Shadow the Hedgehog: 10th Anniversary Remastered Edition Except not really this is just a topic about the game don't worry

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Ya know, given how tainted that poll was, I'd rather they not be her finishing it at this point. Only reason I'd want it to continue is so Blaze can win, but ha...

[Kuzu]

That's the thing about that poll, nobody is going to take it seriously because it was "tainted" but tainted how?

[azoo]

Oh, there's no arguing that Shadow is loved by many.

But how many of said group that aren't children, badly burned by his presence/treatment, or totally nuts is the real question. :v

Edited November 15, 2015 by Azoo

[LATER BUDDY]

There was nothing I loved more than walking over to my cabinet of games, dragging my finger across the row of games, pausing, pulling out "Shadow the Hedgehog" for the Gamecube, waltzing on over to the TV and popping the game in and starting it, debating if I should watch the CGI cutscene again, and then playing FUCKING WESTOPOLIS FOR THE 76TH TIME WHOO GOTTA GET ALL THOSE ENDINGS SHOOT THE BLACK ALIEN GUYS SHOOT THE POLICE HELL OF A GOOD TIME DAMN 4TH CHA-

Happy birthday Shadow

Edited November 15, 2015 by Wolfy

[Scott]

Shadow the Hedgehog? Boy, there are some things I could tell you about Shadow the Hedgehog.....

 

I LOVE Shadow the hedgehog!!!

For me, Shadow the Hedgehog was a great game. There were so many new ideas and gameplay tweaks that impressed me and yet it's so universally hated. "Shadow has guns" is what the fans say. But they are optional and that's the truth. It was probably the most diverse and layered Sonic-series/Spin-off title ever conceived!

Here you had three options to complete (most) levels; Good, Bad and Neutral. See, Good or Bad paths required a certain amount of work to complete the missions, usually having you pair up with a good or bad partner. But neutral was typically always my favourite, because neutral felt like standard Sonic fare, having you simply reach the GOAL ring! Doing a completely neutral run while picking up no weapons made the game feel less of a Spin-off and more of an expansion to the gameplay and art style introduced in Sonic Heroes. It was always obvious this game was running on the same engine.  Also, a neutral run lets you use both powers without feeling any way guilty

But man, with so many options, there were hundreds of stories to complete based on your order of levels playing in Good, Bad and Neutral, though they usually didn't make use of many unique cutscenes. But it never ever bothered me. I also give it props for improving the movement and grinding of Sonic Heroes. ESPECIALLY THE GRINDING!!! For the first time in Sonic History, I actually felt save when switching between grind rails  No more randomly falling through them.

Think this was also the first title that utilised the 4Kids/Sonic X cast. 

 

Some of my personal pros:

Some kickass band music!

Some good composed pieces as well as returning SA2 pieces!

Shadow was so edgy (I was also a pre-teen mosher) 

The entire Sonic Heroes cast was back (in some capacity)

Playable Maria

Some choice levels

 

Some of my personal cons: 

Multiplayer

Maria

Dr. Claw Black Doom

Guns

Certain tedious ARK levels  D:

 

Overall, I enjoyed the game and played it for a few years even after release  I liked the overall art-direction and enjoyed the final boss. While we'll never get a sequel, I feel like Shadows story in Sonic 06 was the perfect sequel to the Shadow the Hedgehog gameplay. It still played like Sonic Adventure, Shadow could still use Chaos Spear as well as many other Chaos moves and still had access to optional GUN vehicles but it got rid of the gunplay!  

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Well, I suppose I should make some semi-serious post about Shadow the Hedgehog, and how it's been for me. Well, you see, back when I was young, and the only Sonic games I had played was Sonic Heroes, Shadow, and Mega Collection Plus, as well as having watched Sonic X, I loved this game...despite not getting past anything other than the neutral storyline I think because I couldn't be bothered with the enemy killing nonsense, I thought the game was pretty good for whatever reason. I didn't understand the hatred for it. But then again, this was when I was young, and before I had played a 3D Sonic game that was better than Heroes and Shadow. So what do I think of it now?

