Shadow the Hedgehog (The Video Game) Appreciation Topic

[Lightspines]

There's so much hate for this game. I understand that the controls are flawed and what not, but the game is severely underrated. It's also not a Sonic game, and a lot of you don't realise that. It did sell a lot, and got mixed scores (Ranging from 4/10 to 8/10). I thought it was about time for some positivity to be brought to the game, so I made this topic. In my opinion, the controls aren't as bad as they're made out to be, and the frame-rate is consistent. The gameplay is pretty much Shadow's stages from SA2, but with more alternate routes and abilities. The highlight of the game is the story, and art-style. Even though there are a few plot-holes, it's still a decent story. Overall, I'd give the game a 7/10. It could've been much better, but it also could've been much worse...

[JezMM]

Actually I personally don't class it as a spin-off, since it has platforming gameplay and it's story is an important part of the Sonic mythos.

But yeah, I agree it wasn't all bad. Things Shadow did right were:

- Consistant platforming gameplay throughout the entire game - no genre roulette. The gunplay is very streamlined so it feels like a combination of Speed and Shooting gameplay as oppose to Heroes which felt constantly awkward and in flux.

- A wide array of stages to play, 23 in all, which is in fact the most "full length", stages a 3D non-genre-roulette Sonic game has had. Granted, the quality of these levels varied a lot, but still can't argue with the raw content.

- Fixed a LOT of the control issues introduced with Heroes, most notably the slippy slidey movement, awkward grinding, and rubbish camera controls - all of these were just gone in Shadow for me.

Also I really liked the soundtrack (not that it would fit a normal Sonic game of course - was great as a one-off), but that's subjective.

Edited October 7, 2011 by JezMM

[Koopalmier]

What the game did right:

It improved on Heroes' flaws. A lot. First, the controls are better. Then, the levels are more fun, mostly because there are no random glitches that kill you or rails that bring you to death. Also, there are much more checkpoints (in Heroes, if you die, you just wasted 5 to 10 minutes, yay), and it gets bonus points for allowing you to warp back to any save point you encountered.

I also liked the story. It expanded and concluded Shadow's myth. Okay, the real canon part isn't clearly shown, but still.

I also like the fact the game's more serious than other Sonic games. I mean, it happens during a major war. In a cartoonish universe. I like that. Not that it should happen all the time though.

I'm OK with this game. I think Heroes was worse.

[Soniman]

Im about to continue Dark Mode right now, I stopped playing halfway through because..well, the gameplay is awful >.>

[Neon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_-e_iSFE6g

[Koopalmier]

However, the games DOES have really useless stuff (the guns and the vehicles aren't exactly useful) and some levels are garbage. But there are lots of levels to compensate, so... Yeah, I like this game.

[Lightspines]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_-e_iSFE6g

Shadow the Hedgehog > Your faves.

You must deal.

[Neon]

Shadow the Hedgehog > Your faves.

You must deal.

Sonic 1, 2, 3 & K, Adventure 2, Unleashed? Nah.

[Koopalmier]

Shadow the Hedgehog > Your faves.

You must deal.

What the fuck is a "fave" anyway ? You mean, like, favorite games ?

I think Shadow The Hedgehog isn't bad, but it's not a golden gem either. I like it, but it's not game-of-the-year worthy.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The one good thing I can say about Shadow the Hedgehog is that it's no where near as bad as Sonic 06.

That and it's consistency. It added a whole bunch of junk we could do without, but it kept track of a number of aspects of the character. They kept in mind the character's age and used that as a basis for the game's plot as opposed to being completely random. So while we did get a bunch of new stuff we can do without, they didn't do it too haphazardly...the same can't be said for the execution however, for the umpteenth time.

[Soniman]

Sonic 1, 2, 3 & K, Adventure 2, Unleashed? Nah.

Imma steal this quote and put in Adventure, Colors, and Heroes.

[Neon]

I did find some parts of the game enjoyable. I also liked how it wrapped up Shadow's damn backstory, as well as the soundtrack.

[Lightspines]

What the fuck is a "fave" anyway ? You mean, like, favorite games ?

