It’s that Year of the Shadowa time to celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog’s brooding rival. While Shadow generations Although Shadow the Hedgehog starred in a game this year, it wasn’t the first time that Shadow the Hedgehog got his own game. Today is November 15th, which means 19 years have passed since then Shadow the hedgehog was launched in 2005. The game was and isone of the most ridiculed games in the sound franchise, and almost two decades later, I believe some this hate is deserved. However, I’m willing to stand on my soapbox in this year of shadows and say that there were some interesting ideas.
When Shadow the hedgehog is just a standard 3D sound Game, it’s a pretty solid one. Shadow runs, jumps and attacks through enemies and obstacle courses at the same exhilarating speed as always. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are many memorable levels, which could be one of the reasons for that Shadow generations
The coolest thing about it Shadow the hedgehog is how it handles multiple endings. The structure of the story is reminiscent of a visual novel, as Shadow traverses multiple timelines, learns different truths, and ultimately comes to different conclusions about his past. Shadow the hedgehog is one of the last breaths of soundIt was the AMV bait era before things got sanded down after that Sonic ’06. The game melodramatically delves into Shadow’s self-image, questions whether a person’s worth is defined by their past, and wonders whether it is possible to forge a new future, and all of this is structured around a flowchart. There are multiple endings that deal with these themes, and which one you get depends on good, evil, and neutral missions you can complete during the standard run-and-jump sound levels. Your choices will lead you to different conclusions, but in a more abstract way than you might be used to in narrative games, where the way things turn out often feels like a direct result of your actions. Here, it’s more like one bad deed will relegate you to the bottom of the level selection screen, leading you to one of 10 possible conclusions.
Some of these can lead to Shadow discovering half-truths about himself. He may believe that he is an android clone of the original hedgehog that debuted Sonic Adventure 2or become the right-hand man of his alien invader father Black Doom. Shadow the hedgehog may have a true conclusion, but the use of multiple endings and choice-driven game design that allows fans to explore the anti-hero’s deep (if overly convoluted) backstory is a truly compelling technique for a series that has evolved over time became more and more mature in the mid-2000s. It feels like the natural progression of the alternate storylines sound Games were used at this time.
The problem is that maturity is taking a radical leftward turn into the edginess of the early 2000s. Shadow wields firearms in this game, which are incredibly frustrating to use as they lack any targeting or aiming mechanics. The enemy’s health also scales, so you’ll be wasting time if you don’t pull out a Glock or rocket launcher to deal more damage than your homing attack can do. Although not naturally “nervous”, Shadow can also drive vehicles, most of which are slower than walking, which seems like a half-hearted attempt to emulate more “mature” games like Grand Theft Auto
But the strangest and most memorable thing about it Shadow the hedgehog it’s easy for characters to swear. Soundbites like “Where’s that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?” with its incredibly forced delivery are still iconic in the world sound fandom, and I still have vivid, embarrassing memories of playing the game in my dad’s living room and seeing him flinch every time Shadow said “damn” when I was hit by an enemy. The fear that your parent will take the game away from you if they think the mascot character is a potty is as good a motivation as any to get good.
All of these creative decisions were made in service of an older audience and felt forced and made in the moment Shadow the hedgehog a worse game. But when I look back, I still find a lot of beauty in the spaces between the nonsense. Shadow has always been the emotional center of the series for me, so learning more about its ever-evolving story through a video game story structure was worth the online ridicule I endured for saying I liked the game , which was completely new to me as a child. Crush 40’s theme song for the game, “I am…all of me.” is still an S-tier track in a series full of them. And you can’t tell me it didn’t feel incredible using Chaos Control and racing through entire levels at top speed.
In retrospect, Shadow the hedgehog is a rather fascinating reflection of a moment in both sound Franchises and pop culture in general. The people behind it sound put their foot down on the anime-inspired sentimentality that had worked for them, in the face of ongoing critical pressure to convert the series into a simple mascot platformer focused solely on the blue blur. But fear, nervousness and what was perceived as “adult” storytelling were “in” in the mid-2000s. Many franchises tried to create their “dark” pivot, such as: How series and Prince of Persiaand some were more successful than others. Shades of this moment in the franchise can be found in Shadow generationsand it is certainly far more effective in capturing these ideas than Shadow the hedgehog. But despite my criticism lFondly remember Shadow’s first game. It had ideas and ran with them, even when it crashed headfirst into a wall. As the Year of Shadow comes to a close, I’m happy to see Shadow get its chance with this newer game that I can recommend without reservation.