Well. To give you a very very quick nutshell moment. Remember the awesome final line of SA2?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWp8u0y2j6k

"Sayonara, Shadow The Hedgehog".

Yeah, well it turns out Sonic meant that in more ways than one.

This game effectively destroys Shadow as a character and throws him into a deep spiral of edgy nonsense that Sega Shadow has never managed to recover from, to the point where his Boom counterpart is so underdeveloped and under-explained that in both appearances, he just walks in, and just acts like a edgy idiot who picks fights for no reason. He has no motivation, no reasoning, no justification, no nothing. The only place where Shadow even managed to recover was Archie Sonic, and that was because Ian Flynn was writing him. 

So what happened?

EDGE HAPPENED

I don't believe I really need to go over the origins of how this all came about. considering Wrath gave a very good description in the OP, but to sum up. The 2000s was a decade of edginess. SEGA thought "Who needed that bright blue baby when we could have a badass edgy character" so they did a popularity contest of who should get a spinoff, and who else would win than the character who was brought back to life due to popularity? 

So Shadow was up and ready, so what was Sega's theory of how this should work? Well...

That happened. Shadow's backstory in Sonic Adventure 2 was essentially written out of canon by making Shadow lose his memories and giving, well these guys: 

an extra dose of stupid so that none of them would have the brains to tell Shadow what went down back in Sonic Adventure 2. Leading to Shadow having to go through 10 different stories where he either works for himself, or works for the heroes, or works for Black Doom, and either become a Edgy Anti-Hero, or a complete and utter asshole, and because Sega couldn't tell a decent story to save their lives, most of the evil things Shadow does in the evil stories, aren't well thought out or explained, and as Marty McFly put it best.

Stuff like double crossing Sonic at the very last possible second in order to just be an asshole, and other things such as Sonic being turned into a idiot because he doesn't use guns, and every time he's on screen, he's turned into a bright blue overexcited numbskull who isn't edgy and cool enough to be important. Shadow just runs around, randomly swearing, Eggman...well. Do I really need to say it?

"YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY! THE MORE THE MERRIER!"

The story is a plothole, retconned ridden mess, with Gerald Robotnik, you know, the very same person who was trying to destroy the planet in SA2 being turned into a hero who deserved everyone's praise, a G.U.N commander who hates Shadow for something that G.U.N did themselves to Maria, and so many more messes that just make this game into a laughable joke, and ever since, Shadow hasn't been a decent character in the games, or even Boom.

That's not even getting into the elements of the game itself. The gameplay is like if you took the slippery controls of Heroes which worked kinda fine because at least the levels were built with a team dynamic and then pushed that to 11 because Shadow's speed is pushed up to full. Every minute it feels like you're close to falling right off a pit by mistake. The attacks Shadow has like the homing attack and the spin dash might as well not be there because they're so useless, Chaos Control and Chaos Blast are useless unless you're going for the neutral path, the level design is unbelievably terrible, and too fucking long for a Sonic game of all things, the alternate stories are all terrible, unexplained, and bare bones, the questions that Shadow seeks aren't even really answered, the vehicles in the game control terribly, and everything in general feels bad in general.

Ironically, the only thing that feels like it actually works right is the gunplay, which is surprising, considering they shouldn't have a place in a Sonic game, but they're surprisingly easy enough to control and handle.

The graphics are also pretty terrible, especially for a PS2/Xbox/Gamecube game. Just one year before Shadow, we had these:

 

Shadow's graphics had this:

Not only is the character models just copied and pasted directly from Sonic Heroes, but honestly, I'd say Sonic Adventure 2 Battles models looked much better and much more dynamic. Oh, and it doesn't help that even in 2005 the lip syncing was still pretty damn terrible. The games environments and colours are another big reason the graphics fail.

Even in games like Sonic Heroes and Sonic Riders where the graphics weren't as good, the colourful and really well designed environments at least saved the graphics a bit, but in Sega's sad attempt to be all edgy, grim and dark, they thought "THESE COLOURS ARE NOT EDGY ENOUGH" and so therefore, every environment usually consists of extremely bland and boring colours, with a lot of reds, purples, blacks, and browns. It's all just really boring and bleak, and they only add to the fact that the graphics are just terrible.

