Shadow the Hedgehog

The Good
What I loved most about the game was it gave my personal favorite character his own game. Shadow the Hedgehog has all of the speed, excitement and twisty roads you would expect to find in a normal Sonic game. The use of guns I thought wouldn't work to begin with, but as the story and the main character is so dark, it somehow worked.

Another thing I liked about the game is the various routes you can choose to complete the game, which gives it an RPG feel. The main thing that really give the mood is the music of the game. The main theme works so much I put it on my iPod (sad, eh?).

The Bad
It took me about 2 months to realise that you had to defeat the 10 different bosses at the end of the game to get the last story. I also think that each different story is, although challenging, far too short, i.e. only five levels per story.

The Bottom Line
This, I feel, is a must have for hardcore Sonic fans (like me). However some aspects of the game, like the use of firearms, may not be suitable for the younger fans.

The Good
Well, one of the first few noticeable touches to this game is the fact that Shadow is the main character of the game. The only time that i know when Sonic wasn't the main character in one of his games was in Sonic Battle.

Apart from that, there isn't that much to give this game credit for except the decent soundtrack to balance for the stress the game gives you.

The Bad
One of the main points where this game falls apart is the fact that SEGA thought it was wise to "mature" things up a little. This game has got no replay value, terrible controls and the repetitive use of the word, "Damn". This is supposed to be a SONIC game; "damn" has no right to be in a game series that has always been released for ALL AGES!

Another flaw with the game is the graphics. The cinematics look absolutely stunning, but as soon as you reach the actual game; it looks absolutely terrible. It's just like being raised into heaven for two minutes and then being thrown into hell for the next couple of hours! I know that in my previous reviews; graphics aren't a big concern for me but I know for a fact that SEGA could've done a lot better than this!

Another big addition to the game is the feature of guns... WHY are guns in a Sonic game. It makes no sense to me! And most of these guns are flawed: firstly, it takes a lot of time to aim most of the guns correctly in order to defeat an enemy, while some guns can easily lock onto targets such as the rocket-launcher. Secondly, some of the guns look too ridiculously big and heavy for Shadow to carry´. Also, Shadow can ride vehicles such as cars and motorcycles in the game. They control TERRIBLY and they only act as an attempt to try to boost this game's "quality".

The last rough edge of this game is the voice acting. Nearly every single character in this game has a bad voice actor. It was when I realised that SEGA even decided to bring back the 4Kids voice actors when Sonic X was on TV (lucky us cough).

Well, that is basically all of the bad stuff I could find from this game. If SEGA had chosen to keep this under development for a few more couple of months, the "game" may have even been good. Sadly, it wasn't

The Bottom Line
This was a sad disappointment to me. Everyone around the block told me that it was going to be amazing. When i saw the first opening cinematic of the game, i thought i was in for a treat. But through it all, this game proved to be nothing more than a failure.

The Good
The music! Sonic Team games ALWAYS have cool soundtracks and are run-to-the-beat. The levels are split into three outcomes (sometimes two) Hero, Normal and Dark - depending on who you help (eg: Sonic - Hero, Yourself - Normal, Black Doom - Dark) which is different from other Sonic games that had come before it.

Shadow the Hedgehog is different to Sonic based games because Sonic knows what he's doing basically. Playing as Shadow, you don't know what the outcome is actually going to be. Although other Sonic fans didn't like it, because of various things such as Shadow's use of guns etc. I personally think that giving Shadow a gun and not keeping it homing attack and spin dash is separating Shadow from Sonic completely and letting people judge the game as a whole just "not another Sonic game".

The storyline and plot is to basically help Shadow find out who he is. Through Various stages helping either Sonic or one of his friends, Black Doom or Shadow himself. Gameplay is sometimes hard, but just running isn't going to get you very far in this game (contrary from most people who don't like Sonic games). If you miss something you need, you have to go back for it or you can only complete the 'Normal' missions. Super Shadow is also unlockable, which gives fans a chance to play as just Super Shadow rather than both Super Shadow and Super Sonic.

The Bad
You have to complete it ten times over to fight the final boss.

The Bottom Line
A must for most Sonic/Shadow Fans. It's a good game that takes patience to complete.