GAF - News - Shadow the Hedgehog revealed

News - Shadow the Hedgehog revealed - first screens, trailer

Posted by Josh Freund at 12:30:58 AM EST on 3.9.2005.

Late Tuesday night, the Metreon unveiled its new Walk of Game. Sega's popular Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the 2005 inductees, which should be nice to hear for Sonic fans.

Sega surprised everyone (shocked, even) by showing a trailer for a new platformer called Shadow the Hedgehog, starring, you guessed it, Sonic's rival, Shadow. The shocking thing about this is what Shadow is doing - after a series of clips from previous Sonic games, celebratings the series's great history, Shadow walks up to the screen, pulls out a pistol, and shoots it. Yep, Shadow's now toting realistic guns in this game. Check out the screengrabs I took from the trailer below to see (or better yet, download and watch the trailer!).

Apparently, Sega wants to head in a new direction, with a darker, gritter game (seems to be the trend lately, doesn't it?). Shadow will now use guns to take out enemies, in a world that looks graphically similar to Sonic's most recent console entries (the Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes games). Besides the guns and explosions, it looks like Shadow the Hedgehog will feature some more traditional Sonic elements like fast running, collecting rings, and of course, platforming. One new move is Shadow's freeze jump, by which he can jump into the air, hang suspended, and spin around, shooting enemies all the while.

Sega hasn't announced what platforms Shadow the Hedgehog will be released on. GameCube has seen the most Sonic game releases, but it wouldn't be surprising for this to be released for all three major consoles.

Download the Walk of Game Shadow the Hedgehog trailer (right-click and choose "Save as...").

It's a .zip file, so you'll need Winzip or some other file-extracting program to get the trailer.

Screengrabs from the trailer:

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Comments

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manipulated 3.9.2005 at 07:59:19 PM

For the people who are wondering about the footage of the fighting game its called "Sonic Championship' - Japan "Sonic the Fighters" - rest of the world.It was released for the arcades in 1996 on Sega MODEL 2B CRX hardware.

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heavyb0lter 3.9.2005 at 07:31:30 PM

Woah. That trailer is the epitome of generic marketing crap. Why? I was also sad to see that footage of the Sonic fighting game, which I had never seen, and it looks as retarded as it sounds. It seems like Sega added all that crap about how great Sonic the series is at the beginning just so that the crapiness of the trailer for the Shadow game is dulled.

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beavis christ 3.9.2005 at 06:01:53 PM

Unless they really did develop a game without a main character and just toss him in after the Sega.com polls, what the hell was the point in doing market research for a game that was already decided on?

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kiyoshi meka 3.9.2005 at 05:23:19 PM

It looks completely out of place. I would have put a brown cloak around Shadow. Then it would have looked better. I kind of like the idea. I wonder if it will feature Adventure fields and other characters. I really wanted SA3! I hope this isn't the Gamecube sonic title we were told about. Two 3D sonics would kick ass. I hope this game doesn't come out a year later and suck like Heroes did.

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kiyoshi meka 3.9.2005 at 05:22:45 PM

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drk 3.9.2005 at 04:45:41 PM

Hero or Villain, huh? Wasn't Knuckles once a villain? This sounds familiar. Hmm, if this game doesn't totally destroy the Sonic franchise, I wouldn't be surprised if they had Sonic TEAAM UPP(!!!!!) with Shadow in the next one. Not like anybody will care.

Keep trying, Sega! Even though Shadow blows.

Anyway, I agree with everyone who feels Sonic could be awesome again if the series just went back to 2D, where it obviously belongs.

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the8bither0 3.9.2005 at 02:51:51 PM

the gamma thought crossed my mind too, but part of the game with gamma was lock on to enemies fire, walk some more, find new enemies, rinse and repeat... I really dont see a handgun having multiple lockons for one, and to me it seems kind cheesy, and whats with thie hero or villian crap, its obvious that Sega's not going to be breaking the mold, And i highly doubt that Sega will throw any kind of Good/Evil choices in there, Unless of course they just wanna cram every possible new feature to save this sinking ship. Next we will see Tails using F.L.U.D. just for the hell of it

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demoncrono 3.9.2005 at 02:12:25 PM

*bitch moan complain whine*

i like this idea. it looks FUN. i don't know about you guys but I really enjoyed playing as Gamma in SonicAdventure. and I would imagine that this is basically what this game will be like...except you move a bit faster. Which is a plus, right?

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thekow 3.9.2005 at 01:24:35 PM

"Sonic's long-time rival?"

...wouldn't that be Dr. Robotnik? Shadow's been around since, what, Sonic Adventure 2?

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the8bither0 3.9.2005 at 12:15:09 PM

Though square did give Yuna guns, the guns didn't look completly out of place, not only were the guns stylized to fit Final Fantasy X, but the characters within the game were realistic, If you think that Shadow is a realistic character, and that a "realistic" gun suits him then perhaps you need to come to grasps with reality a bit more.

I personally have kind of enjoyed the sonic games as of late (yes even sonic heroes) BUT i agree that it lacks that certain something that makes the sonic games... well sonic games. 2D is the way to go with this series, and it is apparent that they can still make good 2D sonic games because the Sonic Advance games have all been pretty damned good. We can only hope that the next gamecube exclusive sonic that is apparently being made will do the 2D game with 3D engine, and that this Shadow game is just Sega trying to make some use out of the SA engine again.

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pixy misao 3.9.2005 at 11:43:45 AM

If they can give the dainty flower of a female heroin of FFX guns, anyone can wield them. And the whole idea of the Sega survey was to see if they could appeal to a different demographic. This is their idea, don't knock it 'til you try it.