But finally, Shadow does one of the things that is unbelievably terrible for the Sonic series. A bad soundtrack. Like literally, I don't understand where people are getting that this soundtrack is a redeeming factor of the game. Literally the only songs I liked was I Am, All of Me, and All Hail Shadow, and of course I like that, It is Crush 40 who performs it. The rest of the soundtrack is a bunch of boring, bland, and forgettable songs that are a terrible excuse for music in a fucking Sonic the Hedgehog game, the one series that's fucking known for it's OSTs. The game series that is literally recognizable for it's amazing soundtracks released this lazy, contrived, bland, boring shit of a OST. 

No, do not tell me "Oh, well it's not as good as the others in the series but...". From Sonic the Hedgehog and it's list of well known OSTs. The series that gave us Open Your Heart, Live and Learn, City Escape, and more, I expect so much fucking more from this series, Thankfully 06's soundtrack redeemed the series in terms of Soundtracks.

After all this, what's the pros and cons then?

Pros:

-The gunplay is good, despite not fitting in.

-All Hail Shadow and I Am All of Me are really good songs

-The games cutscenes are unbelievably funny because of how terrible they are

Cons:

-The gameplay sucks, period.

-It effectively ruined a sympathetic character who still hasn't been the same ever since.

-The graphics are dull, lifeless, bleak, and awful

-The lip-syncing is a complete and utter fucking joke for 2005

-The multiplayer is crap

-It retcons random shit and doesn't bother to at least make a good story out of it

-Sonic is reduced to a hyper five year old in order to make Shadow look cooler

-The question of "Is this the real Shadow" isn't answered unless you wait a good 6 to 8 minutes into the Super Shadow vs Devil Doom fight, where Eggman will reveal he's the real Shadow in a quick throw away line

-The story is littered with idiotic characters, plotholes, unexplained and unjustified motivations, and is overall shit

-The soundtrack is one of the worst to come out of the series.

In general, Shadow is honestly one of the worst games in the series. I can say that without any hint of hesitation. It's complete garbage, with nothing redeemable whatsoever. The only decent contribution it has given the world is two good songs and that is it. It is complete shit. Nothing more, Nothing less. It was a bad idea to begin with, and the disaster it gave us shows that. The only good thing is Shadow, alongside 06 finally got Sega to pull their heads out of their fucking asses and make something good, which gave us Unleashed. But with 10 years past this game, the only thing I think can be said is to let this poor, broken experiment remain in the past, as a sad reminder of what happens when a game with absolutely no passion is created with the only intents being to look cool and edgy.

[cjmoore25]

I'm starting to sense a few negative vibes here...

[Kuzu]

I'm starting to sense a few negative vibes here...

An infamous game getting negative reception is surprising?

[Bolt]

An infamous game getting negative reception is surprising?

More tiring to me than surprising.

[cjmoore25]

An infamous game getting negative reception is surprising?

Oh it's not that, it just feels like the anger and hatred it's recieving feels more like it should be directed to a racist homophobic presidential candidate than a game that was just trying to cash in on a popular character to make the kiddies happy.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

More tiring to me than surprising.

Yes. HOW DARE WE PUT OUR OPINIONS INTO A THREAD BASED ON GIVING YOUR OPINIONS! 

[Bolt]

Yes. HOW DARE WE PUT OUR OPINIONS INTO A THREAD BASED ON GIVING YOUR OPINIONS! 

I never said that... ._.;

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Oh it's not that, it just feels like the anger and hatred it's recieving feels more like it should be directed to a racist homophobic presidential candidate than a game that was just trying to cash in on a popular character to make the kiddies happy.

That is quite possibly one of the most random, and silly things I have heard towards giving an opinion. How in the flying fuck does Shadow the Hedgehog have anything to do with politics?