I think Shadow The Hedgehog isn't bad, but it's not a golden gem either. I like it, but it's not game-of-the-year worthy.

Yeah. Fave is short for favourite. People's faves are always getting bothered on this board.

[Chibinuva]

I honestly liked the game a lot (of course, it's partially since like most games, I got it for $20 bucks or specifically, half that.) The variety of levels is nice, along with the alternate storylines and bosses (not a big fan of having to fight ten bosses just to fight devil doom though,) and the guns are rather convenient (very fun to skate through a level shooting like crazy with a machine gun.) The platforming is nice too, and the vehicles, while not really my favorite, were interesting. It also established a nice backstory, and was consistent, aside from the alternate endings and maybe other parts that weren't considered canon. The music was epic, and it had good multiplayer as well (even though it's a sonic game, a game with a variety of weapons, vehicles, attacks and chaos powers just screams for battling.) Also, the chaos powers were fun, and provided an easy way of acquiring a super form-esqe character without draining rings, collecting artifacts, or waiting til the end of the game. The chaos blast and chaos control were very fun (though the latter was mostly used for get-to-the-goal, aka neutral missions,) and he at least had chaos spear in the final fight, not to mention the invincibility and unlimited ammo. One of my main problems was the points system, specifically that you had three different scores, all of which went to zero if you died, and that if you failed the mission you were going towards (say the hero,) and had to do the other mission (such as dark,) then all your points actually counted against you.

[Diogenes]

The gameplay is pretty much Shadow's stages from SA2,

Except more slippery, with a barely-functional homing attack, a worthless spindash, enemies with ridiculous amounts of health, clunky and mostly-useless vehicles, guns of varying usefulness, crappy missions, and a special move that's all but worthless when trying to complete those missions (Chaos Control).

The highlight of the game is the story, and art-style.

The game looks like old, rotten meat. I can't think of a single Sonic game with a worse art direction than this. Even '06's crappy realism is easier on the eyes.

And the story? You're seriously going to praise the story? The story is an abortion. The mission structure means there is no real story, as you bounce from one random location to another, doing things that may or may not have actually happened. The only things that matter are that B-movie reject Black Doom is Shadow's second daddy, a completely unnecessary and ridiculous addition to Shadow's backstory, and the Last Story, which is basically everyone lining up to praise Shadow because plot device makes them helpless. Plus the game all but ignored the plot hooks that Heroes set up, being too busy with this stupid alien shit to make use of the Shadow androids outside of making them generic mooks in two levels. And the worst part (I'm lying it's all the worst part) is that the one thing that had justified the game's existence, the question of whether or not Shadow was the real Shadow, was relegated to a single line 9 minutes into the final boss fight, so late that most people wouldn't ever hear it. Of course, the whole thing's built for children who think cursing and guns are the epitome of cool and mature, so it's no wonder they didn't waste their time writing something good.

[Chooch]

I've said it countless times already, but I honestly find Shadow the Hedgehog to be, at the very least, better than Sonic Heroes.

Shitty concept executed decently > Fantastic concept executed in the worst way possible. I can tolerate Shadow, not Heroes.

[Lightspines]

Except more slippery, with a barely-functional homing attack, a worthless spindash, enemies with ridiculous amounts of health, clunky and mostly-useless vehicles, guns of varying usefulness, crappy missions, and a special move that's all but worthless when trying to complete those missions (Chaos Control).

The game looks like old, rotten meat. I can't think of a single Sonic game with a worse art direction than this. Even '06's crappy realism is easier on the eyes.

And the story? You're seriously going to praise the story? The story is an abortion. The mission structure means there is no real story, as you bounce from one random location to another, doing things that may or may not have actually happened. The only things that matter are that B-movie reject Black Doom is Shadow's second daddy, a completely unnecessary and ridiculous addition to Shadow's backstory, and the Last Story, which is basically everyone lining up to praise Shadow because plot device makes them helpless. Plus the game all but ignored the plot hooks that Heroes set up, being too busy with this stupid alien shit to make use of the Shadow androids outside of making them generic mooks in two levels. And the worst part (I'm lying it's all the worst part) is that the one thing that had justified the game's existence, the question of whether or not Shadow was the real Shadow, was relegated to a single line 9 minutes into the final boss fight, so late that most people wouldn't ever hear it. Of course, the whole thing's built for children who think cursing and guns are the epitome of cool and mature, so it's no wonder they didn't waste their time writing something good.

