GameCube / PS2 / Xbox2005Sega Studios USAAction platformer with guns

Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Sonic’s moody rival finally gets a game of his own: alien invaders, motorbikes, a lot of firepower and a story that forks every time you choose between hero and villain.

Released15 Nov 2005 (NA) · 16–18 Nov 2005 (Europe) · 15 Dec 2005 (JP)

DeveloperSega Studios USA

DirectorTakashi Iizuka; producer Yuji Naka

VillainBlack Doom and the Black Arms

EndingsTen, plus the Last Story

SalesAt least 2.06 million

Title	Shadow the Hedgehog; Japanese: シャドウ・ザ・ヘッジホッグ
Platforms	GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox; the PlayStation 2 version was sold on PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network in Japan, Korea and Taiwan in 2013
Developer	Sega Studios USA (formerly Sonic Team USA); CG cutscenes by Blur Studio; English voices recorded with 4Kids Entertainment
Publisher	Sega
Director and writer	Takashi Iizuka
Producer	Yuji Naka
Music	Jun Senoue, with Yutaka Minobe, Tomoya Ohtani and Mariko Nanba; songs by Crush 40, Powerman 5000, Julien-K, A2 and Magna-Fi
Players	1–2: split-screen battles, and a second player can control Shadow’s partner (GameCube and PlayStation 2 only)
Rating	ESRB E10+ (Fantasy Violence), the first Sonic game with that rating
Released (North America)	15 November 2005 (Xbox US$49.99)
Released (Europe)	France 16 November, Germany 17 November, UK and the rest of Europe 18 November 2005 (UK £34.99 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox)
Released (Australia)	November 2005 (18 November per our original page; Sega Retro gives only the year)
Released (Japan)	15 December 2005 (¥6,800); Korea, PlayStation 2, 22 December 2005
Budget editions	Player’s Choice (GameCube) and Greatest Hits (PlayStation 2) in North America, 2006; Platinum (PlayStation 2) in Europe, 2007
Previously	Sonic Heroes (2003)
Next for Shadow	Shadow Generations (2024), his next starring role

Overview

Four years after his debut, Shadow got the spotlight. Shadow the Hedgehog was made in San Francisco by Sega Studios USA, the team that had built Sonic Heroes under the Sonic Team USA name, and released on GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in November 2005, a month before Japan.

Underneath it is still a 3D Sonic game, with loops, grind rails, rings, springs and homing attacks. On top of that Shadow can pick up machine guns, melee weapons, missile launchers and even traffic signs, jump on motorbikes and commandeer GUN walkers. Nearly every stage offers a Hero goal, a Dark goal and a plain run to the finish, and whichever you complete decides the next stage, the next scene and, after six stages, which of ten endings you get. See all ten and the Last Story finally explains where Shadow came from.

Critics hated a lot of it: the slippery controls, the mazes, the guns and the attempt at a grown-up tone. Players bought it anyway, more than two million of them by Sega’s count, and the game has grown a cult following that was rewarded in 2024 when Shadow Generations brought its villain back.

Quick Answers

The short answers, with the detail further down the page.

Plot / Story

Shadow the Hedgehog picks up Shadow’s story after Sonic Heroes. He knows his name and holds on to one memory: escaping through the ARK with Maria while GUN soldiers close in, and losing her. Everything else is a blank, and three groups claim they can fill it in.

Fire in the sky

Every fifty years the Black Comet comes close to the planet, and people had treated it as a reason for a festival. This time it brings an army. As Shadow broods outside the city of Westopolis, the Black Arms pour out of the sky and attack.

Their leader, Black Doom, speaks to Shadow by name and reminds him of a promise: bring me the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow has no idea what he means, but the Emeralds are clearly the key to his past, and everyone wants them. Black Doom wants them, Dr. Eggman wants them, and GUN, the army that raided the ARK fifty years ago, has no love for Shadow.

