Fun fact: There's a strafe button in this game that makes the launchers insanely more fluid to use, since you can position yourself normally and then press R to align yourself more precisely with your target. Considering that otherwise the cannons are pretty solid in terms of damage/ammo ratio and single-shot effectiveness, that feature instantly elevates them to top 10. Plus, R can also act as a break button, making ground control more, well, controllable.
I... I completed this game's expert mode... And I just now learned... That there's a STRAFE BUTTON?! This is like the "blocking the Egg Emperor" thing all over again!
Another fun fact: This is a super helpful function that, if you know it exists, somebody probably told you. Because the game for some reason never tells you about it despite peppering tutorials in each stage.
@@jcdenton2187 Fun Fact: Despite his immense campiness, Black Doom is the most helpful character in the whole game, telling you very valuable information such as "There are maps on the walls (The Doom)" and "It may not look it, but I assure you, the Aircraft is taking damage (Air Fleet)"
By the way, if you hold down the right bumper or whatever, Shadow will start walking and strafing around his enemies, making it really easy to aim rocket launcher weapons like the Heal Gun and the Grenade Launcher
Proper use of the Heal Cannon lets you skip a full minute worth of waiting on Cosmic Fall. Most of the time the gun is useless, but getting hero meter when you shouldn’t is bonkers.
Yeah, that's what I always assumed it was. It's also why you can't just add more "ammo" by picking up others of the same weapons like you can with the guns
Intersting thing about the Ring-Shot: The rings fired from the weapon match Shadow's speed. This means that if Shadow is just walking, the rings won't travel very fast at all. However, if Shadow is at his top speed, the rings will actually match that speed
It's a neat concept, executed badly. The very nature of the design makes the stories almost always convoluted and all over the place, and Levels won't flow well into the next. If it had more restraint it could work better I think.
@@jcdenton2187 little me was so dumb that I got confused by the branching paths and didn't know why the level changed each time I played it. Looking back on it, it is a cool idea but the execution would probably work in a much better game
@@jcdenton2187 The frustrating part is that there were obviously a few people who cared, because all 600+ mathematically possible unique story paths all have their own unique names that, if my memory serves correctly, you can go back and rewatch all of the cutscenes you would experience in that unique order (or at least see the path you took in the map).
Part of this is definitely availability. Like yes, the Gatling gun is one of the best in the game, but it’s only available in the late game levels whereas the sub machine gun is available much earlier
And if you get all 5 keys in Lethal Highway, but it's better to just get the item container at the beginning of the stage when it turns into an invincibility power-up to complete the Hero mission.
Availability also matters because you can pick up multiple instances of the same weapon to get more ammo for it, which can make common weapons like the flash shot really, really good in a lot of early game missions
@@GooberPipebomb Huh? Do you mean LS Mark? This is Splash Dash, I know they're friends but they're totally two separate people, man! EDIT: damn it he edited it so it said friend
@@bsabradybunch550 sonic nowdays would feel very put off by that, but if it was early 2000s sonic or late 90s sonic, he would be very okay with it, even thanking mario
What conversation? He repeated the same talking points people shit on this game for ad nauseum, not knowing simple/knowable details about yhe game or its weapons, and uses in speedruns, expert mode, or even casual play. The game is not that good. I'll give him that. But it seems like he didn't know what he was talking about and he used the ranking topic as a chance to shit on a game that people already hate. So again. What "conversation"?
