What did you think about Shadow The Hedgehog?

[Indigo Rush]

Shadow the Hedgehog has a plethora of problems that simply arise from the concept itself: Sonic's dark and edgy double goes on a mission to "find his past" while toting guns, swearing like a damn fourth chaos grader who thinks he's edgy and cool for doing it. He's not. He's annoying and embarrassing himself.

There are some interesting ideas, I'll admit. Branching paths could work, though having multiple endings can cause confusion (oh, did it ever) and it was rendered moot anyway with the last story. Also, the shooting mechanic was kinda fun, but with a homing attack, why bother? That goes for swords and vehicles, too.

The game tried to be dark and serious, but ended up being immaturely angsty. The story and plot elements are uninspired (oooh, dark scary aliens!) and aren't the least bit captivating. Much of the music is overly grungy and lame. The dialogue, even after three previous attempts.to get it right, is stale. I feel nothing for these characters. Oh, and "coolness" is subjective. I think skydiving from a helicopter and boarding down the streets of a city while being pursued by the military is freaking awesome. Shooting aliens and people with gritty teeth and fiery vengeance? Over the top. Poochie. Trying too hard.

Shadow's controls in-game are as bad as his ability to control his emotions. Like a rocket on ice. Also, the tagalong friends are pointless and annoying in this. At least, on the Genesis games, Tails' glitches were funny. Being able to control Maria is kind of interesting, though. The level design is nothing special or stand-outish. With a few exceptions, the levels are forgettable.

This just isn't fun, and is certainly NOT the game the series needed at this time.

[Diogenes]

you guys must think i like shadow like a little kid would.

OH MY GAWSH! GAWNS! DESTSWUKSHUN! EMOW EVOWEWEHR! SHADOW IS SOOO COWAL!!! MOTUSIKALS!!!!

well, no. im 15 and i hate that in a fan.

Bull. Basically all you did was gush about how "awesome" and "epic" Shadow is. You are exactly that fanboy.

I'm not in the mood to tear through your post point by point (it'd be far too depressing for me), but if you want to know what I think about the game and why it's terrible, that covers how the game fails on almost every level.

[Burnt Ash]

Well, I hate it a lot, from the basic thing in a platformer: the controls. The controls managed to be even worse than Sonic Heroes, which was worse than Sonic Adventure 2. Seriously? The game shows maybe once that it improved upon previous titles, and the reason I say that is because of the ability to flawlessly switch rails. Apart from that? Shadow is anything but an improvement from previous titles. That's basically why I hate it. Among this, there are other things I dislike in the game, such as: the story, the characterization, the tone, the execution of the Black Arms, the level design, the guns and vehicles, and the graphics. Seriously! I literally have almost no love for Shadow the Hedgehog.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Burnt Ash

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

-snip-

I was actually, on the whole, discussing how the graphics, presentation and story relate to one another. Something like Shadow the Gamehog merely seems to take the superficial elements of a dark, mature story (like the overly serious tone, dark colors, edgy story options, and so on) without understanding why dark, mature stories would have them. It is a bit like a little kid dressing up in her parents clothes; she understands bits and pieces of how to dress and act like an adult, but misses the point of the mindset behind them. This is as much a problem with the story as it is for the artsyle.

And as much as I hate to be that gal again, remember your spelling. Proper diction is a bit more enforced here than in other parts of the internet, but it shouldn't take all that much effort to clean things up.

And as a pro-tip, you can just hit that "multiquote" button in the right-hand corner of posts to grab quotes from multiple people, and then hit "quote" to put them all in your reply box. Hope that helps. :-)

[Eternal EX]

@Vertekins and External X

i really dont like the shadow of now.....hes too...unshadowy. if you know what i mean. but he's still one of my fave chars. and i WAS brought up to think of the swearing thing, but really, sometimes it can get annoying. i dont curse. i CAN. but i dont. too smart for it. i use real words. but i understand what you mean. and it doesn change the fact that you need soap in you mouths. ALL OF YOUUUUU!!!! XD

oh and thanks, Eternal X. i think......

@DevilDoom

thanks! thats all i was saying!

Modern Shadow has not had any spotlight to do anything because Sega is to scared to try. ALMOST any of the sonic characters have potential to be amazing lovable fan favorites. Look at Knuckles and Tails. The second they hit the scene (especially knuckles) they were a huge thing. Later Gamma joined the group. And for the one game he showed up, he was loved by many. And gained..............wait for it...................................

