Background

SHU is something I was not expected this year, a platform from an indie development team that interest me a great deal. With it being the newest game to be developed by Coastsink, it is something that I believe all gamers should at some point enjoy as its unique art style along with a different approach to level design is something I had a great deal of fun with.

Story

SHU’s story is something that has seen with many platforms in that there is a “great evil” coming and the main playable character must go forth into the vast world of SHU and prepare. However, this “great evil” comes in the form of the “Storm” which is constantly harassing you, and on more than one occasion made me drop my controller in sheer panic of his huge appearance corrupting the colours and filling the screen with sheer despiser. However, perhaps it greatest feature is on the different characters you encounter along the way who help you deal with the myriad of puzzle you may face in a given level.

Mechanics

Leading on from my pervious paragraph about the idea of there being numerous puzzle you must face, and you deal with them by having different characters help you. This is something that in most video games of this style would be attribute power ups or merely just being one shot wonders. Instead SHU’s approach is to teach how each of them work and so should you want to speed run the game, you understand exactly how they all act, and when this does happen it is something of beauty in terms of how smoothly you can progress through the game.

The last major mechanic I feel that needs to be mentioned is the importance of time, as the game gives you a limited amount of lives and it makes you focus on being quick and agile more so than anything else. As such you are given a limited amount of time but is increased should you meet certain checkpoints within the map.

Sound Design

The sound design for SHU is one that focus on and achieves matching the style and tone of the backdrop that much of the game takes place in. It suits the game extremely well to the point it would feel almost naturally until the “Storm” occurs, in which it proceeds to just full wreck everything causing a huge change in the musical tone and sounds occurring on the level.

Conclusion

In conclusion SHU, is an enjoyable game that any fan of platform should buy as there is no major changes or faults with the game but it still remains fun. I would give it a 7 out of ten, as its aim is to polish and improve on certain mechanics that have been used in the parts and succeeds at doing it in an effective standard.

Score

7 out of 10