Hero, Dark or neither

From Westopolis on, you choose. Hero missions mean helping GUN and Sonic’s friends (and, once, Eggman against the aliens); Dark missions mean doing Black Doom’s or Eggman’s dirty work; or you can ignore everyone, grab the Emerald and head for the goal ring. Whoever you help, everyone else keeps shooting at you.

Each run is six stages long. Heroic choices steer Shadow towards the more heroic stages, villainous ones towards the darker stages, and the sixth stage decides the ending. Every route has its own name, 326 of them in all, and the cutscenes along the way slowly hand Shadow his memories back.

Back to the ARK

Two stages take place inside Shadow’s head. The Doom replays GUN’s attack on the ARK fifty years earlier, when the soldiers shut down Project Shadow, and pits him against the same Heavy Dog tank he faced back then. Lost Impact revisits happier days with Maria and Professor Gerald, until a security breach sets the Artificial Chaos loose and the pair flee across the colony on armed monorails.

Ten endings

The sixth stage ends with one of three final bosses, and the ending depends on which mission you clear. Serve the aliens and Shadow fights Sonic and the GUN Commander’s Diablon mech; side with the heroes and he takes on Black Doom himself; walk a middle path and Eggman’s Egg Dealer is waiting.

The endings run the full range. In the most heroic, Shadow sets out to wipe out Black Doom and his army. In the darkest, he resolves to destroy the whole planet. In between, some endings have Eggman convince him that he is merely an android copy of the real Shadow.

The Last Story

With all ten endings seen, the true finale opens. Shadow has every Emerald, and Black Doom uses their power to drag the Black Comet down onto the planet’s surface. A paralysing gas spreads from the comet, and Sonic, his friends and Eggman collapse while alien larvae close in to feed. Only Shadow can still move.

Black Doom explains the bargain: Gerald promised him the Emeralds in exchange for his blood, which went into creating Shadow. He tries to take control of Shadow through that bond, until the Chaotix find a message Gerald recorded for him. The professor admits his deal with the aliens and reveals that he built the ARK’s Eclipse Cannon to destroy the comet, asking Shadow to finish the job.

Freed, Shadow turns Super and chases Black Doom, now the two-headed Devil Doom, around the comet. Mid-battle, Eggman confirms that Shadow is the real thing, not an android. Victory leaves Shadow free to warp the comet back into orbit with Chaos Control and blast it apart with the Eclipse Cannon. On board the ARK he looks at a photo of Maria and Gerald, lets it fall and walks away.

Stages in Shadow the Hedgehog

Westopolis plus 22 stages arranged in a branching tree, from three choices at stage 2 to five at stages 4, 5 and 6. Left means darker, right means more heroic. Each stage is labelled from Dark through Neutral to Hero, and The Last Way is reserved for the Last Story.

