Valcom Games brings us this summer The Adventures of Shuggy,a game that proves 2D is not dead. By playing with time travel and gravity mechanics this puzzle game is a nice break from many FPS flooding the market today that focuses more on graphics than gameplay value, this title for Xbox Live Arcade gives us that and more.
Story
Our good Shuggy has received a huge mansion as part of an inheritance, but something seems to be wrong and the mansion seems to exhale steam everywhere, besides being infested with strange creatures.
Our hero decides to take action and regain what is rightfully his. Will Shuggy be able to solve all the puzzles that await him in this entertaining adventure?
Gameplay
In this game you must solve the puzzle that is presented to you in every room of the mansion. in which you must collect all the jewels to obtain a key. As you collect keys you can unlock new zones: Dungeon, graveyard, Clocktower and more all filled with puzzles and challenges for your enjoyment.
Time travel challenges create a shadow clone of shuggy that will follow every step you did before, often used to click a switch while you get near a door that is locked. When the timer resets, your shadow clone starts to move, if you collide with him you die and have to start the challenge from the beginning.
Every time the timer resets a new shadow clone will spawn, so watch out and or plan your steps carefully or this can turn into a mess.
Other challenges play with the gravity, where everything will be upside down and others where the walls will be the ground, avoiding enemies and spikes all over the room. Sounds simple but the changes in gravity can be confusing at times, giving the game a truly interesting touch.
Rotating the rooms to complete an objective, making use of switches or teleporters are also part of the challenges you will encounter. For example the boiler room has rooms in which balls of fire will be spit from hot lava in the bottom, some rooms with switches require you to work with clones or friends of Shuggy trapped in the mansion.
There is a nice variety in the puzzles and that makes the game a definite winner.
Controls are responsive and flexible, it’s easy to get cocky and go right to your death because of this but controls wont work otherwise, i like them, it’s a matter of timing your movements properly.
Multiplayer
What can be better than a nice puzzle game to play? Well, That’s enjoying it with friends over xbox live of course. Competing with people over Xbox Live can be fun, although multiplayer was not what I expected, it is a nice complement to the game.
Overall
The Adventures of Shuggy brings back an old formula to the current generation of consoles proving 2D has a lot to offer with high gameplay value.
If you like puzzle games with lots of variety, a nice amount of challenges and a nice retro look definitely this game is worth the 800 microsoft points. I recommend this game and it is most definitely a good purchase for your collection.
We give the game a 8.5 out of 10!
~Mario
