Shadow the Hedgehog is without a doubt one of the most recognisable videogame characters, right next to his blue counterpart. Since his unforgettable debut in Sonic Adventure 2, fan demand has seen him take a much larger presence. As such, newcomers might be left wondering: what are the best Shadow the Hedgehog games? So, here are all of Shadow’s games, ranked by both how good they are, and how worthwhile they are for Shadow fans.
In regards to what counts for inclusion, these are games that let the player take control of Shadow directly. Kart-racers like Team Sonic Racing are omitted, as are the Olympic Games crossovers. Games in which Shadow only features as an NPC are also omitted. For anyone coming off the back of Sonic X Shadow Generations and wanting to see more of Shadow, here’s an idea of where to look.
Sonic X Shadow Generations
Shadow’s latest adventure is also by far his best. Despite media criticism of the games that have starred him, Shadow Generations bears no shame. Sega have embraced and celebrated Shadow’s history here, without a shred of irony to undercut it. In doing so, they’ve also tossed out the things that didn’t work, and replaced it with new ideas that do.
Shadow gets a feel for his new Doom powers (image credit: Sega)
In regards to the gameplay, it’s everything that was already good about Generations, polished to a mirror sheen. Between enjoyable new abilities and a compact hub world, it might even be the best 3D Sonic yet. At the very least, it’s easily the best game to star Shadow the Hedgehog. In many ways, it also feels like an improved take on Sonic Frontiers, which itself was a great foundation for the series’ future. Bundled in with it is the still-excellent Sonic Generations too – it’s light on Shadow, but that’s what the new content is for! All in all, you can’t go wrong here.
Sonic Adventure 2
Dropping in 2001, Sonic Adventure 2 was a literal game-changer. Despite appearing to be a standard evil doppelganger of the blue blur, Shadow’s story immediately set him apart from any character that came before. It was just one part of what’s still considered one of the most compelling stories to come out of the franchise.
Radical Highway marked the playable debut of Shadow, and remains one of the most iconic stages in the franchise (image credit: Sega)
The gameplay itself is solid – the controls for Sonic are among the best of the 3D games, and Shadow’s are naturally identical. Unfortunately, the other gameplay styles – mecha shoot-em-ups and treasure hunting – don’t fare so well. Shadow’s stage count is also upsettingly low, the least of any character. Despite this, Sonic Adventure 2 is a must-play for anyone looking into the series – even though it needs a modern port, pronto. Fortunately, while it’s yet to escape the 7th console generation, SA2 is available on Steam.
Sonic Heroes
Sonic Adventure 2’s immediate successor is a drop in quality, but there’s still a lot to like. Heroes makes for a more cartoony instalment, very light on plot. Shadow makes his return, now with amnesia, and his story focuses on figuring out why he was able to come back from his apparent demise. Unlike Adventure 2, you can play through every level as Shadow – alongside teammates Rouge and Omega.
Heroes gave us Team Dark – easily the second most popular trio who have stuck together to this day
As for the actual gameplay, Heroes is a little more slippery than the average 3D Sonic game. Levels are surprisingly long, often in excess of 10 minutes, but the design isn’t bad. Annoyingly, getting to the final boss requires playing through the entire game 4 times – once for each team. Still, it’s not a bad game to give a try – Shadow Generations pulls a fair few things from here. Getting a copy may be a handful, though; the only digital platform is on PS3, but only in Europe and Japan. It’s also the worst version! You’d want to dig up a GameCube or Xbox for this one. Here’s hoping the remaster rumours turn out to be true…
Shadow the Hedgehog
He is All of Him, or so he claims. Shadow the Hedgehog was, until now, the sole game to bear the titular character’s name. It’s pretty clear why; the game was critically panned on release, and the half-hearted attempt at capturing an older audience was a little embarrassing. Light swear words, firearm usage and edgier music mark this games identity.
Almost 20 years later, it’s still a little surreal seeing a cartoon hedgehog holding a semi-realistic gun
As for how it plays, it’s essentially a worse Sonic Heroes. The controls are just as clunky, but now auto-aiming guns and depressingly slow vehicles are added to the mix. Having a branching story path with ten endings was ambitious, but it leads to an incoherent story with samey endings. Not to mention, you need to wade through all ten endings to play the true ending – an absolute drag. While the story does go into Shadow’s real backstory, and is vital to understanding Shadow Generations, it fails to hold up. That said, the chuckle-worthy dialogue may make it worth an ironic playthrough.
Sonic Battle
One of the more unconventional games on the list, Sonic Battle is an arena fighter on the Game Boy Advance. It sees Sonic and co. train a mysterious fighting robot called Emerl, unaware of the secrets it holds. The story of the game is a fan-favourite, but the gameplay itself has issues. A lot of the gameplay revolves around grinding for skill points and new moves for Emerl. This grows pretty stale, pretty quickly.
The quality of the sprites shine brightly through the game’s flaws – as does the story (image credit: Sega, Kotaku)
As far as Shadow’s presence is concerned, he’s only around here and there. While he gets a chapter to himself, it’s right near the end. He has a certain history with Emerl, one brought to life just recently in Sonic X Shadow Generations: Dark Beginnings over on YouTube. Sonic Battle is worth a try for how different it is, not to mention that killer artstyle. Plus, eventually getting to kick butt as Shadow is worth it.
