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Platform: PlayStation 2
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Publisher: Sega
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Developer: Sonic Team
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Medium: DVD-ROM
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Players: 1 - 2
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Online: No
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Also on: (n/a)
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Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?
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Just short of fifteen years ago, I first saw Sonic the Hedgehog. It was bright, cartoony, energetic... And fast. All of that tied together into a product nigh irresistible for a schoolboy gamer. A handful of years later, I finally obtained a Genesis and put some time into the already expanding series. The gameplay got faster, the graphics got better, and two major characters were added to the storyline--Tails and Knuckles. Although the series found some balance from the cute sidekick and the attitude-infused rival, it would prove to be the beginning of the end.
New mascots were introduced left and right since then...this made for an awfully bloated cast by the Dreamcast era. Combining the giant cast of mascots with Sonic Team's insistence on using all their characters made for Sonic Adventure games that took the focus away from the main character. When Sonic Team finally made a single-character game on consoles, it was a slap in the face to the character that made them famous. Shadow the Hedgehog, essentially an angsty palette swap of Sonic, had usurped the blue blur's place of importance.
As Shadow the Hedgehog is seemingly going through his teenage years (although he's pushing 50 in-game), one of the main concepts the game pushes is the need for independence. Shadow's memory is gone, and he doesn't know whom to trust...so instead of listening to reason, he's faced with choosing sides in every level. On one side, you can team with the recognizable Sonic universe cast and save the world. On the other, the Black Arms (who are actually a light grey, even though they tell you they're black throughout the game) lead you onto a path of destruction. You can also ignore everyone and take your own path, which is usually the easiest way through. Various decisions open up new paths through the game and take you to new stages, which make it a neat concept. However, the execution is highly flawed--even if you fight almost completely for one side or the other, they'll still attack you.
Somewhere along the line, Sega decided to make Shadow the Hedgehog a E10+ worthy game instead of a T. The entire game stands as a sort of monument to unnecessary and misguided censorship. Shooting the red-blooded Black Arms troopers makes for green blood, and shooting humans results in a whiny person. This wouldn't be as strange if not for the fact Shadow kills some humans during cutscenes, or if he didn't curse all the time. No real explanation is given for why an "ultimate being" needs to shoot guns or curse to make himself heard, but hey, that's the least of the problems with the title.
Even though Shadow the Hedgehog is an experiment in generic rage with only a tangential relation to the series in tone, the gameplay is where the real tragedy lies. Shadow's gimmick of having jet-powered shoes to augment his speed is an immense detriment to the refined sense of speed I expect. Sonic was never able to stop on a dime, but Shadow's gimmick makes him handle like a hippo on ice when he gets to speed. Normally, this wouldn't be as bad if not for the cheap deaths you'll invariably encounter. Between the frequent leaps of faith you'll have to make and the archaic game design decision of losing life for even touching an enemy...Shadow feels and plays like something from an era that's been long gone for good reason.
Visual design takes a hit as well, as the entire game has a droll coat of grime over it. Everything looks dingy and dirty, to an extent, with even the bright and shiny computer levels looking a bit menacing. Combine the relatively poor visuals with monotonous level designs, and you'll find yourself in the middle of a level with no real visual cues of where you are within the level. There are several segments that repeat earlier parts of levels, which makes even the highly linear path to the end a bit confusing.
After playing through Shadow the Hedgehog, all I can think of are questions... - How did Sonic team fall this far?
- Will next-gen Sonic the Hedgehog pull away from this?
- Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?*
...and to be honest, I don't want to know the answers.
*Hey kids! An Adam Sandler reference!
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