1. 
   WestopolisStage 1 · every routeA United Federation city under alien bombardment, with GUN troops and Black Arms fighting street by street. Sonic is the Hero partner; Doom’s Eye gives the Dark orders.
2. 
   Digital CircuitStage 2 · DarkBlack Doom wants human communications crippled, so Shadow goes inside the United Federation’s computer network, riding wires past password barriers and antivirus programs. Rouge needs help here.
3. 
   Glyphic CanyonStage 2 · NeutralCrumbling temple ruins carved into a canyon. The aliens want to wake something buried inside; Knuckles sides with GUN to stop them.
4. 
   Lethal HighwayStage 2 · HeroThe broken road out of Westopolis. Sonic wants the Black Tank destroyed, Black Doom wants Shadow with him, and Black Bull waits at the end.
5. 
   Cryptic CastleStage 3 · Dark sideEggman’s haunted castle under alien attack. Amy has lost Cream and Cheese somewhere inside; pumpkin balloons carry Shadow over the gaps. The Egg Breaker follows.
6. 
   Prison IslandStage 3 · NeutralShadow’s old prison from Sonic Adventure 2, now a ruin laced with glowing green rivers. Charmy wants five secret disks found.
7. 
   Circus ParkStage 3 · Hero sideAn Eggman funfair of flaming hoops and shooting galleries. Tails has been shot down nearby and wants a hand.
8. 
   Central CityStage 4 · DarkThe United Federation’s capital under siege, with GUN claiming the aliens are cornered. Knuckles is the Hero partner.
9. 
   The DoomStage 4 · Semi-darkA flashback to GUN’s raid on the ARK, built from near-identical corridors that are easy to get lost in. The Heavy Dog is the boss.
10. 
    Sky TroopsStage 4 · NeutralThe Glyphic Canyon temples, now flying stone warships, trade fire with Eggman’s fleet above the clouds.
11. 
    Mad MatrixStage 4 · Semi-heroWith Espio’s help, a digitised Shadow breaks into Eggman’s network, only to find the aliens already hacking it. Another Egg Breaker fight follows.
12. 
    Death RuinsStage 4 · HeroJungle temples overgrown with giant crimson alien plants, where the retreating Black Arms dig in. Rouge is back, and so is Black Bull.
13. 
    The ARKStage 5 · DarkBack on the space colony, where GUN defends the Eclipse Cannon control room with the Blue Falcon.
14. 
    Air FleetStage 5 · Semi-darkGUN airships try to get the United Federation’s President out of danger while alien boarding parties hunt him down. Tails is the Hero partner.
15. 
    Iron JungleStage 5 · NeutralSteel walkways leading to Eggman’s volcano base, guarded by Egg Pawns and Shadow androids. Omega joins in.
16. 
    Space GadgetStage 5 · Semi-heroSonic Adventure 2’s Final Rush all over again: Shadow and Sonic race across the ARK for a Chaos Emerald.
17. 
    Lost ImpactStage 5 · HeroShadow’s memory of the ARK with Maria, as the Artificial Chaos break loose.
18. 
    GUN FortressStage 6 · DarkGUN’s secret underground headquarters and its three Mother Computers. Rouge is the Hero partner.
19. 
    Black CometStage 6 · Semi-darkInside the aliens’ home, with Knuckles as the Hero partner.
20. 
    Lava ShelterStage 6 · NeutralEggman’s volcano base, where grind rails buckle and melt into the lava. The Egg Dealer ends both missions.
21. 
    Cosmic FallStage 6 · Semi-heroThe ARK falling to pieces around Shadow, with Vector and Doom’s Eye each wanting help before it goes.
22. 
    Final HauntStage 6 · HeroShadow and Sonic storm the caverns at the heart of the Black Comet.
23. 
    The Last WayLast StoryA chase through the grounded comet after Black Doom, unlocked once all ten endings are seen.

In comics, TV & other media

Shadow’s game connects to the anime, the films and his later adventures. More in Sonic in other movies and media.

Characters

One playable hero, a dozen partners who come and go stage by stage, and three factions who all want something from him. On GameCube and PlayStation 2 a second player can take over most partners.