The Heal Gun is useful for one mission. One of the hero missions require you to heal a bunch of scientists, and normally you need to find these huge ass healing pods, and carry them to the scientists, but fuck that. The Heal Gun makes that mission much quicker and easier. I played this game a lot as a kid, and I never used those stupid healing pods. My favorite gun is the Egg Vacuum. I agree that the normal vacuum is shit, but the Egg Vacuum just sucks in everything in it's path, it's hilarious
Does no one remember this thing giving you 3 extra lives upon running out of uses? It's the advanced version, yes, but when you're wreckless and wanting to blitz through early stages, or more vexing - expert mode - this thing comes in more handy just to build up that life counter and fill the guages like no other. Especially in the first 4 stages.
fun fact: the heavy machine gun could shit out immense damage to kill egg breaker in less than 10 seconds if you just dislocate your thumb and mash it like a madman
one of the fight with eggman where you're paired with omega can be beaten in like 10 seconds by turning around, jumping on a turret and shooting eggman, easiest a-rank
I honestly think this game could have worked if more effort was put in. Imagine a TPS with the speed of a Sonic game. There's three things they should have done that could have improved the game. 1. Make the controls more like a traditional shooter. 2. Change the weapon system to be more balanced. For instance, make the lock-on weapons do more damage than the automatic guns. 3. Change the level design to be more arena focused. What I mean by this is to make it that combat takes place in large open arenas, which could improve the combat by giving you enough space for speed. And when I say arenas I don't mean giant boxes with nothing but enemies in it, they could put in structures and obstacles to make the game more interesting. They could also put in more traditional sonic platforming in between the arenas to break up the combat.
I guess the idealised version of Shadow The Hedgehog would be that one Crack in Time level with the brain guys and all the ramps, before the game forgot to design anything else around the hoverboots.
You dare calling the Shadow Rifle a "slightly stronger gun"? Have you used this weapon on the President's escape jet or the spaceship of the Black Arms? This is without a doubt the most useful weapon in the game. Not to mention how it shreds through giant enemies. Also, Shadow The Hedgehog is the best Sonic game ever produced.
@@jimbomclimbo7467 I hope they aren't. Look, far be it from me to say that Shadow the Hedgehog was a great game, but to me it's refreshing when someone expresses joy for an unpopular game instead of (like almost everyone else) just parroting that it's trash as if that's the only valid opinion to have about it.
I don't understand why everyone hates this game so much. Yes its edgy, but that doesn't mean the game is automatically garbage. I agree that it's one of the best Sonic games. It's fully 3D, it improved a lot of things from Heroes, it has good level design, great level themes, music that slaps, beautiful cutscenes and graphics, interesting weapons, squash and stretch, a world that actually feels alive with characters that feel like themselves, and a lot of effort and heart that you don't find in a lot of games these days.
Oh thank god, someone else who loves this game Personally I also think it is the best Sonic game hands down, which is quite easy since it's the only game in the franchise I like
Yes... as is the case with most disposable weapons in every game with that function. Obviously they have to have a durability counter otherwise theyd be OP and unbalanced or theyd balance it by making its damage absolute dogshit. This is the case in every Yakuzs game except for Majima's bat and no one says anything about that
What "problems" are you talking about? Everybody knows Heroes never had any problems whatsoever, which is why it's the best game in the series, an universal opinion held throughout the whole Sonic fandom. Maybe you're thinking about that stinking awful game SA2 ;)
Same. Its really amazing how he comes to his conclusions (especially as I thing Shadow actually fixed many of Heroes problems like that combat isn't slow and afoul anymore)
Unfortunately Sega and Sonic Team are a bunch of cowards who run away from almost any idea for a game if it failed once, which is why we hadn't had a game in the adventure formula since 06 (forget that that game was bad because of completely different reasons than what gameplay formula they used).
@@inendlesspain4724 Yeah, imagine if Nintendo was stupid like that. „Quickly, cancel Donkey Kong Country, Wario Land and Yoshi’s Island and don’t even think about ever creating Luigi’s Mansion! Mario is Missing was a failure so we can never have any other character star in their own game ever again!“
Well...it’s more of critics faults as to why they never put other characters in main title Sonic games these days..... I highly doubt they would stop using these characters had not so many critics flamed SEGA for changing Shadow and the others personalities. Sure, critics are needed to give a score on the game, but it can also affect the company that created that specific game as well. The point is, is that critics (sort of) pressured SEGA to never use any of their characters in their main title Sonic games ever again.