ETERNAL FAME!

Shadow just needs a GOOD GAME with sonic. Something that reminds us why Shadow is a good character.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Eternal X

[Diogenes]

Something that reminds us why Shadow is and was always a badass character.

Remind me, why was Shadow a badass character?

[Eternal EX]

Edited my last post.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Remind me, why was Shadow a badass character?

Because he constantly told us that he was remember?

"I'm the coolest" --- Sonic Adventure 2 boss fight.

[Iju]

@ Luigi and Rush and Horsaroni

Luigi: i am, in no way,defending the graphics of this game. in NO WAY. NO WAY am i doing this. i think they are terrible. but you are thinking on the side that i dont want you to. i dont like the game, as in graphics, levels, and guns. i am liking it because of the game ITSELF. if it was made into movie mode, do you think you would like it? think about it. push the gameplay out of your mind. because thats what im doing. im thinking about the scenes only. thats why i like the game. the game itself. not the gameplay and stuff like that. if you do the same for 06, it STILL sucks. thats what im getting at.

Rush,try to forget about the gameplay and engine and camera and all that. if you do that, then you wont understand why i like the game. take it all out, and then you will see why i like it. i like it because if itself. i read the story line, and then i looked at it. the storyline, and the way shadow appears in this game is why i like it. if you think im defending the graphics or controls in any way, you will just get angry at me. thats not why i like it. im not defending those. its the STORYLINE and how shadow IS. thats why i like it.

Horsaroni: shadow is one of my favs. im not being a retarded biased fanboy.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

Remind me, why was Shadow a badass character?

The guy's got rocket shoes. What more do you need?!

[Wraith]

Luigi: i am, in no way,defending the graphics of this game. in NO WAY. NO WAY am i doing this. i think they are terrible. but you are thinking on the side that i dont want you to. i dont like the game, as in graphics, levels, and guns. i am liking it because of the game ITSELF. if it was made into movie mode, do you think you would like it? think about it. push the gameplay out of your mind. because thats what im doing. im thinking about the scenes only. thats why i like the game. the game itself. not the gameplay and stuff like that. if you do the same for 06, it STILL sucks. thats what im getting at.

So you're basically defending a game you didn't actually play.

Please, just stop.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

So you're basically defending a game you didn't actually play.

Please, just stop.

Layoff the new girl, Luigi. There are better ways of conducting yourself.

[Diogenes]

Horsaroni: shadow is one of my favs. im not being a retarded biased fanboy.

You've given me plenty of evidence to the contrary, and no reason to believe otherwise.

[Lady Soniko]

Horsaroni: shadow is one of my favs. im not being a retarded biased fanboy.

No... Really you just are.

Don't challenge Diogenes, you have no idea what you're doing!

Stahp!

[Burnt Ash]

2. More epicness of Shadow than SA2 and Heroes combined.

In his intro, he does things we never even thought possible. "Chaos Blast!" 0.o What...is Chaos Blast? Just the awesomeness you can do in the game too! It completely annihilates everything! Super fun and powerful! Then, we have more of what Chaos control can do, (Stopping time! Flying at uncountable speeds ahead of levels! Oh yeah! Shadow kicked away his flying boots and and flies with Chaos powers!!!!!) Then he also has epicness of using guns!

5. Epic lines.

We know Sonic has said some pretty cool and funny things, but Shadow (being his rival and all) even rivals that. "Death to all that oppose me!" "I am the ultimate life form!" Even his own way of saying "Chaos Control" is cool.

6. His awesomeness is immortal.

I mean this 2 ways.

1. His awesomeness is never dying and will be noted forever (Year 21,999: "Hey remember that cool guy, Shadow the Hedgehog?)

2. He really is immortal. Well, with all that epicness flowing within him, you wouldn't think it would all be wasted by his being mortal, would you? XD

I'm not sure if this impresses you, but the fact of beings being immortal has always interested me. I just love the word, and the meaning of it. And the fact that one of my favorite characters is immortal? -.- MY MINE IS BLOWN.

I'm not entirely sure, but this kinda does scream fanboy/fangirl to me. But anyway. It's alright to say you like Shadow the Hedgehog, but remember: what you like isn't always what's good.

