Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)

Shadow the Hedgehog is a platform game that incorporates elements of action-adventure gameplay. Like previous games in the Sonic series, basic gameplay involves running quickly, collecting rings, and destroying enemies.[4][5] Shadow collects rings as a form of health; when he is attacked by an enemy, ten of his rings bounce away from and form into a circle around Shadow. If he is hit by an enemy while not having any rings, he loses a life.[6] Each level is completed by undertaking a mission, and each mission is labeled "Hero," "Dark," or "Normal".[7] The "Hero" missions involve completing tasks for the Sonic series' heroic characters, or Doctor Eggman on one occasion,[8] and the "Dark" missions involve completing tasks for the Black Arms or Doctor Eggman. The "Normal" missions involve reaching the Chaos Emerald or goal at the end of the level.[7] Examples of non-neutral mission objectives include killing all enemies in the levels, destroying an aircraft flying to the end of the level, or activating or destroying objects in the level.[9] All enemies attack Shadow regardless of the mission chosen.[5][6] The mission types selected affect the plot, the levels played, and the ending received out of ten possibilities.[7][10] Each level features cutscenes that advance the story, and several levels also feature boss battles.[11] There are 326 possible paths to take in Shadow the Hedgehog, and each pathway is individually named.[12]

Shadow uses a submachine gun to shoot a G.U.N. soldier. The game's mature themes and addition of guns were two major areas of criticism.

New gameplay features distinguish Shadow the Hedgehog from previous Sonic games. For example, Shadow can use guns to combat enemies, adding an element of third-person shooter gameplay.[6] Parts of the scenery, such as traffic signs, can also be used as weapons.[7] Another new feature is the ability to drive vehicles, such as motorcycles and alien aircraft.[4][6] Although Shadow can outrun the game's vehicles, the latter have unique capabilities, such as crushing enemies and traversing otherwise impassable acid-covered areas.[11]

As in most Sonic series games, the Chaos Emeralds play a major role; they help Shadow remember his past[13] and allow him to perform Chaos Control and Chaos Blast. Chaos Control allows Shadow to move more quickly in levels and slows time in boss battles, and Chaos Blast creates an explosion that destroys or severely damages all nearby enemies. Shadow can perform Chaos Control after the player fills the Hero Gauge by defeating Black Arms soldiers, and he can perform Chaos Blast after filling the Dark Gauge by defeating G.U.N. soldiers.[4]

The game includes a two-player mode[14] that retains the single-player mechanics but is set in one of three specially designed stages and uses a vertically split screen to separate each player's view. Each player chooses one of the available characters—Shadow, two metallic versions of him, and palette-swapped variants of each. The combatants attack each other and steal each other's rings until all but one are eliminated. Additionally, in single-player mode, a second player may take control of Shadow's sidekick character in some stages, however this feature isn't in the Xbox version of the game.[11]

Shadow the Hedgehog was developed by Sega Studios USA, the now-defunct United States division of Sega's Sonic Team, and published by Sega.[10] Sega first revealed the game and its tagline ("Hero or villain? You decide.") at the March 8, 2005 inauguration of Sonic the Hedgehog into the Walk of Game.[37] Sega formally announced development of the game for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox video game consoles on March 23, 2005.[15] The same year, Sega released the game in North America on November 15, 2005,[2] in Europe on November 18, 2005, and Japan on December 15, 2005.[3][1]

Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka and series co-creator Yuji Naka led the game’s development, with Iizuka serving as writer and director and Naka as producer. Iizuka, who had worked on the Sonic the Hedgehog series since 1993, targeted a younger audience with previous Sonic games and wanted to attract an older audience with Shadow the Hedgehog.[36] The game's development team wanted to make a game featuring Shadow to resolve plot mysteries that began with the character's introduction in Sonic Adventure 2.[15] The team felt that Shadow's design—inspired by films such as Underworld, Constantine, and the Terminator series—would make the story darker and allow for elements, such as vehicles and weapons, otherwise considered inappropriate for a Sonic game.[7] Naka stated in an interview with GameSpy that he wanted to use Shadow as the game's main character due to his popularity among fans and being the best fit for a "gun action" game.[38]

The game features several CGI-animated cutscenes produced by Blur Studio.[39] The music of Shadow the Hedgehog was composed by Jun Senoue, with additional work by Yutaka Minobe, Tomoya Ohtani, and Mariko Nanba. Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax is a video game soundtrack album released on CD on February 22, 2006. The album contains seven vocal songs from the game, one of which is a remix rather than the original.[40] Another soundtrack, Shadow the Hedgehog: Original Soundtrax, was also released on February 22, 2006. It contains both vocal and instrumental tracks from the game.[41]

In Japan, Shadow the Hedgehog was promoted through a collaboration with Japanese hip hop group M-flo, whose song "Tripod Baby" was remixed and featured in the commercial under the title "Tripod Baby (Shadow the Hedgehog Mix)". In addition to this, an alternate music video for "Tripod Baby" featuring the remix included new scenes with Shadow.[42][43]

