Have you ever wished to play a video game about developing video games? CODE SHIFTER from Arc System works only does that, but the game might not be what you think.

Arc System Works is accountable for high-quality combating series, along with Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, and has had its thumb in legendary brawler franchises like Double Dragon and Kunio-Kun (River City Ransom within the West). Code Shifter is Arc System Works' attempt at combining characters from all of those series right into a mash-up game, complete with a four-player combating mode. Unfortunately, it falls short, with floaty, vague controls and conflicting visible styles. Code Shifter is available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

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Code Shifter: A backgrounder

You play as Stella, a programmer operating for game improvement studio Awesome Rainbow Corps, as they're almost prepared to deliver their computer game. Unfortunately, an army of mysterious insects have located their way in the game code, and it's as much as Stella to do away with them all. Stella has also designed her own private avatar named Sera to fight them off.

The single-player tale of CODE SHIFTER is divided through the folders of employees, and in each folder are 2D side-scrolling levels with insects as enemies and bosses. As Sera fights off these insects and closes the portals allowing them to in, she will be able to unencumber characters from Colorful Fighters she will be able to rework into as a way to help her at the adventure. Electric-kind characters will unencumber switches for elevators and other floating platforms; fire-types will melt ice walls, and lightweight characters may be lifted by pockets of air. Some of these combatants don't have these unique abilities, but their added power makes preventing the insects a whole lot easier. There are different opponents you may equip no longer as transformations, however, as summons that will help you at the side. When you entire a level, you'll be ranked depending on how properly you do, and if you get an S-rank, you'll be rewarded with a person buff that offers you more damage, higher HP, etc..

Bug busting codes

The middle gameplay of CODE SHIFTER is smooth enough: take away the bugs, get to the end, do the same inside the next level. As a matter of fact, it's too simple to play and doesn't do a whole lot to face out from different platformers. The stages are pretty truthful with no precise quirks to them, and the malicious program enemies are as frequent as they come. As for the controls, Sera feels like a replacement stiff and not as responsive as players would love her to be. The same goes for the roster of Colorful Fighters. They all appear and control dramatically different from each other, but they experience like they've been designed for a distinct game.

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Floaty, awkward game

As you unlock these opponents in the real game, the developer needs to work on something. When you get returned to the hub world (the ARC offices), you could set up a solo game or play with your three other friends to play this item. It could be a bothersome endeavor for some players, as the 8-bit characters may be hard to pick out from each other, and they apparently blend into the game's background - making it harder to see them.

CODE SHIFTER is priced at $19.99 at the Nintendo eShop, and for that price, you could simply buy a better game. Obviously, a video game doesn't be particular to be good. While the concept is uniquely refreshing, CODE SHIFTER doesn't do a lot to craft a fun or memorable experience.