The announcement of Shadow the Hedgehog came on the heels of Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive/Genesis) been inducted in to the Metreon Walk of Game (now defunct) in 2005.
Whilst the initial announcement of the game bringing a potentially funky twist to established Sonic gameplay and development screenshots showing a promising title, Shadow unfortunately is wrought with problems.
From the slow performance of the 3D engine to the lousy cameo appearances the game scored consistently low scores from reviewers. These rather important facts did not stop Sega with a pretty big marketing push to advertise the game.
Shadow The Hedgehog was released in November 2005 for XBox, Gamecube and PS2 and was the second multi-platform release of the Sonic franchise.
Very soon after, Shadow could be picked up in any of it's forms for as little as 20% of it's original price. Never a good sign. Incidentally, Shadow was released on the same day as Sonic Rush for the Nintendo DS which was totally outsold by Shadow at first, however has since done significantly better.
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Video is shamelessly embedded from Youtube. All credit to the video owner. No infringement intended.
STORY
Shadow sits in Westopolis deep in contemplation. There are many questions about his life unanswered. After dying in Sonic Adventure 2 and discovering his robotic roots in Sonic Heroes he is frustrated and confused.
After a short flashback to Maria’s death his unanswered questions perturb him more. Who is Maria, where is he, how did he end up there and more burning, who is he?
Suddenly the sky over Westopolis turns red and aliens begin to fall from the sky. Called the Black Arms their leader Black Doom contacts Shadow. He instructs Shadow to follow his orders if he is to know the secret of his past. His orders are to locate the seven Chaos Emeralds and deliver them to Black Doom.
Shadow, desperate for information sets off on his quest looking for the first emerald in Westopolis....which is now a warzone.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is platform-action adventure set in a 3rd person perspective. Whilst not the Sonic-norm in perspective the traditional Sonic formula prevails. Shadow skates about the stages at speed collecting rings and avoiding hazards and disposing of enemies to ultimately reach the goal within a time limit.
The usual Sonic gameplay mechanics apply. Rings serve are Shadow’s lifeline, items are found in monitors and there are devices such as springs, lifts, loops etc get you around.
Shadow can also perform the Spin Dash and the Homing Attack (jump twice) along with other moves such as sliding and the Light Dash.
Special moves such as Dark Spin Dash and Light Spin Dash can be performed at certain times.
The standout difference is the ability to use weapons and various objects that are lying about the place to dispose of enemies and (rather temptingly) friends. Shadow has quite an arsenal at his disposal.
Weapons
Basic |
Explosives |
Homing |
Pistol |
Grenade Launcher |
RPG |
Objects such as bombs can be picked up and thrown to cause damage. Other objects include vehicles and turrets. These actions are necessary to progress in some areas.
Critical to the progress of the game is the objectives which Shadow accomplishes and to which side they benefit. Shadow can be a hero, dark (evil) or somewhere in between (normal). Which side you complete the stage on is determined by completing objectives important to either hero side (aka Sonic and pals) or the dark side (aka Black Doom).
Shadow starts off somewhere in the middle. Certain actions will fuel both good and bad intentions. When either side has reached its limit Shadow explodes with power. Fuelled by bad he performs a devastating Chaos Blast which destroys everything around him. When fuelled by good he uses Chaos Control to manipulate time and fast forward through stages. Both last for a short period and Shadow is invincible with unlimited ammo.
Complementing this is appearances of characters from other Sonic games. During the course of each level they will guide you to goodness where as the Dark Arms will obviously be guiding you to the dark side. Ignoring both will keep you neutral. Upon completing a stage your mood will determine your route through the game. Appearances from Guardian Unit of Nations (GUN) and Eggman will advance the story.
There are a total of 17 areas in the game, though which are played depends on your route.
The end of each stage is signified by a goal where bonus points for time and dark/hero scores.