The way you keep saying "options" throughout this video sounded like you were implying that you get a large assortment of guns in each stage, which is not true. The pistol, while indeed one of the worst weapons in the game, is only one of two that appears in the GUN Fortress Diablon boss fight, but is more effective against it if you get your dark gauge full, so that's kind of a bad example. The Satellite Laser can break through enemy Shields, destroy Artificial Chaos instantly, and the Black Alien Giants holding the hammers that can deflect normal gunshots. It can also activate switches behind locked doors. Lock-on weapons like the Rocket Launcher allow you to not waste ammo and are more reliable than regular guns if you're good with aiming on your own. There are some instances like in Gun Fortress where you're going downwards on the monorail and regular shots will not hit the soldiers. The Samurai Blade Beam I believe one-shots enemies, but it doesn't lock on, so I don't use it, but it has FOUR uses, not 3. Lastly about the weapons, the Vacuum Egg will give you 3 extra lives if you expend 30 ammo uses of it. It only gets expended if you suck something in, so you can be a bit more reckless with it, and the Alien version will let you beat 2 enemies with a single shot, something no other gun in the game can do. It's also necessary for progression in Final Haunt, unless you know where to specifically use Chaos Control. I don't really understand your criticisms with the mission structure or level design, aside from Lost Impact, which isn't even the worst stage in the game imo, so I'd have to see what you think is a good level.
I just discovered another use for the Satellite Laser in speedruns: it can lock on to switches behind doors. You can use it to open the door at the beginning of The Doom that will let you skip the majority of the stage which is right next to a special weapon crate. It also spawns the light dash ring trails in Cosmic Fall that let you skip ahead to the Computer Room without needing all 5 keys.
I played Shadow a while, even unlocked and passed through the expert mode (which kinda cool since levels contained a huge differences comparing to original stages) One of my favorite Sonic games and embodiment of "so bad it's good" term
Well you're forgetting he has Amnesia, has no Chaos Spear & Chaos Control and Black Doom tempts him to side with him and kill humans, legit be evil so I can understand what having a dad who's a psychotic and ruthless old alien would do to me, OH! I already know what it's like as my schizophrenic, selfious and violent dad left when the divorce happened when I was 4 and so grew up in a similar position, having a hard concussion really made me act off and more angry so I know what it's like, your emotions will be severely affected when you have one, Shadow literally is more edgy because of that concussion but being Super Shadow made the fall less fatal.
Kind of already was edgy in his debut with the whole "Humans are evil and must die!" shtick. Yeah, he had some snarky moments against Sonic but he was pretty much the instigator of the entire plot and only came around to help at the very end.
You aren't alone. As much as the idea of a Sonic character packing heat is so stupid, the gunplay is very fun and interesting. It's no Ratchet and Clank or Halo, but I'd love to see it return and polished. Also the game was heavily inspired by games like GTA and Halo. That's why Shadow carries energy swords and hijacks cars. Edit: Also just found out that Jak 2 also inspired this game, as Iizuka mentioned after finishing developing Heroes, Jak 2 was a game he wanted to play. Seeing how that game is much darker than it's predecessor, has guns and vehicles, we can blame that game for Shadow existing. But, Jak 2 is a good game, and Shadow is a bad game.
Well I thing that while he was next level dumb on the debate is there more to him. Like the fact that he is so lovingly ignoring all of the issues Heroes had that Shadow fixed and bitched about controls when he praises the game that has some of the worst controls in the series as the best.
@@Pheeze it was a debate to determine which game was better, SA2 or Heroes. The whole thing was kinda hard to listen to since Mark refused to acknowledge any flaws with Heroes and would repeatedly interrupt Cybershell, but if you want to watch the whole thing you can find it by just looking up "Ls Mark Cybershell debate"
"Fuck it, this is my list, you can make your own" I make a lot of lists of best and worst things, and in my top 10 Sonic games, this game is at number 2. That sentence is my explanation as to why.
the thing with the egg pawns, is that the ps2 graphic didn't do them any favor. coming off the E-100 serie, they tried to give the same "mas producted to be efficient"feeling, while making them more bouncy and cartoony like the badnick. the higher poligon version from more recent games looks way better to me
I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't mind how Shadow controls. His great speed with the ability to stop instantly makes it really good when you know what you are doing
Im pretty sure the idea they were going for with the melee weapon ammo was durability. You can only hit things hard with a blunt object but so many times before it breaks.
