Tag Archives: Shadow The Hedgehog

The Jet Black Hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog Review

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The year of Shadow was really a hype moment in the world of multi media franchises. We got to get a Shadow game, movie, and a whole lot of appearances everywhere. It was a great time to be a Shadow fan and now it’s time to finally look at the manga that went on briefly. It roughly adapts the Shadow Generations story albeit with a few changes and even a new original character. Not sure why they changed it at all since the changes feel so minor but I suppose you don’t really need a reason to change things up and have fun right? It’s a quick and easy read with only 6 chapters.

The manga starts with showing us the good ole days of Shadow stopping the BioLizard and even getting to hang out with Maria. Those were back when he could show off a lot of emotion and had a really good time. Ultimately it wouldn’t last as Maria died tragically and Shadow lands in a weird void world. A little bat shows up saying that he can save Maria but Shadow needs to get all of the dark orbs to achieve his true power. Shadow is willing to go through all of the hardships in order to make this happen but if the bat is lying to him….there will be a whole lot of trouble coming soon.

The art is a little on the basic side but it’s not bad. I would have liked a more intense style which fits in with the serious story they are going for here but this one is easy to read which makes sense since the magazine is still for a younger audience. In a way that’s part of what makes it all very easy to read through because the panels are very big and the pacing is fast. Shadow basically takes down a boss in each chapter and keeps it moving. The final boss with Black Doom gets a good amount of screentime although in this version it’s pretty clear from the start that Shadow is a lot more powerful. As soon as he is able to fight seriously it is all over.

There is no big Sonic guest star appearance here so I suppose they couldn’t squeeze that in. It would have definitely been really good to have though. I suppose this way it is really 100% Shadow’s story with no real distractions or separations. The decision to basically have Shadow go from losing Maria to the Shadow Gens story without any of the Sonic games from the middle was an interesting choice. At least in terms of memories that was Shadow’s trajectory here. I would say I ultimately prefer the main story’s version of events but this way wasn’t bad. Having an alternate path is nice to experience the story from different angles.

There did have to be some big cuts though and sadly Metal Sonic is one of them as he basically just gets one page. Ah well at least he gets one page which is good. Him not appearing at all would have definitely been rough. Throughout the story Shadow does know that this whole thing is a longshot but he continues to try anyway because saving Maria is really important to him. Their bond of friendship is always one of the strongest ones in the Sonicverse. Ultimately Maria had to go through a lot in every timeline but she always stands strong and never gives in to the darkness. She does well in helping Shadow resist as well.

Shadow is in a tough spot throughout because he knows that every orb he absorbs brings him closer to losing control and yet he has to keep on absorbing them in order to even have a chance at saving Maria. So he gets closer and closer to the abyss the whole time all while knowing it’s a dangerous plan. At the end of the day that’s why he’s the Ultimate Life Form though. He can handle a whole lot more than the other characters could even dream of.

This has always been true throughout the Sonic mythos. Sonic and friends have their share of hardships and strife but at the end of the day still tend to have a lot of fun. Shadow is constantly dealing with the biggest threats around and also the eternal grief of losing Maria. It’s why there were a whole lot of memes around this period about how the Sonic Generations story was so happy and colorful the whole time while Shadow Generations was ultra serious business.

This manga did allow Shadow to express himself more though which I really appreciated. Starting off the manga with the Shadow from the past was a good idea for that reason. He really used to have a whole lot of fun until tragedy struck and he simply couldn’t anymore. If not for that then I’m sure that even now he would be having more fun. It could make for a nice AU story someday although the current Shadow is the character who rose to being the greatest in the franchise so it’s not like you’re topping that anytime soon.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about this one because in large part it is a very direct story. There aren’t a lot of twists and turns here and it’s pretty clear where the story is going to go from the start. Black Doom probably could have looked a bit stronger though, maybe one more chapter would have been ideal. Still, the series had to balance a whole lot of fights and action into 6 chapters so I can definitely cut it a ton of slack here. It’s all pretty reasonable but of course that also shows why we need a full Shadow ongoing manga.


Overall, Shadow makes for a good character so it’s not surprising that his manga would be really good. It’s very short but still makes for a compelling read. By the end of it you will definitely want to go ahead and buy the video game to get the full experience here since they couldn’t quite fit everything into this one. It is a great side product though and also works as a substitution if you don’t own the game consoles to play it on or something like that. In a way that’s the biggest part of being a multi media franchise after all. This way you have different ways to experience the story for everyone.