Sonic Rivals/Sonic Rivals 2
It’s worth grouping these together, as they’re very similar. Rivals is a much-forgotten duology of racing games. What sets these apart from the kart racers, though, is that they play more like standard 2D platformers – just with an annoying AI character bothering you the entire time. The level design isn’t so bad, but the games are a bit mediocre on the whole.
Sonic Rivals is surprisingly good-looking for a PSP game – though the goofy smiling Shadow icon is a little cursed
Shadow is playable in either instalment, with his own story – but it’s nothing important. He controls identically to everyone else as well – only his special ability is unique. But don’t get excited, in the first game it’s easily the worst one. Fortunately the sequel balances it better – if you’re interested, just skip to Rivals 2. If not…no big loss!
Sonic and the Black Knight
Sonic and the Black Knight comes from another duology – the Storybook Series. While its predecessor, Sonic and the Secret Rings, was a bothersome mess with bad motion controls, Black Knight fares better. It’s still not the most ideal way to control a Sonic game, but the appeal of seeing Sonic stuck in the Legend of King Arthur is fun.
Love or hate the game, it’s a good look for Shadow (image credit: Sega, Sega Hardlight)
Despite being all about Sonic, you can briefly control Shadow – or rather, Sir Lancelot. As cool as it is to play as Shadow in a suit of armor, he’s only playable across 5 stages. If you’re playing Black Knight, let’s be real – you’re not playing it for a Shadow experience. But if you still have a Wii lying around, consider giving this weird spin-off a go.
Sonic Forces
Few games instil so much dread in a fandom as Sonic Forces. Hyped up for years, to say Forces fell short of expectations is an understatement. Stages are short, controls are downgraded from Generations, and the writing is embarrassing. About the only standout feature is designing – and playing as – your own original character.
It was good to see Shadow back in the spotlight – if only it had been under better circumstances (image credit: Sega)
Shadow only has a minor role in the main game, but free day one DLC gave him his own mini-story. While it’s the best part of Forces by far, it’s only a mere 20 minutes long across three stages. Shadow’s return to the spotlight after 9 years was a big deal, but it’s not worth buying Forces for. As a small consolation, you also unlock Shadow for use in the main game’s stages…but given some people have beaten the base game within Steam’s 2-hour refund window, it’s hardly going to hold your interest.
Sonic Chronicles
A game I almost forgot counts as a Shadow game – because it sort of isn’t. Sonic Chronicles is a bizarre RPG entry from Bioware, of all studios. Yes, the team behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age! Unfortunately, it doesn’t show in any part of the game. Combat is simple, the writing feels out-of-character, and the music is legendarily awful. Balancing is all over the place, and special attacks require lengthy and unresponsive touchscreen minigames.
Chronicles is a rare miss in Bioware’s lineup, and an out-of-character Shadow doesn’t help (image credit: Sega, Bioware)
As far as Shadow’s presence in this game – he is present, but is treated very poorly. Despite only wanting to help his teammate Omega, his presence alone is shunned by the other characters. On top of that, Shadow is uncharacteristically compassionate for his teammates. It’s sweet – but it feels like a reversal of everyone’s personalities. Chronicles might not be the worst game ever made, but it’s Shadow’s worst showing in the franchise by far.
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Now, if it’s the worst game ever you want, here’s a solid contender. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) needs no introduction – it is not good. Glitches, bad writing, terrible controls, it’s all here. Shadow does have a full story here, and it actually forms a great extension to his characterisation from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Of course, the storytelling in the other segments of the game are a hot mess, but Shadow’s is mostly detached from it. All of it culminates in a showdown with new villain Mephiles, one of the more iconic designs in the series.
Reviled as Sonic 06 is, stages like Crisis City and Kingdom Valley are still looked back on fondly
…but what good is any of this in a game that is bogged down with so many problems? On top of the omnipresent glitches, Shadow’s levels are plagued by vehicles that control worse than even the ones in Shadow The Hedgehog (2005). When allowed to roam on foot, his controls are just Sonic with extra attacks for killing enemies easier. They aren’t satisfying at all, but help the game end slightly quicker. Shadow fan or not, just steer clear… and perhaps consider giving Project 06 a go. Created by dedicated fan ChaosX (and contributors), it’s a full rebuild in Unity for PC that remakes every stage, (mostly) glitch-free!
Conclusion
Altogether, Sonic X Shadow Generations is the culmination of everything that’s been built up for Shadow over 23 years. Without a doubt, it’s the best Shadow the Hedgehog game you could hope to play. And even the worst ones, like Sonic 06, have a certain following that leads to things like Project 06 – full rebuilds that help bring the good qualities within those games to light. While Sega gave us Shadow, it’s truly the fans that have kept his legacy going. Even Shadow Generations‘ story is penned by Ian Flynn, who himself was a huge Sonic fan; mailing pitches to the Archie comic books before he eventually worked his way to the top of the writers’ chain. As for Shadow, with his loose ends wrapped up, perhaps Sega can take him in a new direction at long last.