[Diogenes]

It's like you haven't heard of an opinion.

[Lightspines]

Shockingly enough, simply stating "it's my opinion!" doesn't prevent you from saying something incredibly stupid.

Then you don't agree with me on the story. It's a shitty story.

A teen/adult liking Colors takes more mental and emotional maturity than liking ShtH. And the alien powers are just a gimmick, not the driving force behind the tone of the game.

[Blacklightning]

Me: "I like this"

You: "You're stupid for liking this"

[Burnt Ash]

I liked Shadow.

Good things (for me) :

Platforming.

Most of the music.

Level Design (except Westopolis and Central City)

I found it to be fun....

The multiplayer with the second controller in story mode.

Some cutscenes.

Bad things (for me)

You can't skip cutscenes for the first time seeing them.

Controls were way too slippery the first time around...to the point were it was worse than Sonic 2006's controls...at least these were easy to adjust to.

Some cutscenes.

DEVIL DOOM.

Almost Dead.

Space Levels.

Overall, I liked Shadow. There were some bad parts to it, but it was mostly good for me.

[Diogenes]

To me, Sonic Colours is a game designed for toddlers. The gameplay is very automated, and features gimmicks designed for toddlers. The story is very teletubbie-like, and those incredibly lame jokes sound like something you'd hear from Playhouse Disney.

"Toddlers toddlers toddlers, I don't play baby games for babies because I'm not a baby." Holy crap man you could not possibly make it more obvious that you're a child trying very hard to look mature. What are you, 11? 12?

"A teen/adult liking Colors takes more mental and emotional maturity than liking ShtH" - You cannot be serious. If so, this argument is over.

A teen/adult that likes Colors can see past the stereotypical interpretation of maturity and simply enjoy Colors on its own terms, without worrying about other people judging them. A teen/adult that likes ShtH is just buying into a shallow, childish understanding of maturity, one that places some inherent value on "restricted" things like guns and swear words, rather than understanding that these things need to be used to create depth and are not deep in themselves.

[Lightspines]

More like:

You: "I like this"

Us: "You're stupid for liking this and here's exactly why you are stupid for liking this"

An argument based on opinion does not somehow overrule or negate an argument based on objectivity no matter how much you plug your fingers into your ears and believe to the contrary.

Sounds like you need to do a little reading up on the definition yourself, guy,

I'm sorry, but you're irrelevant to this argument.

Anyone that has an urge to start an argument over someone's opinion needs help. Everyone is an individual, and we all have different thoughts on things. There isn't a single reason to insult someone for liking something. This is also an appreciation topic to bring positivity to the game, so attacking someone's positive opinion really isn't the smartest thing to do.

"not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." - Erm, you clearly didn't understand what I said.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Lightspines

[Diogenes]

Anyone that has an urge to start an argument over someone's opinion needs help.

You've shown no hesitation to call Colors a baby game for babies, so you really can't take the high ground here.

There isn't a single reason to insult someone for liking something.

What if they like Hitler?

This is also an appreciation topic to bring positivity to the game, so attacking someone's positive opinion really isn't the smartest thing to do.

No opinion is immune to criticism. Not even if you say "this is a place only for my opinion liking things".

[Blacklightning]

I'm sorry, but you're irrelevant to this argument.

Not anymore.

Anyone that has an urge to start an argument over someone's opinion needs help.

Anyone who feels the need to defend one with the opinion card because it doesn't make any actual sense needs more.

"not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." - Erm, you clearly didn't understand what I said.

Oh, I understood perfectly what you said. As it turns out though, the definition you posted doesn't exactly support your argument as much as you think it does, so don't blame me if you can't handle that.

Or, as you would probably put it:

Edited October 7, 2011 by Blacklightning