[Nepenthe]

Yes. HOW DARE WE PUT OUR OPINIONS INTO A THREAD BASED ON GIVING YOUR OPINIONS! 

Why in the hell are you so offended that people are tired of the negativity surrounding something that you're resorting to an all caps sarcastic remark to an argument he never stated? Calm down.

[cjmoore25]

That is quite possibly one of the most random, and silly things I have heard towards giving an opinion. How in the flying fuck does Shadow the Hedgehog have anything to do with politics?

...

I think you missed my point.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I never said that... ._.;

You said it was getting tiring, but that's the thing, you have to expect an opinions thread to get possibly tiring. Just because we have the same opinions doesn't mean we can't explain them in different ways. By saying it's tiring, it implies that people shouldn't be giving that opinion because it's boring, and we've heard it before.

Why in the hell are you so offended that people are tired of the negativity surrounding something that you're resorting to an all caps sarcastic remark to an argument he never stated? Calm down.

Because this is an opinion thread, saying that hearing negative opinions based on a game is tiring implies that the entire post was boring because of the fact it was post that was negative on the game in question. 

...

I think you missed my point.

Your point is we shouldn't be negative towards a game, and instead should be aiming all of that towards politicians 

[Nepenthe]

Because this is an opinion thread, saying that hearing negative opinions based on a game is tiring implies that the entire post was boring because of the fact it was post that was negative on the game in question. 

No, all it implies is that people are tired of others beating a dead horse. That's a valid statement to make. You getting offended about that is unnecessary.

Regardless, since we can't apparently handle talking about the meta aspects of this game's reception, let's just all drop it and get back to discussing the game directly.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

You said it was getting tiring, but that's the thing, you have to expect an opinions thread to get possibly tiring. Just because we have the same opinions doesn't mean we can't explain them in different ways. By saying it's tiring, it implies that people shouldn't be giving that opinion because it's boring, and we've heard it before.

 

you said it better then I can. Also we are talking about a game that is not a popular Sonic game. So of course many opinions are gonna be negative. You have to deal with it.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

No, all it implies is that people are tired of others beating a dead horse. That's a valid statement to make. You getting offended about that is unnecessary.

Regardless, since we can't apparently handle talking about the meta aspects of this game's reception, let's just all drop it and get back to discussing the game directly.

Yes, I understand that, but in a thread that's literally based around giving your opinion on a game, especially one that's basically regarded as bad in the fanbase, you have to expect negative opinions. I admit, I overreacted, yes. But my point still stands, coming into a Shadow thread and writing that negative opinions that people are giving in the thread are tiring is like going into a Sonic 3 thread and saying the positive opinions are tiring. 

But at this point, as you said, let's just drop it and get back to discussing the actual game at hand.

[cjmoore25]

 

Your point is we shouldn't be negative towards a game, and instead should be aiming all of that towards politicians 

...Nooooooooooooooooo.......

My point is that the negativity its getting feels on par with the negativity a nazi or something would get, when what is just a video game where you play as a hedgehog shooting aliens and soldiers clearly doesn't deserve that.

And with that being said, I would like to offer you this:

[Tara]

Okay, guys, we get it.  Move on.

[Weh]

I know just the thing to get everybody back in the Shadow mood, here's a video of all of Shadow's end of level quotes, which are almost more hilarious out of context than in context.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I know just the thing to get everybody back in the Shadow mood, here's a video of all of Shadow's end of level quotes, which are almost more hilarious out of context than in context.

Shadow the Hedgehog Ladies and Gentlemen, All the angst of a 14 year old trying to be edgy.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id4Y11-CBGs

Damn! It looks like its half the game diolouge. 

[Muscles Maximum]

This game is funny. It's good for a quick giggle. The scene where we see the president admiring his picture of Sonic and Shadow by the white house is enough to get a real genuine laugh out of me and my friends. 

I don't really like this game, but I do quite enjoy expert mode. Controlling player 2 is a second controller was also cool little call back.

And yeah, I don't really get people saying this game's got a good soundtrack. 98% of the songs are really forgettable in my opinion.

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by monkokaio