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sracer108 3.9.2005 at 11:34:45 AM

On a side note, i didnt think the first sonic adventure game was all too bad... not great, but not horrible.

I'm scared for Sega though. I mean, even when you just think about it.... Shadow with a GUN?? I dont see how this fits in. I want to have faith in sega in producing the quality titles I've come to expect from them (SA2 and Sonic heros excluded). Please don't dissapoint me sega.

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joshschw 3.9.2005 at 11:20:19 AM

eh why not, Sega? You may as well shovel some more dirt on your grave huh?

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microhouse 3.9.2005 at 10:46:00 AM

heh theres a sonic fighting game?

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Ryan 3.9.2005 at 10:15:25 AM

If Conker can have a gun, why can't Shadow?

But if it is only one weapon, blech.

Looks like they developed the game and threw whoever won the Sega poll in as the character.

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gohanks 3.9.2005 at 08:53:59 AM

BWAHAHAHA! I knew I was right.

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chocoboy 3.9.2005 at 08:35:11 AM

I just don't know what to say... I'm dumbstruck... I mean, yeah, all the Sonic Adventure games were complete crap... but I never thought they'd do this. If I knew this would happen I guess I would've pretended to like the Sonic Adventure games more...

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rahvii 3.9.2005 at 07:23:29 AM

nah... first, when i readed the tittle i was chocked... "Sonic MATURE!", then i open up and i found another game derivated from the same Sonic Adventure 1 engine from Dreamcast. WTF!, they killing Sonic more and more... that's sad.

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manipulated 3.9.2005 at 07:00:53 AM

Just to add some more comments, that trailer really is shockingly bad, its like here we are starting off.. the first sonic game then on to the great genesis titles and as the years pass you can actually see where Sega start screwing up the game, its quite amazing you actualy see the game going from good to bad right before your eyes, and then Shadow comes along and blows away all the good memories with his gun roflmao!!!!

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manipulated 3.9.2005 at 06:44:17 AM

Just imagine a sidescrolling style
Sonic the Hedgehog game with Vewtiful Joe gameplay and graphics, now that would rock.. minus the gun's ofcourse. Sonic could also gather special moves, powers and ability's like in Vewtiful Joe.

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maidir 3.9.2005 at 04:50:11 AM

...I'm disappointed. That's really all I can say. I guess we'll find out later this year what this games really about, but right now...the gun is kinda throwing me off -_-

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dart533 3.9.2005 at 04:28:51 AM

I wanted to lol at the trailer, but I was too shocked to... It really looks absolutely ghastly. I agree with Pook... They really should just make an amazing 2d game with a 3d engine, or maybe even go viewtiful joe style with sonic and just make an AMAZING game again... This looks like it's going to be an absolute crapper of a game.

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the8bither0 3.9.2005 at 03:39:04 AM

umm... yea...

I realize they are trying to add soemthing new to the Sonic games, but I dont think a gun is quite what its gonna take. I am almost shocked to see a sonic character with a gun that's "realistic", it just looks so out of place, I could see if maybe they gave him a stylized weapon, but this is like slapping a shotgun on Link and saying "LOOK INNOVATION!", Just doesnt quite work...please Sega, if you intend to go forward with this, at very least retool the gun so that it fits the universe you have created

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capness1228 3.9.2005 at 02:26:43 AM

"if the gun serves a purpose beyond shooting things"

...

I get the feeling your going to be let down.

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wolvenone 3.9.2005 at 02:09:12 AM

Not sure what to think about this. It could be good but only if the gun serves a purpose beyond shooting things and making the title character look e-v-i-l.....

I have some faith in Sega to do a good job when they did down and polish thier games. The last few Sonics though seemed really rushed to me though. So my faith is a little shaken, but if they sit down and take the time to do things right then I think we may have a good game on our hands.

Did I mention that I'm not sure what to think?

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pook 3.9.2005 at 02:04:17 AM

lame. realizing their other sonic games were getting pwned by jak and clank, they've retooled the formula again to be hip and edgy. i'm so tired of words like dark and hardcore and edgy and badass.

why not just retool to a 2d-style game using a 3d engine and PWN?

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ragnarok 3.9.2005 at 01:42:26 AM

WTF. The gun is a really bad idea.
And I wouldn't call Shadow a long-time rival. He's only been in 3 games...

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daislite 3.9.2005 at 01:25:30 AM

*rapes Retro*

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retro 3.9.2005 at 01:20:43 AM

After carefully performing a multitude of complex spatial calculations, devising a superratial currency/ equivilency system, and ascribing the output of this theory to the value of the output of Sega, I have come to the following indesputable fact of the universe:

A single two-dimensional Sonic Game is exactly 957% better than than all 3 three-dimensional Sonic games combined.

And now we have a Sonic game where the hero shoots people. Won't Grand Theft Hedgehog be pointless as Sonic can clearly outrun automobiles? Sonic the Master Chief Hedgehog doesn't have the same ring either.

It's good to know that the videogame industry's idea of innovation is to throw in a semi-automatic firearm. I bet the next Sonic game involves some hardcore hedgehog nudity. It'll give all the Furry fans something to look forward to.

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zeo 3.9.2005 at 01:14:15 AM

Uh..

...

I have no idea.

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taiz 3.9.2005 at 01:13:52 AM

Hopefully the title will stay "Shadow The Hedgehog" and not get switched to one of the other horrible names they had in that poll a while back.

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drakken 3.9.2005 at 01:01:57 AM

Yes, thank you. I have no idea why I said coins. It must be because it's late.

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vespertilio 3.9.2005 at 12:56:46 AM

When you say coins, you mean rings right?