That’s once every 113 seconds, and it feels like the math is being generous here. Clearing it took me seven hours almost on the dot, and I died 222 times. You’ll die a lot the first time you play through Cyber Shadow. The final two stages ask you to apply everything that you’ve learned along the journey, and they are worthy challenges. By the time you hit chapter eight, the stream has transformed into rapids, crescendoing with a high-speed highway sequence that blew me away. The further up creek, the more relaxed the water. The first three stages feel a little too similar, mostly due to Shadow’s upgrades serving combat utility rather than enhancing his navigation skills, but the rest flow like a river headed towards a waterfall. Cutting through these segments, parrying some enemies and dash slicing through the rest, is Cyber Shadow at its peak.Ī lot is packed into the game’s 10 chapters, and there’s a beautiful rhythm to how the pacing increases as each transitions into the next.
Some of my favorite sequences involve sentient goo, with… of course… death spikes attached, that chases you through narrow corridors filled with enemies trying to slow you down.
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That all changes once you learn how to sprint. Cyber Shadow is never a slow game, but its first five stages reward patience and planning over speed. The sprint is the biggest difference-maker. They transform Shadow into a robotic killing machine, and, more importantly, they change the game’s pace and identity. He learns new abilities after defeating bosses, and while each is useful in its own way, three elevate the game into something special: the sprint, wall climb, and parry.
Instant death spikes cover the shaft, and the moths had a knack for knocking me into them.įortunately, Shadow does a passable Mega Man imitation. I died countless times on an elevator sequence where little moths hatch and attack from directly above and below you. Enemies aren’t quite as limited, and they approach from all angles. He’s a little slow and doesn’t have the tools to deal with all of the enemies he faces, only a katana that can strike directly in front or behind him. Shadow feels more knight than ninja in these opening courses. While the game is never easy, its first two stages whiff on the “frustrating but fun” concept challenging platformers like Celeste have mastered. There was a point early in my 10 hours with Cyber Shadow when I thought I was going to hate it. You’re buying it for the thrill of performing a high wire act while hordes of robots try to knock you to your doom, and that’s what Mechanical Head Studios delivers. You’re not buying Cyber Shadow for a gritty, complex tale about love and duty. Cyber Shadow ’s story is a bit of a mess, but the occasional cutscenes rarely intrude on the action. His flesh is torn from his body, and his consciousness is transferred into a robotic vessel. He looks out from a city rooftop clenching a golden medallion and watches as a bomb explodes. As he awakens, Shadow remembers being human.
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Platform(s): Steam, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5Ĭyber Shadow opens with L-Gion, a high-tech version of Mega Man ’s Eddie, waking the cyber ninja Shadow from stasis. Is that a problem? If they’re as good as Cyber Shadow, absolutely not. It’s a well-polished title with concise and responsive controls, sharp graphics, and a soundtrack that may be the best we hear all year.Īre NES homages overdone? Yes. A whole lot of kids who grew up on Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man went on to become game developers hellbent on recapturing the magic of their childhoods, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does make it tough for their games to stand out.Ĭyber Shadow stands out, and not just because Yacht Club Games’ logo sits right next to the game’s eye catching ninja cover art. When it comes to oversaturated markets, nothing compares to cute pet videos and indie retro action platformers.
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