That’s why I’ll give em my cash 3 times. On PS4-One and Switch. ShadowMan is one of my fav game of all time. Im so happy and can’t wait the console release.
Yes, they put so much work and love into these old titles, which are almost forgotten and revive them. No remakes or simple "re release with slightly better textures", but truthful reworked and engineered games everyone loves. Without any cut dialogue or re positioned camera angles for cutscenes
I just love the new textures and lighting. It looks right, not like the weird 4J remasters of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark (which are good, but wonky looking, the new art in Shadow Man just works). I know you didn't work on it, but I think that PS1 game looks rather special and there's something to say for that presentation.
90's Sega really did hit different. Even if it didn't always work out, I have an immense respect for the hardware and games they made. I wouldn't be a fan of video games at all if it wasn't for a copy of Sega Smash Pack 2 I had as a kid, learning about their history.
Sega of the 90s was a mess, bitterly divided internally, and wrote the book on how NOT to run a game/hardware company But by God, when they were on their A game, they were on their god damn A game.
If it's the PS1 release, if I recall, you won't be able to get 100% completion due to a missing asset or it being out of reach? While on the same system, I'd also recommend _Alone in the Dark the New Nightmare_ for the visuals and audio creating a great atmosphere ... Don't forget to use the flashlight.
Oh man, the memories. Some of the creepiest environments I've ever experienced in a game. Mostly thanks to the audio and that dank, creepy feeling that early 3D games would often give.
Agreed. I'd also share that the pre-rendered environment especially when you're using the flashlight on _Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare_on PS1 delivers a great experience for the system alongside its sounds.
This game is still creepy to this day. And idc what anyone says, the ps1 version is my favorite and if u can beat that game, u can beat any game lol. It’s clearly the worst port but there’s something that I just love about ps1’s crappy graphics. I still play this game and that system to this day. In fact, I was playing Shadow man on ps1 last night and Descent, which btw is another amazing game. Give me a ps1 and a collection of games + memory cards and I don’t need to play another console or pc again.
The thing is, even if SquareEnix are doing something with SR, at least with ND you know the remake would be mostly good except for not 100% upgrading the graphics, with SquareEnix, things might get more random.
Imagine if Nightdive were in charge of the Silent Hill HD collection. They literally did with Shadowman what that Silent Hill port team couldn't figure out how to do.
He was originally going to be holding a gun on the cover, but because of Columbine, they changed it to a skull. It's still on the insert poster that came with the n64 version.
The skull works better anyhow, an example of how censorship --- as with other constraints, budget, time, limited staff size --- can actually improve a product when a smart artist tackles the problem.
I'm in love again with Shadow Man, this remaster is simple the best work of Nightdive Studios! Now one can only dream of a Turok 3 and Shadow Man 2 to complete my Acclaim collection.
@@jama9746 It's from Bizarre Creations to be true which Activision made us the "favor" of buying the company just to close them after sometime, oh boy...
@@Sly2Cooper I hate the character designs in that game. I get shadow man is a comic book character, but they leaned too heavily into the cartoony direction with shadow man 2.
That intro always impressed me with Für Elise and the subtitles being in multiple colors for each character talking. The fact it had that much dialogue on cart always impressed me. Also one of the few games I can remember it saying loading with a quick screen. Somehow I took that as how advanced the game was for the 64 by having a loading screen actually shown.
Well, this has already been done on Rare Replay, which is where I played Jet Force Gemini for the first time and I loved it. It's the same kind of conversion work as Nightdive does, faithful uprezed graphics with touch ups to textures and lighting in addition to reworked controls
Shadow Man is one of my favorite gaming experiences from the Dreamcast era. It was like a combination of Legacy of Kain/Turok 64 mixed with Seven/Jacob's Ladder. It also has one of the best soundtracks of any game ever.
LOL, I had heard that the PS1 version was bad but this DF video is the first time I've seen it in video and wow, i can't believe they released it in that state, it looks horrible!
@@freshnesbro3792 Ehh it shouldn't. The PS1 hardware is literally embedded inside the PS2 and that's what's used for playback. The only other thing the PS2 can do with it is optionally add texture filtering or used the faster disc drive. Maybe on the Silm because that model apparently handles playback differently (hence the larger PS1 incompatibility).
PS1 version also had a tweaked shadowgun - it took constant amount of time to quickcharge the weapon to the max power regardless the level you have. On all the other platforms the more level you have the longer you have to charge the shadow gun and that's dumb.
For the ps1 version we travelled to Sony headquarters in Liverpool to “help pass the certification process”. Basically pausing the tape when it crashed during a play through . Revolt was also going through test at Sony during this period. I seem to remember a sound driver issue with Sega Dreamcast development and waiting for an update from Sega. Dreamcast version was up and running pretty quickly.