Uniquely, the game contains profanities, particularly the frequent use of the words "damn" and "hell" spoken by Shadow[22][44][45][46] and other characters such as Espio,[16] the G.U.N. Commander,[47] Knuckles,[48] and Sonic.[49] The decision to include profanity and firearms was made early in development as it focused on a more mature tone. The ESRB ultimately assigned the game an E10+ rating for "fantasy violence" and "mild language".[4]

The game was also the first in the Sonic series to use the 4Kids cast from Sonic X following the death of Doctor Eggman's previous voice actor, Deem Bristow. This cast continued to be used until late 2010 when all cast members except for Mike Pollock were replaced before the release of Sonic Free Riders.[50][51]

Shadow the Hedgehog received generally negative reviews from critics, many of which were highly critical of its gameplay mechanics and differences from other Sonic games.[52][53][54][65] However, it was voted the best game of 2005 in the Official Jetix Magazine Reader Awards and named the "Best Platformer" of 2005 by Nintendo Power readers (receiving more votes than the staff's choice, Sonic Rush).[66][67] Shadow the Hedgehog was also a commercial success: Sega reported 1.59 million units sold from its release to March 2006[68] and 470,000 units sold in the U.S. from March 2006 to March 2007,[69] for total sales of at least 2.06 million. The game was later released as a part of three budget lines: Greatest Hits and Platinum Range for the PlayStation 2 (representing sales of at least 400,000 in North America and Europe, respectively)[70] and Player's Choice for the GameCube (250,000 in North America).[1]

Many critics derided the game's sense of maturity for a Sonic game, especially the addition of guns and other weapons.[61] Game Informer staff writer Matt Helgeson said, "not only is this new 'adult' interpretation of Sonic painfully dumb, it’s also ill-advised and almost feels like a betrayal to longtime fans."[57] Eurogamer staff writer Tom Bramwell felt that "the game's other selling point – its darker edge – [is] not really meant for us."[56] G4's X-Play and GameSpy staff writer Patrick Klepek thought similarly.[58][63] In contrast, Nintendo Power staff writer Steve Thomason rated the game 8.0 out of 10, stating, "this darker take on the Sonic universe succeeds for the most part, giving the series a bit of an edge without going overboard on violence."[61] In addition, Official Xbox Magazine reassured readers, "Don't worry, Shadow the Hedgehog isn't half as 'urban' or quite as 'gangsta' as it first seems."[62] Helgeson panned the game's "laughable" plot, saying it "makes no sense," and that various Sonic conventions undermined its attempts to be "mature" or "edgy".[57]

Reviewers also criticized the game's controls, especially Shadow's homing attack causing unexpected character deaths. Game Informer's Matt Helgeson complained that the attack "frequently sends you careening off into nothingness, resulting in cheap death after cheap death."[57] Nintendo Power, X-Play, Eurogamer, Official Xbox Magazine, and GameSpy agreed.[56][58][61][62][63] Other complaints focused on the mechanics of weapons and vehicles. Greg Mueller of GameSpot felt that the guns were nearly useless because of a lack of a target lock or manual aim, combined with an ineffective auto-aim.[11] IGN staff writer Matt Casamassina, 1UP.com staff writer Greg Sewart, Game Informer, X-Play, GameSpy, and London's The Times also criticized the mechanics of Shadow's weapons, vehicles, and other aspects of the game's controls.[5][57][58][59][63][64] However, Thomason said that "blasting Shadow's foes with the wide variety of weapons at his disposal is just plain fun."[61]

The level design received mixed comments. Mueller called some levels "extremely frustrating".[11] Helgeson stated that the fast-paced "levels are poorly designed", and Andrew Reiner, who wrote a second-opinion review for Game Informer, called the level design "disastrous".[57] Official Xbox Magazine was more mixed, balancing the possibility of getting lost in the large levels with the likely appeal of these stages to 3D Sonic gamers, particularly those who had enjoyed Sonic Heroes.[62] GameTrailers found that "the levels are either dark and urban, or bright and psychedelic. Either way, they fit in well to the Sonic universe. They are loaded with speed ramps, loops and an assortment of other boosts that rocket Shadow like a pinball."[6] Bettenhausen included "the classic run-like-hell roller coaster design philosophy" of some stages in his limited praise.[55] Casamassina disliked the "stupid level design", saying that "[j]ust because they dazzled players six years ago does not mean that Sonic Team can copy and paste exactly the same loops and spins into each new franchise iteration and expect everyone to be happy with the outcome."[59] GameSpy observed that "the areas are much less open than in previous Sonic games, but the level designers haven't taken advantage of the constraints."[58] Nintendo Power singled out the difficulty of the missions that require the player to locate objects.[61]

Critics praised the game's replay value, applauding the many possible paths that a player may take through the game. GameTrailers stated, "this choose-your-own-adventure style gives the game replay value that many platformers lack."[6] The Australian publication Herald Sun, Nintendo Power, and Official Xbox Magazine thought similarly.[17][61][62] GameSpot praised the variety of alternate endings, but concluded that "the gameplay isn't fun enough to warrant playing the game through multiple times."[11] Bettenhausen thought that the morality system felt artificial, but said that it extended the game's replay value.[55]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official PlayStation website
• Announcement trailer, shown at the Walk of Game awards in 2005