I feel like the only real "meh" track is Air Fleet. I'm not sure if anything comes as close to as bad as that. Unless you outright dislike industrial, rock, and metal, the soundtrack is fairly consistent, with some real highlights like Lava Shelter.
There’s a couple signs that there might’ve been a tank enemy type or vehicle in the game, there’s the Eggman line mentioned in this video and then there’s things like in the Central City level one of the GUN soldiers says the line, “Send in the tanks!” and in the cutscene where Black Doom is giving his speech to Earth before a chunk of the Earth gets blown up the camera goes across different parts of the game’s world and one of them is a shot of a ruined Central City with a tank model you never see anywhere else in the game.
the vacuum is so good for its brutality though. you just sucked in a gun soldier, completely destroying his bones and spine, killing him instantly, then shot him at a wall and turned him into nothingness. that gun was amazing and i always used it for that wacky shit
People say this game sucks but what other game to you know that lets you run around as a bipedal hedgehog with a godamn combat knife and shank human soldiers. Yea that’s what I thought.
"if I ever see the the worm shooter and the wide worm shooter next to each other, why would I never just go for the wide?" Well you see, the reason a lot of weapons feel the same but have slightly better versions of themselves like how worm shooter is because weaker versions of guns are in the early game and stronger versions are (generally speaking) in the later parts of the game. Like yes, the SMG isn't very good compared to the minigun or the assault rifle, but it's significantly more common and the other 2 flat out do not exist in most stages. As far as the worm shooters go, this is a detail you may have missed but the worms in the game do change color as you progress to show they drop a different worm shooter, the final stage worms having the final versions of the worm shooter that are actually half decent.
SEIZURE WARNING photosensitivity is harsh in this video especially at 5:40 when he aims the Gatlin at the camera and might and as well be killing real people.
The Heal Cannon is actually pretty cool, it has a pretty good functionality too, it allows you to cheese A ranks by rekilling the same enemies infinitely while you're in one of the Chaos modes, since they get unlimited ammo, and even doing the action will give you one of the meters filled up.
Tbf about Gatling gun, you only get it late in the dark stories where assault rifle, smg, & pistol are more commonly found in earlier & mid game levels
You've ranked all the guns, now you must rank all the vehicles This is the only reason you would wanna play through the entirety of Shadow the Hedgehog lol
I think the Melee weapons could of been a useful weapon if they were an extension to Shadow's normal abilities like greatly increasing the damage of Homing Attack and increase the range of the spin dash. That way it'll make sense of the "ammo" for balancing i suppose
Shadow the hedgehog is good and you saying it's too "edgy"100% confirms that you've only watched the intro and haven't made your own opinion for the game- for starters the whole game is just sonic heroes without the team mechanic, newer moves and the speed characters only so that's already a plus. - the story is an amazing backstory for shadow and a good story as a whole. especially after the buildup we had for three games. - I love the atmosphere for this game. - the game controls and it feels so good when shadow is skating through the stage. - the stages for the most part are well designed, but I know for sure there's some annoying stages. - gun play is amazing - multiplayer - boss battles - music - characters are pretty good - playable characters besides shadow ( if you plug in a second remote) Now negatives for this game are definitely - vehicles aren't so good (but you don't use the alot so...) - multiple story pathways. While it's not a problem for me, playing the same stages over and over for completion gets repetitive so I can understand that. - swearing - probably more Edit: Voice acting at times Now since I know you played this game, ignore the beginning part about not playing the game. Also, you say this game has the worst controls ever... Are you high or something, I'm genuinely curious. You over exaggerated how the controls feel by a lot. When shadow reaches top speed it's so easy to control. and you definitely over exaggerated the missions. There's multiple checkpoints and the objectives aren't even hard. But this is the same guy who said the Sonic heroes was better than adventure 2 with no arguments whatsoever... I also hate how you try to find something to complain about in every section. You complained about shadows arms stretching... But I can agree with the spin dash
YO! You should try the mod with Super Shadow, you can just fly up and around the stage when Homing Attacking and beat those Artificial Chaos's, haven't tried it myself but it does look way more enjoyable.