Character	Who they are	In this game	Stats & abilities
Shadow the HedgehogPlayable	The “Ultimate Life Form”, built aboard the ARK by Professor Gerald Robotnik and able to harness the Chaos Emeralds. Thought dead after Sonic Adventure 2, he resurfaced in Sonic Heroes with no memory.	Hunts the Emeralds to learn who he is; your choices decide whether he saves the planet, rules it or tries to wipe it out.	Jump dash, homing attack, spin dash, a three-hit combo and a spinning air kick Chaos Control (Hero gauge) and Chaos Blast (Dark gauge) Five weapon types: melee, guns, lock-on launchers, cannons and vacuum guns Drives bikes, cars, GUN walkers and alien craft
Black DoomNew · Villain	Ancient leader of the Black Arms and master of the Black Comet, with psychic powers that can stir up other people’s memories.	Orders Shadow to collect the Emeralds. An ally on Dark routes, the final boss of the heroic endings and, in the Last Story, Devil Doom.	Chaos Control Bosses: Black Doom, Devil Doom
Doom’s EyeNew · Dark partner	A floating third eye that lets Black Doom watch Shadow from afar.	Delivers Black Doom’s orders and partners Shadow on many Dark missions.	Cannot be taken over by a second player.
The GUN CommanderNew · Rival	Head of GUN, the Guardian Units of Nations, the United Federation’s army. He knows secrets about Shadow’s past and has a personal hatred of him.	Leads the human resistance; in Dark endings he pilots the unfinished Diablon mech with Sonic.	Boss: Sonic and Diablon.
Dr. EggmanAlly or enemy	Gerald’s grandson and Sonic’s old enemy, who follows Shadow on floating monitors.	Hands out some Dark missions and one Hero mission, and in the neutral endings tries to convince Shadow he is just an android.	Bosses: Egg Breaker, Egg Dealer Egg Pawns, drones and Shadow androids
Sonic the HedgehogHero partner · Rival	Shadow’s rival and reluctant friend.	Partner in Westopolis, Lethal Highway and Final Haunt, racing opponent in Space Gadget, and fights beside the Diablon in Dark endings.	Second-player controllable when he is the partner.
Miles “Tails” ProwerHero partner	Sonic’s best friend and mechanic.	Partner in Circus Park, after his plane is shot down, and in Air Fleet.	Second-player controllable.
Knuckles the EchidnaHero partner	Guardian of the Master Emerald.	Fights beside GUN in Glyphic Canyon, Central City and Black Comet.	Second-player controllable.
Amy RoseHero partner	Sonic’s devoted admirer.	Searches Cryptic Castle for Cream and Cheese and helps against the Egg Breaker.	Second-player controllable.
Rouge the BatHero partner	Spy, treasure hunter and Shadow’s Team Dark comrade from Sonic Heroes.	Partner in Digital Circuit, Death Ruins and GUN Fortress.	Second-player controllable.
E-123 OmegaPartner	The last of Eggman’s E-series robots and the third member of Team Dark.	Partner in Iron Jungle and Lava Shelter; the only partner missing from the opening and the Last Story.	Second-player controllable.
Vector the CrocodileHero partner	Boss of the Chaotix Detective Agency.	Needs Shadow in Cosmic Fall; the Chaotix also find Gerald’s message in the Last Story.	Second-player controllable.
Espio the ChameleonHero partner	The Chaotix’ ninja.	Helps Shadow break into Eggman’s network in Mad Matrix.	Second-player controllable.
Charmy BeeHero partner	The Chaotix’ flying detective.	Asks for help on Prison Island but hovers out of reach and never fights.	Cannot be taken over by a second player.
Cream the Rabbit and CheeseRescue target	Amy’s young friend and her Chao.	Lost in Cryptic Castle; finding them is the Hero mission.	Never joins Shadow as a partner.
Maria RobotnikMemories	Gerald’s granddaughter and Shadow’s closest friend on the ARK, killed during GUN’s raid.	At Shadow’s side in the flashback stages The Doom and Lost Impact.	Appears only in memories.
Professor Gerald RobotnikMemories	The scientist behind the ARK and Project Shadow, and grandfather of both Maria and Eggman.	His secret deal with Black Doom and his recorded plea to Shadow are the Last Story’s big reveals.	Appears in flashbacks and a recorded message.

Bosses

Four mid-game bosses guard particular stages, three final bosses decide the endings, and one more waits in the Last Story.

• Black BullAfter Lethal Highway or Death RuinsA fire-breathing cross between a bat and a giant grub, summoned by Doom’s Eye when Shadow refuses orders.
• Egg BreakerAfter Cryptic Castle, Mad Matrix or Iron JungleEggman’s walker with a long-range spiked hammer, a cousin of Sonic Heroes’ Egg Emperor.
• Heavy DogAfter The DoomThe GUN hovertank from the raid fifty years ago: homing rockets, an energy weapon and floating mines.
• Blue FalconAfter The ARKA newer GUN hovertank guarding the Eclipse Cannon controls, oddly weaker than its ancestor.
• Egg DealerFinal boss · neutral-leaning endingsEggman’s last machine, after Lava Shelter, the Hero side of Black Comet or the Dark side of Cosmic Fall.
• Sonic and DiablonFinal boss · Dark endingsSonic plus the GUN Commander’s experimental mech, after the Dark missions in GUN Fortress, Black Comet and Final Haunt.
• Black DoomFinal boss · Hero endingsThe alien lord himself, after the Hero missions in GUN Fortress, Cosmic Fall and Final Haunt.
• Devil DoomLast Story · Super ShadowBlack Doom’s two-headed monster form, fought outside the grounded comet.