 Westopolis |
 Glyphic Canyon |
 Digital Circuit |
 Prison Island |
 Cryptic Castle |
 Lethal Highway |
 Circus Park |
 The Doom |
 Mad Matrix |
 Death Ruins |
 The ARK |
 Space Gadget |
 Lost Impact |
 Black Comet |
 Sky Troops |
 Final Haunt |
 The Last Way |
 The Last Way |
2 Player Battle Mode
Shadow includes a basic 2 player split-screen battle mode with Shadow and a yellow Shadow Android. Each character and area plays exactly as they do in the main game. Both Shadow’s battle using Shadow’s moves and any weapons lying about.
A player looses when they take damage without any rings.
Each round has a time limit of 10 minutes. If a winner is not declared after 10 minutes, the player with the most rings wins.
After all rounds are over the winner will be declared and given the choice to repeat the game or return to the Battle Mode setup screen.
There are 3 areas to play in; warehouse type, cyber/electronic and volcanic.
The robots in the areas are equipped with unlimited amounts of ammo but they’re weapons are static. Almost all of the weapons are in and vehicles can be used.
Unfortunately the mode is very badly implemented. The already grotty frame rate is reduced further to worse effect.
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CHEATS AND TIPS
Unlock Last Story
Beat every 6th stage in story mode, and see the hero and dark endings for each. (10 endings in all)
Unlock Expert Mode
Get all "A" rankings. There are 71 in total.
Level 2 Weapons
If you complete the following storylines twice doing both dark and hero endings, the weapons you received will become level 2.
Pure Evil |
Samurai Blade Level 2 |
Slightly Evil |
Satellite Laser Level 2 |
Neutral |
Egg Vacuum Level 2 |
Slightly Good |
Omochao Gun Level 2 |
Pure Good |
Heal Gun Level 2 |
Hidden Key Bonuses
These are unlocked by getting all five keys in stages, and are located behind the 5-keyed doors.
Unlockable |
How to Unlock |
Large GUN Cannon |
Get all 5 keys in Lethal Highway |
Extra shooting gallery |
Get all 5 keys in Circus Park |
Shortcut |
Get all 5 keys in Cryptic Castle |
Opens cage, which triggers shortcut to the end of the level |
Get all 5 keys in The Doom |
Alternate path to a red terminal |
Get all 5 keys in Mad Matrix |
Warp Hole |
Get all 5 keys in Death Ruins |
3 extra lives |
Get all 5 keys in The ARK |
Warp Hole |
Get all 5 keys in Space Gadget |
Armoured Car |
Get all 5 keys in Lost Impact |
2 turrets |
Get all 5 keys in Black Comet |
Switch that makes ring trails to the end of the level |
Get all 5 keys in Cosmic Fall |
Turrets |
Get all 5 keys in Final Haunt |
Warp Portal |
Get all 5 keys in The Last Way |
Black Hawk |
Get all 5 keys in Glyphic Canyon |
Black Volt |
Get all 5 keys in Sky Troops |
SOUNDTRACKS
The soundtrack in the game is unlocked as you progress.
There is also an official Shadow The Hedgehog Soundtrack entitled "Lost and Found".
It contains 7 vocal tracks from the games. These are:
1. I Am... All Of Me
2. Almost Dead
3. Waking Up
4. E.G.G.M.A.N. Doc. Bobeatnix Mix
5. Chosen One
6. All Hail Shadow
7. Never Turn Back
You can buy this through Ebay or Amazon.com
LINKS
Shadow at Sonic World
Lots of information about Shadow including some video trailers.
http://www.sonicworld.net/site/games/xbox/shadow/
Walkthrough for Shadow
A level by level walthrough should you need it
http://uk.ign.com/wikis/shadow-the-hedgehog
Shadow The Hedgehog at Wikipedia
The obligatory Wiki article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_the_Hedgehog
MISC INFO
- You could in some stores obtain a shadow beanie hat when you bought the game. If you had any sense would never go outside with it on.
- A customised controller was also available for the PS2 version of the game.
- The character of Shadow The Hedgehog was introduced in Sonic Adventure 2 and has appeared in Sonic Heroes, Sonic Battle and Sonic The Hedgehog for Xbox360 and PS3.
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