@@charoleawood absolutely. I've never played the ps1 version. For me it was the n64. There is indeed a unique vibe that is hard to explain. It's very striking and vivid the colors and contrast. Like looking at a old painting.
To be honest here, I feel bad for the poor guys who only had the PS1 version to play with. Clearly that was not an amazing idea. Now it'd be cool to see a Rayman 2 episode of DF retro considering how the game also runs on all these platforms
I still remmember that shadowman cover on magazines dude. Looked misteryous, frightening (as a 8 year old) and badass. I tried to play this game before, but it seems like now is the time
Framerate aside, I love the look of the PlayStaton version, inky, gritty, alive with motion. I have the remaster and Dreamcast versions, now I want that PS1 game
I'm not so sure you can 100% complete the PS1 release. I recall being frustrated from there being either a missing asset needed to get a completion or it was for some reason out of reach.
I played it on a N64 emulator years ago I am tempted to get the remaster but I just hate there is no map in this game and get lost easily. That intro of Jack the Ripper with Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is very memorable.
I'm just gonna say it... I'd be down to rebuy a lot of my 90s games if they were remastered like this. Also I don't care if the PS1 version was the worst, I still like it the best, the lighting, the shimmer over the lack of float point precision on the hardware, those were the good days.
PS1 version framerate become smooth when you kill all the enemies on a level. Also on PS1 we had Silent Hill, Soul Reaver/Legacy of Kain and King's Field with close gameplay and atmosphere.
I must say the PSX version has the best texture detail and color contrast of them all, but the framerate and overall image quality is atrocious, i find it unplayable
Many hours spent playing this on an N64 cart rented from Blockbuster. I remember finding a walkthrough in a PS magazine and it was one of the first games I ever completed. Major nostalgia.
It's actually a major pain in the ass to get through, so I tip my hat to you. I do love the game, however, I have it on Dreamcast and I got this Nightdive remaster yesterday
Ohhhhh yeahh the mighty Daikatana I remember waiting for that game and the day come I got my favorite magazine and I start reading it on the spot and I couldn't believe 5 out of 10 what the game I was so obsessed with hyped one of my first major disappointment as a kid this and MK4 .
@@notmedude but did you guy's played it after release? I was willing to buy N64 and I had PSX and I loved Saturn for some arcade games like Die hard arcade but I was willing to get n64 if the game was like 9 out of 10 😂 I was like 14 that time , But another one for me was MK 4 man I remember getting it on PSX and I was so disappointed after like one hour of playing , another one that I was hyped was Bouncer by Then Squaresoft . Sorry for bad spelling and English I'm not a native speaker.
This episode of DF Retro is so good. The narration, the choice of subjects, the editting. The section with Moonlight Sonata and the panning over sceneries alone should be used as official trailer for this remaster. Everything is near perfection. Well done Mr Linneman.
What Nightdive's been doing lately is making me like them better than BluePoint. BP is great in their own right, but I've never really agreed with the amount of creative liberties they've been taking since their mega-remaster of Shadow of the Colossus, which has only ballooned with their Demon's Souls project. With Nightdive, however, even the changes they've made (like the wall of blueprints and diagrams) still clearly attempt to show the original developers' intentions and vision, and that's exactly what a remastering team should shoot for.
What about: DRAKAN : ORDER OF THE FLAME? The Dragon riding, Dark Fantasy 3rd Person Action Adventure game from 1999. Also RUNE? The Viking 3rd Unreal Engine Adventure Action / Hack and Slash Game from 2000. Nobody remembers those amazing games anymore? 😥😔
I remember playing the Drakan demo at the time. Of course as a kid, I did not really understand much or progress in the game, but it was pretty cool to switch between on-foot vs. dragon flying modes.