[Iju]

I was actually, on the whole, discussing how the graphics, presentation and story relate to one another. Something like Shadow the Gamehog merely seems to take the superficial elements of a dark, mature story (like the overly serious tone, dark colors, edgy story options, and so on) without understanding why dark, mature stories would have them. It is a bit like a little kid dressing up in her parents clothes; she understands bits and pieces of how to dress and act like an adult, but misses the point of the mindset behind them. This is as much a problem with the story as it is for the artsyle.

And as much as I hate to be that gal again, remember your spelling. Proper diction is a bit more enforced here than in other parts of the internet, but it shouldn't take all that much effort to clean things up.

And as a pro-tip, you can just hit that "multiquote" button in the right-hand corner of posts to grab quotes from multiple people, and then hit "quote" to put them all in your reply box. Hope that helps. :-)

oh and thanks.

Well, I hate it a lot, from the basic thing in a platformer: the controls. The controls managed to be even worse than Sonic Heroes, which was worse than Sonic Adventure 2. Seriously? The game shows maybe once that it improved upon previous titles, and the reason I say that is because of the ability to flawlessly switch rails.

you are doing what i dont want you to do. you are looking at the engine and the gameplay. im not looking at that. im looking at how shadow appeared in the game and how the storyline was. think about it. if you never saw the gameplay, or the graphics and it was turned into a movie COMPLETELY made into an anime styled movie, would you like it? speak honestly.

[Danj86]

Might as well add my opinion into the mix.

I don't mind Shadow as a character. He was pretty cool in Adventure 2 and Black Knight, but kinda...meh in Heroes and 06. That's just my opinion.

Regarding the game, my biggest gripe would've had to be the sudden cast change. Add that with playing as a different character and the very un-Sonic-ish environments, made it feel like I wasn't even in Sonics Universe. The fugly Aliens and Humans didn't help that either.

I always enjoy a good boss fight, but non of the boss battles had that same sense of fun and peril that I was used to...Eggmans machines didn't look interesting or deadly, they just looked...kinda dumb...

Speaking of Eggman, that horrible remix of what was once an awesome song. E.G.G.M.A.N, what have they done to you?! * weeps*

And I didn't quiet understand the point of that G.U.N guy, and the game didn't do enough to make me care.

There is something that always confused me about what people thought of the game. Maybe I missed something. But I don't recall any evidence that Shadow killed Eggman. All he did was appear to hit the Doc, with two fingers I think. Then Eggman screamed "Noooo!" or something...is that all that happened? Because he could've just knocked him out. right? Or just tapped him and walked away, or even stopped at the very last minute and said "Psych!"

I imagine the Chaotix did much more damage to him, if they caught him at the end of Heroes. Plus the doc has survived being blown up several times, some of which were in outer space. Being blasted by the God of Destruction, beaten up by the Gizoid, getting slapped by an all mighty demon, being stung by an enraged bee, falling at an unknown height after his flying attack weapon was destroyed along with his Egg Mobile, being in a crappy anime and finally being trapped in a white dimension with his younger self.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Rush,try to forget about the gameplay and engine and camera and all that.

Ok I'll try... lets see now.

"This game is terrible, the level design is broken, the graphics look like vomit on a pizza, the hero or villain selling point doesn't work, the multiple paths are stupid as only one is right and most of the alternatives make utterly no sense. Theres constant slowdown whenever I enter an area with two enemies...

But it was worth my £35 because Shadow carries guns... Which I absolutely have to use since the game has been designed so that if you play without using them you're not going to do well... And it's ok because Shadow is looking for his past, which is awesome because... ... .. .. nobody has really cared about his past?

Wait a second? One of the biggest selling points for this game and the character was 'his mysterious past.' Did anyone ever care about this? I don't ever remember seeing campaigns to find out if his father was an alien from outer Space or anything about his past?

Seriously, did anyone ever care about this? After SA 2 and even Heroes did anyone ever strongly think 'I need to know more about Shadow!' In SA2's hero story, he's barely in the bloody game!

[Jack / Joker]

lju... You obviously have a very strong opinion on this game... which is totally fine... but you haven't even played it? You haven't even experienced the game's first-and-foremost aspect and I highly recommend you do...

