coming either yesterday or this weekend but either way this game is nowhere near worth the $15 based on the launch issues and lack of support from devs.    … Expand
  8. M1N1B34R
    Apr 19, 2017
    8
    This game basically will test your reflex and how you manage to use your surrounding accordingly. The game offer a good concept of action and puzzle games, it will provide you with a rush of adrenaline as well as frustration, it have simple control and mechanic which is amazing, it also have a decent story line and manage to present this quite nicely. the game however is a bit short, andThis game basically will test your reflex and how you manage to use your surrounding accordingly. The game offer a good concept of action and puzzle games, it will provide you with a rush of adrenaline as well as frustration, it have simple control and mechanic which is amazing, it also have a decent story line and manage to present this quite nicely. the game however is a bit short, and does not give a lot incentive to replay it once you finish the game. it could also added new way to solve some of the mission objective so could offer a more motivation to replay the game differently and does not seem repetitive.… Expand
  9. StevenGreen
    Apr 24, 2017
    8
    Mr. Shifty takes the action-packed gameplay of a title like Hotline Miami, and adds the mechanics to take it to the next level, in my opinion. Mr. Shifty is several hours of fun, touching on 80's movie tropes, and really packs it in with an arcade-y gameplay that can't be rivaled by many in the same genre. Story is where the game really lacks, as it has nothing but a cliche' husk, butMr. Shifty takes the action-packed gameplay of a title like Hotline Miami, and adds the mechanics to take it to the next level, in my opinion. Mr. Shifty is several hours of fun, touching on 80's movie tropes, and really packs it in with an arcade-y gameplay that can't be rivaled by many in the same genre. Story is where the game really lacks, as it has nothing but a cliche' husk, but gameplay alone stands to make this a title worth your time.… Expand
  10. NintendoNow
    Jun 26, 2017
    8
    Mr. Shifty’s influences are easy to identify. In one sentence, it’s “Hotline Miami meets that opening Nightcrawler sequence in X-Men sequel film X2.” It’s high-concept, but Mr. Shifty lives up to the expectations that description might instill.

    You play as the eponymous Mr. Shifty, a gun-averse thief with the power of teleportation who spends the entire game storming a tower in the    Mr. Shifty’s influences are easy to identify. In one sentence, it’s “Hotline Miami meets that opening Nightcrawler sequence in X-Men sequel film X2.” It’s high-concept, but Mr. Shifty lives up to the expectations that description might instill.

    You play as the eponymous Mr. Shifty, a gun-averse thief with the power of teleportation who spends the entire game storming a tower in the style of movies like The Raid or Dredd. There’s a plot, but the script all but acknowledges that it doesn’t matter–you’re here to teleport a lot and beat up hundreds of bad guys. Mr. Shifty only has three abilities: He can teleport a short distance, he can punch hard, and he can pick up melee weapons which can then be used to strike an enemy directly or thrown from afar.

    In a typical encounter, you might aggressively warp into a room, punch an enemy twice, and then immediately jump out. The foes in the room will give chase, and you’ll stand by the doorway and take out another one by slamming them into the door as they exit, then warp to safety. From there, you can warp back into the room they just left and take out the last to leave, then run outside and warp between the stragglers, taking them down as fast as possible.

    This is one of the game’s simpler scenarios–at any given point, there’s a chance you also need to deal with proximity mines, rocket-launching enemies, turrets, moving laser grids, and zones that hinder shifting. The true beauty of Mr. Shifty is that you can only plan so far ahead, especially in later levels. You can have a perfect plan for how to deal with the first 10 foes in an area, but one of them might use a surprising new tactic or more enemies might flood in, and you suddenly need to adjust your strategy. As you warp around–being careful not to use five warps in quick succession and deplete your shift meter–carnage is likely to unfurl around you, and it’s up to you to corral your enemies while also being aware of any nearby hazards. Mr. Shifty feels varied, even as you’re performing the same actions repeatedly.

    Enemies are dumb enough to kill their fellow soldiers if they think they have a shot at you, a fact that becomes near-vital once they begin carrying rocket launchers. You can pick up grenades or timed mines, teleport into a room, drop one, and teleport back out. Tricking an enemy into taking out their support or provoking a group of foes before blowing them up with a well-placed mine feels fantastic, and surveying the ensuing carnage makes you feel amazing for having survived it. The key is confidence and fast action, and when you’re taking out 20-plus bad guys in quick succession, it’s easy to walk away feeling smug.

    Mr. Shifty is a hectic, challenging game, but it’s rarely frustrating or unfair–the checkpointing is generous, meaning you rarely lose more than a minute of progress at a time. However, a few puzzles and scenarios don’t align with game’s typical scenarios: a small handful of rooms across Mr. Shifty’s 18 levels offer up light puzzles, and in a few instances, the solution requires prompting the somewhat flighty AI into performing very specific actions. These sequences are brief and too uncommon to become a huge issue, though. Realistically, all this means is that the game may hold you up for a few minutes until you figure out a solution.

    What’s more likely to turn players away from Mr. Shifty is its presentation–to be blunt, this is not a great-looking game. The developers have opted for a cel-shaded look, but everything is rendered very simplistically. The game also suffers from performance issues whenever the screen is full of enemies and effects, which happens a lot toward the end. Mr. Shifty can stutter heavily on both Switch and PC, visibly struggling to handle all the moving parts. However, this isn’t a deal breaker, and one of these brief stutters can actually grant you an extra half second to plot your way out of a sticky situation.

    Mr. Shifty isn’t a huge game in terms of length, but the three- to four-hour campaign is ample. It’s like a shot of adrenalin, offering an exciting, intense experience, and it’s easy to forgive the game’s performance flaws when it so consistently makes you feel like a badass.    … Expand
  11. LuisSnow
    Feb 7, 2018
    6
    "I'm here, now I'm not" Basically that's the whole game. Mr. Shifty is a wannabe Hotline Miami with a unique mechanic: Teleporting Nightcrawler style. Have to say that is really an interesting mechanic but that grows old after the first hours. There is some clever stage design that challenge the player to think fast. Sometimes is rewarding to be able to complete a stage after many deaths."I'm here, now I'm not" Basically that's the whole game. Mr. Shifty is a wannabe Hotline Miami with a unique mechanic: Teleporting Nightcrawler style. Have to say that is really an interesting mechanic but that grows old after the first hours. There is some clever stage design that challenge the player to think fast. Sometimes is rewarding to be able to complete a stage after many deaths. There is nothing memorable about this game. Also, the frame rate, it drops dramatically when so many things happen on the screen, it's not properly optimized, I don't know how it is in other versions. Mr. Shifty is an ok game, but don't expect anything special here.… Expand
  12. Albgut
    Dec 28, 2020
    6
    I Would've been a 7 but I got to many crashes played on switch. It's short and fun.

Awards & Rankings

85
#85 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
65
#65 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Jun 23, 2017
    75
    Mr. Shifty could have been a new classic. As it stands, it's a fun little action game with plenty of sequel potential. [Issue #28 – July/August 2017, p. 21]
  2. Gaming Age
    May 26, 2017
    75
    Despite the framerate issues, Mr. Shifty is a good time and well worth the price of admission. One of the better games on the Nintendo Switch. Maybe a patch can rectify my main concern with the game.
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  3. Vooks
    May 4, 2017
    80
    When it runs at 100%, Mr Shifty is thrilling, challenging and satisfying when played at high speed - as it should be played. Unfortunately, performance issues and a bland personality slightly hold it back from reaching Hotline Miami levels of grandeur.
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