Shiftlings: Enhanced Edition

The dumb one and the smart one, the fat one and the skinny one or the handsome one and the ugly one bring us a puzzle and platforming adventure with a significant amount of technical work behind it. Even though the modest amount of experience of Rock Pocket Games has taken its toll, the way in which they played with the weights of the two astronauts surprised us with a well-rounded game that lacked a little bit of risk.

Shiftlings: Enhanced Edition is an incredibly fun indie puzzle platformer that has plenty of content to keep you entertained for hours. With an entertaining premise, upbeat music and enough cringeworthy jokes to last a lifetime, this is definitely one eShop title that you won't want to miss - even if it does have issues with its control scheme and sense of fairness.

Even with some unfulfilling visuals, Shiftlings: Enhanced Edition provides a very engaging and challenging puzzle experience. Whether taken on alone or with a friend, fans of puzzle games should find quite a bit to enjoy in this goofy, soda-filled occupational adventure.

A highly entertaining puzzle platformer whose general design and aesthetics meld together into something that is more than the sum of its parts. Although its potty-humour premise may not be for everyone and the cut scenes a bit ham-fisted and overacted, it’s the type of game that will suit just about anybody. Well, anybody that has another person on hand to play it with, as it is best enjoyed as a cooperative experience. Not too shabby for a game that has you cut the cheese but not the chord.

Shiftlings’ size-swapping mechanic serves as a perfect metaphor for the game itself. Simply put, it lacks balance. The cute art style would make for a perfect parent-child co-op experience, but the skill required for certain platformer-specific puzzles makes it a bit too difficult for a younger child to master (and/or have fun). The story elements that are fleshed out don’t really amount to much. It would have been better served without the bloat of the story. It harkens back to the oldest of game truths; as gamers, we ultimately don’t care how or why Bowser kidnapped Peach (possibly something cake-related?), we only care how we’re going to save her, and the playable journey ahead.