Overall 7/10

Sonic X Shadow Generations Review

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This game has been getting absolutely crazy amounts of hype and I am here to tell you right off the gate that it is all completely deserved. Yes, you heard it here first, this game is completely elite and an absolute credit to Sonic Team. The game may be short but just like Forces, it makes up for this with incredible gameplay and a killer story. I would even put this one above Sonic Forces as the 5th best Sonic game of all time. Ladies and Gentlemen…..we’re back!

The title includes a remaster for Sonic Generations which is pretty cool but of course I’m here for Shadow. So Shadow’s mode has a quick recap for new fans which is cool. Then the game starts out with him on the ARK looking into a mysterious life signature that GUN detected. It turns out that it’s Black Doom, the infamous demon has returned at last. His goal is unknown but Shadow will destroy him before it’s too late. Along the way he will have to fight off a lot of iconic bosses from the past like Metal Sonic and even gets to see some familiar faces from his past like Maria. This game will test Shadow as he has never been tested before.

The format is pretty similar to Sonic Generations in a lot of ways. You get to play levels from a bunch of different games as Shadow fights through his memories to get to Black Doom. A lot of times when you are close to completing a level, Black Doom will show up to throw you in Radical Highway. It’s a pretty fun gimmick and one that people have been playfully poking fun at. What can I say? It’s one of the greatest stages and Black Doom has good taste so it makes sense that he would keep bringing it back. It’s a pretty nice touch.

Each stage has 2 acts and then you play through 6 challenge levels to get to the boss. Rinse and repeat around 4 times and then you get to the final act. So the game is pretty short as mentioned, you can beat it in under 4 hours. I started it at around 5:15 and had it beat a little before 8:45. So we’re probably looking at it being a bit shorter than Sonic Forces but on that level. Pretty good considering that this was accompanying another whole game and for new players you’re getting both of them. There is also a considerable amount of play time here. I won’t oversell it or anything but it at least doubles the run time. You need to get well over 100 collectibles and have to 100% every stage if you want the Platinum trophy. I think it would be a lot of fun to really test out what you can do in every stage and go for the record.

I know a lot of people are having fun breaking the records over and over online. I doubt I would be near the top there because some of the stage runs I’ve seen are absolutely insane but getting all of the S ranks at some point would be fun. Generally I like trying to go for the platinum in Sonic games but they can be deceptively difficult. This one looks very achievable for now but I think the toughest trophies will be beating the final boss of both games without taking a single hit. That sound really tough and will take a lot of trial and error. I certainly got hit quite a few times in the Shadow campaign.

I could go on and on about how smooth the gameplay is. This is basically perfect and it’s what I think of when I’m ordering a Sonic game. I want to be running very fast like this in 3D environments. It’s just so epic, keep the boost mechanic and all of the hype platforming. Shadow’s gameplay is also unique with his various powers like the grapple, fish, wings, etc. None of them are stuff that I absolutely need to have but I definitely won’t turn them down either. It’s fun to be using the abilities and also gives you extra freedom on how you want to approach a level. Each level has so many different exits that it’s crazy. The amount of replay value built into each stage is really cool.

Meanwhile the bosses are a lot of fun and I also like all the extra details. Like in the Radical Highway stage, they modified the claws so they work the same way as they did in Adventure 2 where you had to click out to leave them instead of it being automatic. The character designs and animations are extremely good as well. The graphics are some of the best that we’ve ever seen in a Sonic game and definitely set the standard for future games. You want them to look like this going forward.

Then we have the soundtrack which is incredible! There isn’t quite as much hype as in Frontiers but we’ve still got lots of rock themes and remixes going around. The nostalgia for Shadow The Hedgehog was really cool. Right from the main menu theme you know that you’re in for a good time. The story itself is also really good. Now admittedly I would have liked more cutscenes and conversations with Maria and Gerald though. It felt like they didn’t get nearly as big of a role as I expected them to get. I suppose we got some closure there but assuming they never appear again, I guess I just wanted more.

Overall, Shadow Generations is an elite title! It may be a quick ride to the finish line but it’s a super enjoyable one all the way through. There is a good amount of replay value to keep you coming back but at the end of the day even without that I would have this one ranked super high. The top tier gameplay alone is enough for me to absolutely guarantee that. There’s a reason why Sonic is my favorite single player franchise after all and it’s because no other game series can keep up with this gameplay. At its best, Sonic will always be outdoing the competition. I eagerly await the new level in December as a reason to get back into the game and play it some more.

