For example, one enemy spins like a top while chasing you down. Your body is always available for a beating. In Shing!, there are no invincibility frames. Individually, each issue isn’t much of a problem, but when those issues converge, they snowball into systemic problems. Most of the problems Shing! exhibits stem from missing essential beat ’em up mechanics. As I finished Shing! and thumped my controller on my desk in relief, I was bummed by how much potential developer Mass Creation forfeited because they ignored or didn’t consider the decades of beat ’em ups before it or even recent successes like Streets of Rage 4.