@@HUNDOLOS That game deserves a Remake or Spiritual Successor. At the very least Remaster and bring it to Steam and GOG! Drakan was incredible. It was unique as hell and I dare say: no other game had managed to recapture its greatness - and probably never will. Memorable. Challenging. Smart. Innovative. Amazing combat, archery, Dragon gameplay. Tons of unique terrifying enemies, vast enemy variety. Gameplay that's constantly keeping you on your toes and on edge. Flexible, responsive and in-your-face difficult. You screw up, you die. Dark Souls of its day. Great sound effects and ambiance. Super cool weapons and armors with special attributes, powers and features. It was way-way ahead of its time: graphically it looked gorgeous. Had amazing physics. Cool body physic engine when you interact with objects your character changes her pose, turn her body and lend her hand accordingly. Cool effective dismemberment system - that was actually tactical (sometimes) and gruesome. I AM NOT TALKING OUT OF NOSTALGIA - I LOOKED AT GAMEPLAY VIDEOS recently. Tough, but intuitive air to air combat, and even more challenging and engaging ground to air - yikes!! Sweet cool and beloved Dragon companion, with rather decent AI. You share your health and he taunts you for being lazy! How cool is that!!!?? Arokh is my favorite dragon of all time in gaming. Fantastic brilliant level design blending closed and open spaces. You would dread going indoors and underground, literally surviving the dungeons, creepy dark corridors and layers of enemies. You would feel suffocated underground and relived when you finally escaped and reached outdoors again - as if you'd actually feel the breeze and fresh air as you step outside. It was a game of survival adventure. That feeling like nothing else... Every puzzle, every nook and cranny offered a different challenge, something else to look forward to and fear at the same time. It was a thrilling blast that sucked you in - in so many levels. I remember how delighted I was running away from the dungeon's edge toward the light, hearing my dragon beckoning. Then seeing his AI blast the orcs to pieces burning them to cinders. Or one time when I heard my dragon flies on top my me (was underground) I was so excited and happy, then I started having my HP going down rapidly - he was attacked by aerial Drakes - I started to run - fearing for him and myself alike - jumped outside and joined him: Dragon in the air, Rynn on the ground with her bow, firing normal & magical seeking arrows. That was cool and epic beyond words. And it wasn't really scripted. Of course great atmospheric musical score. For me this is the pinnacle of the golden age of pure action-adventure 3rd persons. To this day - every time I see a new game, especially those remotely featuring a dragon - I keep looking back and thinking of Drakan Order of The Flame. I always end up disappointed - no this isn't it either! No game will ever be like that. Drakan - my childhood dream. Someone please make a spiritual Successor or Remake.
@@SlayerSeraph While definetly not the same game in quality. The Xena warrior princess game for the PS1 looks fairly similar in terms of graphics and style.
I remember man, dont worry maybe we shall see Rynn "assets" once again one day, or maybe even in successor. The late 90s is full of games with amazing pesonality. All of them would deserve a re-release more than modern stuff.
Played it as a child and loved the look and feel of it. Doesnt really grasp the story or anything, but it was Zelda with a cool looking dude shooting stuff. It even was some sort of spooky and schocking at that date. Thanks for sharing this content with us. Time to revisit it.
Before I once again ask for KH on PC analysis I have to say that we are blessed to have these DF Retro videos, John and we really appreciate your hard work and passion!
With everything Nightdive has done I can only wish they get the rights for a Soul Reaver remaster. Imagine: Dreamcast models, restored dynamic music, high frame rate support, improves textures and high quality voice samples. It doesn't even need to be a remake to be great! As usual, great job, John!
This is what I loved about old console wars. There used to be HUGE differences in games, but now it's weird that there are console wars at all. Series X and PS5 are so damn similar it hardly matters at all. The difference between the N64 version of this game and the PS1 version was a non-stop thing throughout that whole generation and I loved seeing the weird choices devs would make sometimes to try and make certain versions as similar to the other as possible within the limitations.
This was one of my favorite games on the Sega Dreamcast. I really like the part where you went to an attic and saw these anorexic looking people with tape recorders around thier necks playing back their tortured screems. Excellent, excellent game.
I would love to see this kind of treatment for many of those surreal, "dark and mature" 3rd person games of that era, like Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, American Mgee's Alice, the Nightmare Creatures series, the first Max Payne and the original Silent Hill. Not ground up remakes but proper "remastered" ports that take advantage of modern tecnology while respecting that limited geometry that often led to very creative artistic solutions.
This used to be my late night game as a 12 year old. I'd play this and listen to Loveline, Adam Carolla's smart ass comments made me less nervous as i explored deadside.
I played this using my brand new 3DFX Voodoo 5 back in 1999 or 2000, and I was blown away by the visuals AND the atmosphere of the game. Till this very day, Shadowman is still one of my all-time favourite games and I'm really pumped to play it again using my loyal FX 8350 and R9 Fury this time around.... ;-) ;-)
I played this on PS1 when first released - very creepy, otherworldly and atmospheric. Even the tanking frame-rate reinforced the disturbing feel, adding a sense of disorientation to the world. However, the loud, hollow sound of SM’s gunfire could get tedious
Imo opinion a true masterpiece and ahead of its time. One of the best ive ever played Edit: and the main theme till now one of the best scores ever made
Considering PS1 version is more than 10x larger due to using a CD compared to N64's cartridge, I'm pretty confident the resolution of textures is not the same.