The people who made it

Key credits from Wikipedia’s cited sources, Sega Retro and Sonic Retro.

How it was made

Our original page had no history section, so this one is new, built from Wikipedia’s cited development history, Sonic Retro’s development page and Sega Retro’s release data.

Shadow’s turn

After Sonic Heroes, Sonic Team USA renamed itself Sega Studios USA and started on a spin-off. Around that time Sega ran an online poll asking which character deserved a game of their own, and Shadow won it, though Sonic Retro doubts the vote shaped the project much. Takashi Iizuka had wanted to do more with Shadow ever since Sonic Adventure 2.

Iizuka felt earlier Sonic games had been aimed at younger players and wanted to reach an older crowd, while also clearing up the mysteries left hanging about Shadow’s origins. The team drew on films such as Underworld, Constantine and the Terminator series, and decided Shadow’s darker personality could carry weapons and vehicles that would feel wrong in Sonic’s hands. Branching story paths, planned for Adventure 2 but cut for time, finally made it in.

Revealed at the Walk of Game

On 8 March 2005 Sonic was inducted into the Walk of Game in San Francisco, and Sega used the ceremony to unveil the game. The trailer opened as a celebration of Sonic’s history, then bullet holes tore through the old footage and Shadow appeared, under the tagline “Hero or villain? You decide.” Sega formally announced the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions on 23 March.

From T to E10+

Guns, blood and some mild swearing first earned the game a Teen rating, and Sega asked that only players aged 13 and over try the show-floor demos. When the ESRB introduced its new E10+ category during development, Sega edited the Western release to fit: some of the swearing went, the GUN soldiers stopped bleeding and the aliens’ blood turned green. The result was the first Sonic game rated E10+.

New voices

Released on the same North American day as Sonic Rush, it was one of the first two games to use the English cast of 4Kids’ Sonic X dub, replacing the actors from the Adventure era to bring the games in line with the TV show; the change coincided with the death of Deem Bristow, the previous voice of Eggman. Many fans protested, but the cast stayed until 2010. The Japanese voices, already shared with the anime, did not change.

Language options vary. The Japanese and North American PlayStation 2 releases let you switch between English and Japanese voices, European PlayStation 2 copies do not, and the Xbox version simply follows the console’s language. The GameCube disc has room for only one voice track, matched to its region.

Seven songs

Jun Senoue gave each kind of ending its own vocal track: Crush 40’s “I Am… All of Me” as the main and final-boss theme, “Almost Dead” by Powerman 5000 for the darkest endings, Julien-K’s “Waking Up” for neutral ones, A2’s “Chosen One” and Magna-Fi’s “All Hail Shadow” for heroic ones, and Crush 40’s “Never Turn Back” for the finale, plus a remix of Eggman’s theme from Adventure 2.

A2’s “Chosen One” is itself a replacement. A2 included members of Sins of a Divine Mother, whose “Broken” had to go when Senoue could not find its singer to clear the rights, and a second planned song, Magna-Fi’s “Who I Am”, was lost to licensing problems.

Release

The game reached North America on 15 November 2005, France on the 16th, Germany on the 17th and the UK and the rest of Europe on the 18th, with Japan following on 15 December and the Korean PlayStation 2 version on 22 December. Prototype builds from May and September 2005 have since surfaced.

Firsts: what this game introduced

Plenty about Shadow the Hedgehog was new for the series.

Cheats & secrets

Our original page had no secrets section, so this one is new. Shadow the Hedgehog has no cheat codes worth mentioning; its secrets are earned by playing.