1:42 I am pretty sure people like the thing of multiple stories, I also like it myself. The canon ending also don't tell what story path is it based leads to it, so its kinda that you need to know all of them if you even want to take a guess of what the canon is.
Up to interpretation. The whole idea was to piece the story together with all the information, in addition to how choosing your own path allows for mission variety as well as kids being able to live out shortened fantasies. No, really.
They put quite a bit of squash and stretch in this game, which is strange. I understand that for cartoon characters to move fluidly, they need that, but Shadow stretches and squishes like a squeeze toy. It's really out of place.
Ok hear me out: a remake of Shadow the Hedgehog that’s set in an open world metropolis where you complete missions to progress. Kind of like Jak II or Batman: Arkham City
A green rabbit, mountain gorilla and a lombax use all sorts of weaponry and nobody bats an eye, but when a black hedgehog uses one then everyone loses their minds.
@@callumsparrow4379 I know, it’s such bs! Even then, guns were in the franchise since sonic adventure 1 and no one had a problem then, so why does it matter when shadow uses guns?
it seems you haven't played a yakuza game before since in those games you have a ammo count for the environment weapons and melee weapons to fight others with.
Imagine you're just doing your job trying to protect the town, and then some random black and red human sized hedgehog with shoes and gloves shoots you with a gun.
This game is my biggest guilty pleasure to this day, mostly because the weapons, especially the "joke" weapons. The lore of Shadow being part alien was also interesting, but the execution for it was aweful. Never did get the secret ending tho... but that's what YT is for.
The guns aren't balanced in that they have trade offs for damage to usefulness as this is a single player campaign. Because of this the balance is more based on the enemies you fight in game and not making weapons balanced. Think how Zelda gives you weapons that all perform basically identical but one will just deal more damage and be longer at the same time. The idea is you won't get these powerful swords till later in the game when you are already fighting late stage enemies. Shadow gives you the weaker weapons on the stages there are only weak enemies. You won't find the alien pistol on The Last Way, instead you find laser rifles everywhere. The only exception to this rule is the Shadow weapons which just flip the meta by being on all stages. The Shadow Rifle for example is an instant kill on basically all enemies in the game. It's the definition of overpowered and can be found on all stages. But considering the balance already has most enemies be rather quick on their stages it actually still only makes a major difference later in the game where it's ammo count actually makes it less reliable.
@@AkameGaKillfan777 I don't remember the invincibility pick up giving unlimited ammo like the hero or dark gauges. Though it was pretty uncommon in the game so I might have just not noticed. But the gauges filling is based on doing so many actions so can't be totally relied on, it's also incredibly short compared to how long the stages are in Shadow.
My dude! I never thought someone would do this for one of my favorite games ever! I've recently been thinking about going and doing a total replay of the game with a brand new save and everything, and now it seems like the universe is really supportive of it! Oh dear five minutes in and yeah I can see why you don't like the game. You're shit at controlling Shadow. Either that or I spent so much time with the game I don't recall any of the trial-and-error of adapting to janky controls? IDK, it's been like 5 years since I sat down with it. But not being able to control the character would nerf enjoyment of the good stages and make the bad ones just HELL. Anyways, after finishing this, thank you so much for making this! Because more then anything else, I loved how much you enjoyed ripping and blessing the weapons and all their eccentricities, or lack thereof.