Fun fact: Shadow Man is one of the two games to be released here in Brazil with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles on the Nintendo 64 (the other one being South Park... yeah, it makes no sense that only two M-rated games were translated), and it was a really good translation. Thanks to that, I was able to understand this game's story, which made me put this game on my top 3 games of all time. I hope Nightdive Studios kept that Brazilian Portuguese translation in this version. As for visuals, I still like the N64 graphics the most. I don't know why, but maybe that's because it looks darker (but not as dark as the PS1 version) and it fits this game's aesthetics much more than the brighter visuals, like the DC/PC/remastered versions. I think Shadow Man looking grimmier, dirtier actually enhances its atmosphere. If there's a way to "remove" (or toggle off) these enhancements to make the game look "worse" on purpose, then I'll be definitely buying the remastered version.
My understanding is Nightdive don't actually own the rights to the PT-BR localization, so it wasn't able to be included for legal reasons, which is unfortunate. You can turn the HD textures off, but not the new lighting effects.
@@reneeelizabeth9473 Hmm... I honestly didn't know that translations have their own rights apart from the rights of the game itself. I thought they were just one cohesive thing, so if you own the rights for the game (and they do), they own everything else about it (i.e. the other languages that are listed on Steam). If they wanted to, I'd gladly translate the game to PT-BR, but I have no idea how feasible that is. And yeah, I've seen a video were a guy turns the HD textures off, but I wasn't sure about the new lighting effects (they were my main concern, to be honest), but thank you for letting me know. Maybe they'll patch that option in the future... But oh well, I guess I'll have to play it either way, because I really want to see those brand new/previously cut areas. BTW, nice Eileen pic! :D
I loved this video from start to finish. My god it has been ages since i played shadow man it was good back in the old days. The nostalgia kicked me so hard i felt it. It's a good feeling to bring back old school games from the grave and to remaster them. I want to see a remastered version of resident evil 1, 2 and 3 just like they with devil may cry hd collection.
I had nightmares where I had to hunt down dark souls and in it I dreamt of avery marx swimming from a machine that fit into the sides of his ribs. He was swimming in a pool inside the building. The colors of this game are so subconscious. This game really takes you places
I remember Akuji but I only played through the demo but Nightmare Creatures 1 and 2 by Kalisto man I still remember that darkness outside. Clock Tower was very good as well in a weird way.
I finished the GOG version a few weeks ago, I didn't know the remaster was coming... so I didn't plan on buying it but... when I see the work they put into it, and they only sell it 12 euros... fuck they deserve my money. One of my favorite N64 game. The Moonlight Sonata triggers waves of pure nostalgia and makes me cry.
Just want to acknowledge the incredible work DF does. In particular John with DF retro, this series is an absolute masterclass in making a retrospective video. Always packed with tons of information and history as well as technology of the day, with it all being packaged together in a nice narrative that makes me feel like I just went on a journey! Great work guys, legitimately the best in the business!
Wow, as a big Shadowman fan and Blender user, this video seemed specifically made for me! I guess the Blender plugin and data isn't available to the public? I'd love to check out the maps and models! Seems very unusual but cool to use Blender as an actual level editor, with options to place enemies and script events! I want to play with this!
Nightdive is just getting better and better. This remaster is looking mighty fine and I can't wait to jump in when it releases on Switch. Amazing Video as well John. You really captured what I loved about the game back when I played it on N64/DC. It has warts, it had shortcomings, and it sometimes was a bit clunky, but I loved it for its vision, its ambition and its atmosphere. One can only hope that we get more of these kind of games.
Going from the PS1 version to the PS4 when it comes out is going to be crazy. One of my favorite games of all time is going to be fully realized. For we are many.
I was unfortunate enough to buy this on the PS1 after reading all the glowing reviews at the time. And people thought Cyberpunk on PS4 was bad?? lol.. Eventually got it for the Dreamcast in 2000 and loved it. Tho if i remember rightly its one of those breed of 90s games where you have to find all 100 hidden items in order to finish it, and im pretty sure i got 99 and never found the last one..
Shadow Man is like a fine wine of the wild west early 3D era. The first time I reached the exterior of the asylum on N64 I was stunned. How was a area this large and nightmarishly surreal possible?
Amazing work John. I loved the game back in the days and was really excited when they announced a remaster. It’s good to see some love for Shadow Man again. I’ve immediately bought the pc-version and will buy the Xbox-Version once it hits stores (which hopefully isn’t too far ahead)
How much of it have you played? I'm finding issues with gamepad controls and the framerate. I think the framerate issue is something endemic to the game itself, because I could also see it in John's video, and it might be a problem with the camera. I do really love the reworked textures and lighting, though, and I'm very happy to be playing Shadow Man again though I already have it on Dreamcast
Man this is one of my favorite games of all time, I'm playing the remastered version and I love it what a dream come true! The only thing I miss from this new version is the lock on target feature, hopefully they can update that soon. I hope they remaster or better yet remake 2nd coming, that would be AMAZING, Shadow Man deserves a 2nd chance in this era of gaming with a new game as great as the original one