Unlock the Last Story

See all ten endings and the Last Story appears on the story menu. Its stage, The Last Way, cannot be picked from stage select, but Expert Mode also leads there.

Every route has a name

The game names and records each of the 326 routes you can take, so completists have plenty to hunt.

Two-player battle

Fight a friend on a vertically split screen across three special stages, as Shadow, two metallic versions of him or their alternative colours, knocking rings out of each other until one is beaten.

Partner co-op

Plug in a second controller on GameCube or PlayStation 2 and a friend can take over Shadow’s partner. Doom’s Eye, Eggman and Charmy cannot be controlled, and the Xbox version leaves the feature out.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Sonic Retro documents one big bug, and plenty left on the disc.

Infinite Chaos Control

Stand on an active checkpoint, open its warp menu and trigger Chaos Control straight away. Shadow warps forward while the Hero gauge stays full, all the way to the end of the stage, though warping to a checkpoint during or after the trick crashes the game. It works on GameCube and PlayStation 2 only.

Gindows

Image files left on the disc belong to a debugging tool called Gindows, a mini-Windows lookalike much like the one found in a prototype of Rez.

Sonic in two-player?

The English voice files contain unused clips of Jun’ichi Kanemaru, Sonic’s Japanese voice, which seem to have been meant for Sonic as a playable two-player fighter.

Test stages

Five unused test levels, named STG0000 to STG0003 and STG0005, sit in the GameCube version’s files.

Friendly fire

Hit a character on your side and your partner tells you off, and you lose points at the end of the stage. Eggman’s robots count as Hero or Dark targets depending on whether GUN or the aliens are also present, which makes Cryptic Castle confusing.

Videos & media

IGN’s copy of the 2005 trailer, and a complete playthrough.

The 2005 E3 trailer, from IGN.

A full playthrough from FCPlaythroughs.

Trivia & facts

• 

  Two bosses share their names with F-Zero machines: GUN’s Blue Falcon (Captain Falcon’s car) and the aliens’ Black Bull (Black Shadow’s). Whether that was deliberate is unknown, though Sega had co-developed F-Zero GX a couple of years earlier.

• 

  The opening newspaper headline announces a “Fire in the Sky” festival, held for the comet that turns out to be the Black Arms’ home.
• The two-player battle music is Radical Highway’s “Vengeance Is Mine” from Sonic Adventure 2, and The ARK stage plays a remixed “Highway in the Sky”, the theme of Final Rush.
• NubyTech made a Shadow the Hedgehog themed PlayStation 2 controller to promote the game.

• 

  Sonic Retro points out that Omega’s victory pose looks a lot like one struck by Michael Chain, another F-Zero character.
• One cutscene had Shadow say “hell”, and the word was cut before release.

Media & artwork

Box art, artwork, concept art and screenshots from Sonic Scene’s own galleries and Sonic Retro. Select any image to view it larger.

• Screenshots from Shadow the Hedgehog

Legacy

Sega judged the sales not big enough to turn Shadow into a series of his own. It never got a modern port, but it kept its fans, and in 2024 both Shadow Generations and the third Sonic film went back to it.

Releases and re-releases

• Walk of Game reveal 8 March 2005 – San Francisco.
• GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox (North America) 15 November 2005 – Xbox US$49.99.
• Europe 16–18 November 2005 – UK £34.99 on PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
• Japan 15 December 2005 – ¥6,800 each; Korea (PlayStation 2) 22 December.
• Lost and Found and Original Soundtrax 22 February 2006 – Soundtrack CDs.
• Player’s Choice and Greatest Hits 2006 – GameCube and PlayStation 2, North America.
• Platinum (PlayStation 2) March 2007 – France 2 March, UK 9 March.
• Sega Fun Pack (PlayStation 2) 2009 – With Sonic Mega Collection Plus.
• PlayStation 3 (PSN, PS2 version) June–August 2013 – Japan ¥1,200, then Korea and Taiwan.
• Shadow the Hedgehog: Reloaded 2022 – Fan mod that tackles common complaints.
• Shadow Generations; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 2024 – Black Doom returns; the film borrows from the game.