The grinding was a vast improvement over Heroes' in my opinion.

Edited October 14, 2012 by -The Joker-

[Burnt Ash]

you are doing what i dont want you to do. you are looking at the engine and the gameplay. im not looking at that. im looking at how shadow appeared in the game and how the storyline was. think about it. if you never saw the gameplay, or the graphics and it was turned into a movie COMPLETELY made into an anime styled movie, would you like it? speak honestly.

Seeing as how I see Shadow in SA2 having superior characterization in comparison to Shadow in ShTH, I honestly would not like it.

[Wraith]

you are doing what i dont want you to do. you are looking at the engine and the gameplay. im not looking at that. im looking at how shadow appeared in the game and how the storyline was. think about it. if you never saw the gameplay, or the graphics and it was turned into a movie COMPLETELY made into an anime styled movie, would you like it? speak honestly.

No. The story sucked too.

[SIXTH-RATE SOMA]

you are doing what i dont want you to do. you are looking at the engine and the gameplay. im not looking at that. im looking at how shadow appeared in the game and how the storyline was. think about it. if you never saw the gameplay, or the graphics and it was turned into a movie COMPLETELY made into an anime styled movie, would you like it? speak honestly.

They'd need a better script and a better director. A movie centered on Shadow doesn't have to be bad, but if it's based off his game then I can't see it doing all that well.

EDIT: I think it's best to say that we've reached an impasse. Neither side is willing to budge on the issue, so it might be best just to walk away from this one.

Edited October 14, 2012 by The Fifth-Rate Flareon

[Diogenes]

you are doing what i dont want you to do. you are looking at the engine and the gameplay. im not looking at that.

Bit strange to look at a game and ignore the gameplay.

im looking at how shadow appeared in the game and how the storyline was. think about it. if you never saw the gameplay, or the graphics and it was turned into a movie COMPLETELY made into an anime styled movie, would you like it? speak honestly.

No. Not at all. ShtH's plot is arguably worse than its gameplay (though it's a close call either way).

[Jack / Joker]

How the titular character is represented and the story's quality are important to how the game is received, but they're easily sacrificial. I like the main character of Wario World and I like the story of KotOR 2, but I hate those games. Shadow as a character and as a story is godawful in my opinion, but this won't matter too much if the game is fun to play... and it isn't...

This had a surprisingly mediocre soundtrack for a Sonic game...!

[Iju]

Ok I'll try... lets see now.

"This game is terrible, the level design is broken, the graphics look like vomit on a pizza, the hero or villain selling point doesn't work, the multiple paths are stupid as only one is right and most of the alternatives make utterly no sense. Theres constant slowdown whenever I enter an area with two enemies...

But it was worth my £35 because Shadow carries guns... Which I absolutely have to use since the game has been designed so that if you play without using them you're not going to do well... And it's ok because Shadow is looking for his past, which is awesome because... ... .. .. nobody has really cared about his past?

Wait a second? One of the biggest selling points for this game and the character was 'his mysterious past.' Did anyone ever care about this? I don't ever remember seeing campaigns to find out if his father was an alien from outer Space or anything about his past?

Seriously, did anyone ever care about this? After SA 2 and even Heroes did anyone ever strongly think 'I need to know more about Shadow!' In SA2's hero story, he's barely in the bloody game!

i have read that all SEGA wanted to do was show shadow's power and past. and i dont see why you are griping so much. shadow hasnt had another game and probably wont. it was just made for others to understand shadow a lot clearer. and it did that. the fact of using guns....yes i dont like it all that much. i agree...somewhat.

lju... You obviously have a very strong opinion on this game... which is totally fine... but you haven't even played it? You haven't even experienced the game's first-and-foremost aspect and I highly recommend you do...

The grinding was a vast improvement over Heroes' in my opinion.

i HAVE played the game, im not saying the game is GOOD. in its essence. its like saying: i like the cake, but really i only eat it because of the flavor it comes in, and nothing else comes in this flavor, so ill eat it. thats what im saying. i dont care about the gameplay (it WAS bad, i DO know this) or things like that. i care about what WAS the game. shadow and the storyline itself. thats all i like.

No. The story sucked too.

how did it suck? people like you keep saying that,but you wont explain. 06, storyline....THATS what sucked.

Edited October 14, 2012 by Iju