Shiny isn’t going to melt your face with novelty or depth, but it is an example of the kind of platformer I’d like to see more of. One that doesn’t run any longer than it needs to, asks a price to match, brings enough ingenuity to keep things engaging, but never pushes so far that it loses sight of the foundation that makes it great.

With breathtakingly haunting audio and some nostalgic gameplay, Shiny is a wordlessly emotional story with a sympathetic hero that has all the potential to be a great experience. However, the menu bugs and basic level structure can leave this something of an unintentionally bleak affair in the wrong way.

Shiny is a great example of a game that has a very solid foundation but needs a lot more development in the story department.

Shiny tries its best with a winning aesthetic and concept, but technical malfunctions and clumsy controls ultimately keep it from being worth most peoples’ time.

While its soundtrack does a very solid job of engrossing you in its established world, the aesthetically unpleasing presentation takes away from this emotional adventure.

While there’s no argument against the principle Shiny has a good concept going for it as far as offering consideration before taking that next pivotal action — no matter how minor it might be — its woefully-optimized performance and presentation (visually as well as from a design perspective) can put many off even the more notable of classic platforming segments.

Textures looks incredibly stretched and muddy even on the highest setting and animations are clunky and stiff.

Shiny could've been a good game that would leave its mark in the platforming genre. It could've stood toe to toe with Meat boy, Mario and even Portal. It could have, but it doesn't.

Shiny is very lightweight, too lightweight for its own good, in fact. It wants to tap into the ongoing retro platform revival that's so popular in the indie scene, but is a clunky, clumsy imitation without many redeeming qualities.

When I review a game, no matter how bad it may be, I try to find some kind of redeemable feature that stands out, like something that stops the gameplay from being a total letdown. But with Shiny, there just isn’t one. An uninspiring story, bugs and performance issues and frustrating gameplay makes Shiny a game I just cannot recommend for anyone.