Overall 9/10

Why Shadow’s introduction is still the greatest cutscene of all time

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I’ve played over 900 games in my lifetime and I’ve cleared over 750 of them. There are a ton of great titles with amazing cutscenes so how can you ever go about picking the best one? Well, this actually wasn’t as tough as you might have expected it to be. Some true highlights over the years have been cutscenes like Sonic saving Nintendo from Tabuu, Custom Robo’s legendary opening cutscene, Sonic Riders had an awesome intro, etc. There have been a lot of amazing cutscenes, but none have quite hit home the way that Shadow’s intro did. I’ve seen this cutscene countless times over the years and it only gets better and better with each additional watch. Here’s 5 reasons why made such an impact. I’ve also linked the cutscene below.

Click here to see the cutscene on Youtube.

1. This moment changed the Sonic series forever.

Adventure 2 Battle is widely known as the greatest Sonic game of all time and it’s hard to dispute that. I would even consider it to be a top 5 game although it does depend on if we roll the Super Smash Bros titles into one. Sonic DX started what is now known as the golden era of Sonic which basically ended with Sonic 2006 leading the series to a bright conclusion. Then we got the reboot era where the plots took 100 steps back and the series has never really gone back to the heights it used to be in. Sonic Forces was an admirable attempt and one of the best Sonic games in a very long time, but we need a proper all star like this game.

Shadow’s mere appearance brought in a lot of drama and excitement. Finally Sonic would need to fight someone who was just as fast, if not faster than himself. Shadow had a lot of amazing abilities at his disposal like Chaos Control and also had a lot of mystery in his origin. The characters even mistook him for Sonic so it’s even possible that he’s the same color and the cutscenes just made him black so we could distinguish the characters when they met up. The stakes had never been this real before.

2. The Music

Shadow’s theme “Throw It All Away” perfectly fits the tone here and makes the cutscene 100x more epic. Seeing Sonic piece together what just happened while Shadow makes a grand speech about the chaos emeralds is excellent. The music also feels like something out of DBZ or a futuristic type game and that worked well due to Adventure 2 Battle still being the fanciest Sonic game to date. I still say that this game has the best look and feel to it in the whole franchise. I could go on and on about how great the game is, but I suppose we should focus on the cutscene.

3. Shadow outspeeds Sonic here

This is a big one because Sonic is used to being the fastest guy alive. Unlike the Flash who gets outsped in every season of his own show, Sonic never really has that issue. If you count toon force and gameplay mechanics Eggman gets away at times but there’s never been a character who was truly faster than him until now with the exception of Metal Sonic who effectively is a robotic version of the character. This cemented Shadow as quite the threat and this also took Sonic out of the driver’s seat. For the first time he was facing an enemy that he possibly couldn’t defeat on his own.

4. The return of the Chaos Emeralds

After Sonic DX I’m sure that people weren’t expecting these emeralds to appear so soon. They were really a big deal back in the day as you can tell from Sonic’s reaction. These things have a lot of destructive power and in the hands of a villain like Shadow it could spell doom for the entire city and even the world. It’s Sonic’s version of the Dragon Balls and they have always helped escalate the game to new heights. Their mere appearance also hinted that we would see Super Sonic again which is always a treat.

5. Sonic rushes in

This one is very important because it’s one of the reasons why I’m a huge Sonic fan. He is shocked at first, but quickly gathers his bearings and approaches Shadow. At this point a lot of main characters would have just been too shocked to do anything or they would have wasted a lot of time talking. Sonic knows that Shadow is a criminal who is basically holding a nuke and runs in. He’s also able to react to Shadow’s Chaos Control which is super impressive since such a teleport is basically instant. I dare say that this scene already shows that Sonic was FTL by this point. Then of course the army shows up and while Sonic could escape he basically just lets them take him by this point so as not to cause further damage. Sonic’s just one of the ultimate heroes and still one of the best video game characters of all time. His character is really shown quite well throughout this era as well as in the Wii storybook games.

There you have it, this cutscene is just amazing. It may only be around 1 minute, but it manages to fit in so much content here. This was the breakout moment for the Sonic series. As I mentioned, DX did start this path but this exact moment is when Sonic jumped from being a great franchise to being one of the all time best. If you don’t count crossover series like Super Smash, then I definitely do put it as my favorite video game franchise of all time. Of course I may still prefer some individual games from other series like DBZ and Madden, but for the whole package Sonic definitely wins here. It manages to keep a great line of hype and excitement along with great gameplay and a solid story. It started out as a title like Mario, Crash, or Kirby, or Spyro but then it took a more serious turn here and became a title that you could talk about in the same breath as something like Street Fighter or Final Fantasy. Adventure 2 Battle’s overall plot still holds up to this day with spectacular writing and a lot of twists. The entire gaming industry would not be the same without this game and that’s why when they finally announce the real Adventure 3 (So not Unleashed) then I’ll be ready!