Shadow the Hedgehog (Nintendo GameCube, 2005)

It's all too easy to draw parallels between Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. The classic mascot characters have endured the years to become videogame icons, recognized and loved by millions of game addicts around the globe. Nintendo's fat, Italian plumber helped pioneer the platformer genre and SEGA's blue hedgehog transformed it completely, placing a new emphasis on speed and rollercoaster-inspired level designs. In the old days, Mario and Sonic stood on even ground, each taking lead roles in an impressive selection of critically acclaimed titles. But as the years passed and consoles become more and more powerful, Mario's inevitable jump to the third dimension faired much better than Sonic's. Case in point: Super Mario 64 is remembered even today as one of the greatest games of all time. Sonic Adventure for Sega Dreamcast is conversely thought of as a flawed, but still enjoyable sequel by hardcore fans, and an altogether broken platformer by everybody else.

It is more than a little puzzling, therefore, that developers SEGA Studios USA and Sonic Team continue to draw upon that archaic, clunky design for various Hedgehog-based sequels. Sonic Adventure 2, for instance, hit Dreamcast and was later ported to GameCube with the same fundamental mechanics and shortcomings that blemished the original title. And now, the software house has created Shadow the Hedgehog for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, a game that looks and plays like it was designed for Dreamcast a full six years ago. Sonic's darker half occasionally shines in the same way that its predecessors did -- namely, with an impressive sense of speed and dazzling stages complete with trademark twists and turns. And it's solely for these reasons that anybody who defends the original Sonic Adventure will probably like Shadow's one. Alternatively, though, players unimpressed with Sonic's Dreamcast outings will find more of the same here, and unlike a fine wine, age has not improved the formula.

Identity Crisis
Shadow the Hedgehog seems to be Sonic Team's unofficial attempt at aging up its platformer games and as a result the title regularly deals with slightly darker and more convoluted themes that center on the balance between good and evil. The story is kick-started by a gorgeously rendered full-motion animation cinematic that introduces players to the troubled Hedgehog, who has recently lost his memory and is struggling to come to grips with his place in the world. The tale picks up after the events in Sonic Heroes and consequently Shadow can only vaguely recall in flashbacks that there was a girl named Maria, he may have loved her, and she was murdered.

Shadow isn't allowed much alone time before his thought process is so rudely interrupted by the sounds of war and destruction. An alien threat called Black Arms explodes onto the scene and demolishes everything in its path, including nearby city skyscrapers. This is, again, all illustrated in impressive FMA cut-scenes that seasoned Sonic fans will undoubtedly appreciate. Shadow observes this phenomenon with a level of indifference before he is approached by a demon-like figure known as Black Doom, who leads the extraterrestrial forces. The menacing entity acts as though he knows Shadow and commands the Hedgehog to retrieve the seven powerful Chaos Emeralds located throughout the land. The anti-hero begrudgingly agrees, but only because Black Doom promises to restore his memory immediately after the artifacts are collected.

First of all, I am a very patient person so that may explain why I have no trouble handling this game. I have played all the Sonic games for Gamecube without any problems or complaints except for the camera. I played through this game from beginning to end and this my honest gamer's opinion.

Shadow The Hedgehog has always had a mysterious past even to those who played Sonic Adventure 2. All that was known about him was that he was created as the ultimate lifeform by Dr. Gerald Robotnik and he had a special connection to a little girl named Maria. The rest of his past was filled with empty holes and unanswered questions. This game will finally fill in those holes and answer those questions if you play through it to the end. First off, an evil figure called Black Doom appears in front of Shadow and claims to know his past. Black Doom says he will tell Shadow his past if he brings him the seven chaos emeralds. The player can choose if Shadow is good,evil, or neutral. The whole good,evil, or neutral thing is to determine which path Shadow takes as the story progresses. To unlock the true ending you must play to all ten normal endings first though. This alone makes the game worth playing to the end. Each ending reveals a little bit about Shadow's past so seeing them all is definetly worth it. The only problem I had with the endings was that some of them seemed similar.

I have always loved Sonic music and this game is no different. There are a lot of good tracks in here. Graphics are alright. The only reason why the graphics won't look as good as Sonic Heroes is because most of the game is in a dark environment. Even then, they still look good especially the explosions. The cinema scenes are excellent. The greatest details are given even to the small blades of grass. Contols are easy to understand but some people still have trouble with them. B attacks or shoots, A does a jump and homing attack, Y is for the chaos attacks that you can use once the meters are full, X picks up and throws items and switchs weapons, and the C-stick controls the camera. When you shoot a gun, Shadow has a small auto-aim system. He shoots at the nearest enemy and with good accuracy so you won't miss much.

Now for the part everyone has been waiting for, the new stuff. First off, everyone is voiced by the actors from the Sonic X TV show. All of them are great actors and I had no complaints about voice acting. Tails has improved the most in my opinion. Now as far as the guns are concerned, it is not as bad as people make it. Yes, Shadow can pick up weapons and shoot things and people but the only thing he really kills are the aliens. When he shoots a person all they do is fall down. They don't die, in fact they lie there and keep talking. There is no blood either so isin't as bad as it could be. Finally, there is no swearing. The farthest they go with language is "damn" and "hell". If you read books, watch TV, go to school, or even go to church you will hear or read "damn" and "hell". These two words are becoming just as common as any other word. Trust me, it could be worse.

Personally, I have no problems with this game because I have played worse games. I also believe Sega had a good idea but introduced it wrongly and at the wrong time. I suggest you rent it first before you buy it depending on what type of person you are. Most fans shouldn't mind it but parents might not like it due to the new stuff involved and that is ok as well.

This game is pretty good. A bit slippery though. Reminds me of Luigi. The guy just doesn't stop he's always falling off ledges and stuff. He tip toes sometimes but most times he just leaps to his deaf. This game is really good in the beginning but near the end it gets pretty sucky and boring as you have to repeat boards because he can't stop slidding through the stage to his death. When there's timers and no maps it's pretty hard to race sonic or to race time itself. I love how they allow you to decide what mission you wish to do while in the middle of the board/stage. What I mean is, you can choose to listen to yourself, Dr. Doom or Robotnic and your options change throughout the game.

My son love the game, he was expecting it with high hopes. It didn't disappoint. He said: the game has my favorite characters Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Knuckles. It has many adventures, he feels like he is actually on the game. There is many levels to pick and also choices to pick from good to evil. Recommended by a 10 year old boy!

coolest hedgehog finally have his game gameplay is about the same as sonic adventure its awesome rules r very diffrent do good deeds evil deeds or do what ever ither way u will has a blast plus get the soundtrack lost & found play in from shadow the hedgehog music u love it =)