Shadow the Hedgehog

Format PlayStation 2

Developer Sega

Publisher Sega

Genre Platform, Action

What do you want first - the good news or the bad news? The bad news, right? Well, it would seem Sega has decided to take its venerable hedgehog franchise and go all 'street' and 'gangsta' with it. So instead of pelting it around the happy, shiny Green Hill Zone like you should do in Sonic games, you're burning about grubby council estate high-rises in low riders, leaning out to squeeze off a few rounds from your semi-automatic pistol.

And the good news? It's not nearly as horrific as you'd expect. While early reports suggested something along the lines of GTA: Sonic and Knuckles, Shadow the Hedgehog actually plays far more like a refined version of Sonic Heroes. And by refined we mean 'quite a lot better.'

For one, Shadow the Hedgehog drops the confusing multi-character approach of Heroes, allowing you to concentrate on a single character throughout - this of course being Shadow, him of the mysteriously similar build to Sonic (he's lost his memory, bless, and he's trying to piece it back together to discover who and what he is). That's not to say familiar Sonic characters are absent. They're not - Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Cream and co are all there too, except now they're demoted to simply helping out in the background.

And for two, Sonic Heroes' unwieldy camera is finally gone, to be replaced by an all-new, fully controllable camera. An infinitely sexier prospect than the regularly confusing viewpoint of Heroes.

Beyond these two major and welcome changes however, Shadow the Hedgehog is still pure, unadulterated Sonic, and that means huge expansive levels, plenty of rings to collect, and that all-important sense of speed. Only - and this is where things gets clever - there are actually three different games here instead of one.

It's all do to with the storyline, which revolves around an alien invasion that Shadow may or may not be part of. You can either play as a hero, and help fight off the aliens; play as a villain, and help destroy the planet; or simply play it like any other Sonic game, ignore everything, and just plough on through for the Chaos Emeralds. Each level has two or three routes (Hero, Villain and Emerald), and depending on which you take the levels that
follow change accordingly - much like Sega's other classic masterpiece OutRun (there's even an OutRun-esque level-planning map to go with it). Needless to say, the replay-potential is huge, especially since Shadow can constantly switch back and forth between allegiances (start off bad, finish good, and so on).

Admittedly, some people may balk at not being in charge of Sonic himself. To them, Shadow might not even register as a proper Sonic game. But for the legion of fans who bought and loved Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog should come as a pleasant, if slightly darker hued, surprise.

PSW Staff