Sunshine Manor is a fun, little game that brings players into a spooky and cute pixelated world. The game tells a ghostly tale within a big, old house, using retro-style graphics to create something that looks old-school but feels fresh. While it manages to be charming and somewhat eerie, there are a few issues that dull its shine a bit.
The game shines with its pixel art. Everything from the rooms to the ghostly beings is designed with care, showing off detailed and colorful 8-bit style graphics. But there’s a downside, sometimes items you need are hidden in the busy backgrounds, making them tough to find and slowing down your adventure.
The main tasks in Sunshine Manor involve exploring the big, haunted house, solving puzzles, and occasionally running away from or fighting with ghostly creatures. While these tasks are generally fun and engaging, the game gets a bit frustrating at times. Your character moves quite slowly, which can be fairly annoying, especially when you have to go back and forth across the mansion multiple times as you are searching for something.
The story in Sunshine Manor does a good job of mixing cute and spooky elements, telling a ghost story that isn’t too scary but keeps you on your toes. The game often succeeds in building up a spooky vibe, but sometimes that mood is broken by the slow movement and the hard-to-find items, which can pull you out of the story and cause a bit of frustration.
On the plus side, Sunshine Manor is pretty affordable and doesn’t take too long to play through. It offers a good, quick bit of fun without dragging on for too long. So, if you like short games and have a thing for retro, spooky stuff, this might be a good pick for you.
Sunshine Manor has a lot going for it with its neat graphics and interesting story that balances being cute and spooky. But the slow walking speed and sometimes too-well-hidden items can be annoying. Still, if you have patience and like old-school style games, there’s fun to be had exploring this haunted house.
THE VERDICT
- A short adventure that can offer some fun puzzle solving with a fun retro visual style.
- The NES style pixelated visuals often obscure items and make them difficult to see.
- The character walks painfully slow, likely to make the game last longer as it is quite short.
- You have to do a lot of backtracking which is further worsened by how slow your character walks.
- You need to search around the mansion for various items on a regular basis, this is challenging at times due to the visuals obscuring items and how slowly you walk.
