Shuriken: A Review

It's that time of year. You are ready to open up those presents by an open fire, but you have to wait one more day because it is christmas eve. Or you just want the break from work. Luckily, If you are desperately needing an afternoon activity, than you have come to the right place, because I am here to introduce you to Shuriken, my favorite action platformer, by RXI.

Gameplay
Shuriken is a short action-platformer where you, well, hop around platformers and throw shurikens. The catch, however, is that you only have 3 shurikens, and you have to pick them up after you throw them or hit an enemy with them. This can be challenging, as your shurikens could fall into a pit of spikes or into a vat of lava, where getting them back will take quick reflexes. It is a simple gameplay loop that works, and remains fresh for the whole way through the game.

Level Design
One of the things that will stick out most to people that are playing shuriken is the fantastic level design. Each section of the game has the perfect level of challenge that is made mostly from its levels, which can include breakable platforms, lava, spikes, and more. All of the levels are made to where it would take me at least 5 or so times before I finally nailed the perfect sequence of buttons that would allow me to get to the next level.

Execution
Shuriken's sleek level design and spot on platforming mechanics take this game to the next level. I have, myself, tried so hard in game jams to get as tight of platforming as shuriken gets, but I always end up running out of time. Maybe it isn't celeste, but it still has very good platforming to it. The bosses are fun and whimsical(my favorite being a rubber duck), and I haven't yet softlocked the game or had any other types of bugs.

Graphics and Audio
Shuriken was a submission to the gbjam, meaning that it's graphics resemble the graphics of the gameplay. However, it does not stick to the gameboy's boring green palette and it goes with it's own four color palette. I love this palette! For me, this is one of my favorite palettes that I have seen in games. In audio terms, the game generally has a looping couple of tracks, but also has a couple tracks for bosses. The audio can get repetitive, but it still keeps the atmosphere of the game.

For fans of
I guess I am going to have to summarize this, but I think this game can pretty much be enjoyed by anyone. People that will especially like this game are people that like:
#1. Celeste. As I mentioned earlier, shuriken has very tight platforming and celeste does to, so anyone who likes that type of platformer will definitely have a good time with this game.
#2. Mario Games. Shuriken has a very similar feel to mario(in jumping and in action), so this game will be enjoyed by fans of the mario games.
#3. Metroid. Shuriken might not be anywhere near a metroidvania, but it does have very similar controls and platforming to the 2d metroid games.

Verdict
Shuriken is a sleek and captivating action platformer that will definitely hold your attention until the very end. The game is free, which surprises me even more, as I have put in more than 2 hours to the game in normal mode and will definitely go back to try hard mode. Overall, this is just a really phenomenal game that can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere that has 11 megabytes on their computer to spare.

(You can get shuriken for free on itch.io at https://rxi.itch.io/shuriken)