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OMG! Fun, fun, fun! Total 8-Bit gaming bliss is Shadow Switcher. I just can't contain myself... I have to let you know from the outset just how good this game is. Well not just yet, you will have to read a bit more. Dr Wuro Industries impressed us with multiplayer games Shotgun (2016) and Frogs (2017), but in 2018, a single-player platformer using a shadow switching technique has teleported me, no, make that, all of us, back to the excellent Lode Runner from 1983.

If you don't know what Lode Runner is, you aren't an 8-Bit nerd. Back in the day, Zzap!64 called the C64 version of Lode Runner "a classic for a long time to come, graphically minuscule and aurally crude, the game's sheer addiction kept my eyes propped open until the owls went to bed". In 1984, Lode Runner was awarded "1984 Computer Game of the Year" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards. Judges praised its "outstanding design", and described it as "fascinating", "irresistible", and as "the thinking player's climbing conquest". Now you know a little more about Lode Runner and its impact on 8-Bit gaming, let's get back to Shadow Switcher and find out what impact it will be destined to have on 8-Bit gaming today.

Your objective in Shadow Switcher is simple. Throughout all 40 levels of climbing up and down ladders you must collect all the rings, grab the keys that open blocked passages then try to reach an exit door and not get killed in the process. Within each level exist hazards in the form of evil zombie robots who kill you on touch, electrifying beams which will zap you instantly if you walk into them and disappearing blocks, which will be exposed once you walk over them. These do not harm you, they just fall away.

All of these make your task of reaching the exit door just that little bit more difficult than it looks. But don't worry, you've got a special trick up your sleeve - you can use your "shadow" for instant teleportation, er I mean switching, Yay! Personally I don't recall ever seeing this technique in an 8-Bit game before. I've played games like Mission Elevator (Micropool, 1986) where you walk into a door and come out the same door, or Golden Tail (Juan J. Martinez, Amstrad CPC, 2016) where you perform 'koga magic', disappearing and reappearing, but never have I experienced shadow switching. I am glad I have, as this makes this Lode Runner genre game such a joy to play.

Picture this: an enemy zombie robot is closing in fast upon you. You have no way of escaping, all exits are blocked, the zombie robot is just millimetres away from killing you... Not this time: one press of the fire button and you reappear where you left your shadow. You can perform this as many times as you like and wherever you like, even on ladders. When you hit the fire button, that location will be where your shadow remains. While you travel all over the screen, you can switch between the "real you" and your shadow with ease, and avoiding the zombie robot horde could not be more entertaining. Now you can get to the other side of the screen to get the items required to finish the level. Zombie robots are immune from being electrified by the laser beams, but they cannot use the lifts (that appear from level two onwards).

Climbing up and down ladders is performed by speed-walking all over the one-screen level. Yes, your character really does move fast! He needs to be quick because those zombie robots aren't lazy road workers earning 30 quid an hour for holding up a stop and go sign. The shadow switching is crucial to the gameplay, which is how it should be. There will be instances where you will need to lure zombie robots away from one area so you can then shadow switch to another area. Or perhaps if you are constantly getting stuck on a level, you need to work out a new strategy of placing where your shadow should be. The maximum amount of robots on a level is six; this amount changes on each level you play.

Each level design is different from the last: there may be more or less ladders to climb up and down, more or less zombie robots out to kill you and more or less rings to collect before you can escape through the exit door. Every level has a different colour scheme with 40 different combinations of background, wall and ladder colours. You are given three lives per game... a bit tough but that's what makes you want to keep playing and improving. Each level you collect around 300 points and every thousand points you receive an extra life, basically every third level you will get another life, that is if you are good enough. Me, I am still trying to reach a thousand points, hahahah I am so crap [Yes you are, you need to practise more - Ed].

The shadow switching mechanic is brilliant. It takes the game to a whole new level. It is a terrific innovation making the gameplay simply awesome. The graphics may not be totally outstanding but it doesn't need to be for this type of platform game; they are excellent to my eyes. Colours, sprites and animations work wonderfully well. If I wanted to be teleported back in time to gaming of cica 1983 then this game does it superbly. The tune is just right for this type of game, the urgency or speed of the sounds bring the game together, adding for a greater gaming experience. Smooth and fast-paced movement around each level to complete your tasks adds to the addictiveness of the game. An option to release your imagination and creativity with a built-in level editor means you can design your own levels which is pretty damn sweet.

I don't like the fact that I didn't code the game as it's so damn impressive. The game is very hard to fault. Perhaps a code system allowing you to play levels you are stuck on or introduce another kind of enemy in later levels to challenge you? For the devil in me I really wanted to see those zombie robots get fried by laser beams. There isn't much I didn't like about playing the game though.

Shadow Switcher is 40 levels of pure fun, fun, fun and, even if I can't get past level five, I simply cannot put it down. An amazingly simple platform game so well thought of and implemented, it actually makes the ordinary C64 colour palette look cool. Switching things up, Lode Runner-style, is 8-Bit retro video gaming addiction in 2018. If you love your 8-Bit gaming 'old skool' then you must play Shadow Switcher, the best teleport back to 1983 gaming experience since playing games in 1983!