Second opinions

Looking back after Shadow Generations, Kotaku’s Kenneth Shepard found a pretty solid 3D Sonic with interesting ideas, praising the branching story while agreeing the shooting is frustrating and the vehicles pointless. Eurogamer’s Paul Cecchini called it fine, with some cool ideas, and noted how rarely Sega had mentioned it since.

Sales & reviews

Sales

Reviews did not stop the game selling. Sega reported 1.59 million copies from launch to the end of March 2006, and another 470,000 in the US over the following year: at least 2.06 million. It joined the Player’s Choice, Greatest Hits and Platinum budget ranges, which needed strong sales to qualify.

• 2.06mCopies sold by March 2007, Sega figures
• 60%Sega Retro average, GameCube (5 reviews)
• 58%Sega Retro average, Xbox (4 reviews)
• 45%Sega Retro average, PlayStation 2 (5 reviews)

Reception and review scores

Period scores from Sega Retro’s review index, shown as its percentages. On Metacritic the GameCube version scored “mixed or average” and the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions “generally unfavorable”.

The “mature” makeover took the most flak. Game Informer’s Matt Helgeson thought the adult Sonic both silly and a letdown for long-time fans, and Eurogamer’s Tom Bramwell decided the darker edge was not aimed at him. Nintendo Power’s Steve Thomason disagreed, giving it 8 out of 10 and finding the edgier tone mostly worked and the weapons simply fun.

Controls drew the most specific complaints, especially a homing attack that could fling Shadow into a pit. GameSpot’s Greg Mueller found the guns close to useless with no proper lock-on or manual aim, and IGN, 1UP and Game Informer all criticised the shooting and vehicles. Level design split opinion, from “disastrous” at Game Informer to Official Xbox Magazine’s view that fans of Sonic Heroes would enjoy the big stages. Almost everyone liked the replay value of all those routes, though GameSpot doubted the play was fun enough to go through it many times.

Honours

Further reading

More from Sonic Scene on Shadow the Hedgehog and the games around it:

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Sonic Retro and Sega Retro pages were read through Wayback Machine copies from 2024 to 2026 that show the real article, because both live sites show a bot check. Our original article was an infobox only; its facts are kept in the info table.

• Overview: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Scene box art gallery: North American GameCube box, back cover (official description); Sega Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): release dates, prices, codes, publishers, supporting companies, review index, prototypes
• Quick Answers: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art
• Plot / Story: Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro stage, boss and character pages: Westopolis, Digital Circuit, Glyphic Canyon, Lethal Highway, Cryptic Castle, Prison Island, Circus Park, Central City, The Doom, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Death Ruins, The ARK, Air Fleet, Iron Jungle, Space Gadget, Lost Impact, GUN Fortress, Black Comet, Lava Shelter, Cosmic Fall, Final Haunt, The Last Way, Black Bull, Egg Breaker, Heavy Dog, Blue Falcon, Egg Dealer, Diablon, Black Doom, Devil Doom, Black Arms, Space Colony ARK; Sonic Scene screenshot gallery (opening newspaper, results screen, cutscenes)
• In comics, TV & other media: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Wikipedia, Sonic Rush (North American release on 15 November 2005; the Sonic X voice cast)
• Characters: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro stage, boss and character pages: Westopolis, Digital Circuit, Glyphic Canyon, Lethal Highway, Cryptic Castle, Prison Island, Circus Park, Central City, The Doom, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Death Ruins, The ARK, Air Fleet, Iron Jungle, Space Gadget, Lost Impact, GUN Fortress, Black Comet, Lava Shelter, Cosmic Fall, Final Haunt, The Last Way, Black Bull, Egg Breaker, Heavy Dog, Blue Falcon, Egg Dealer, Diablon, Black Doom, Devil Doom, Black Arms, Space Colony ARK; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Sega Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): release dates, prices, codes, publishers, supporting companies, review index, prototypes
• How it was made: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sega Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): release dates, prices, codes, publishers, supporting companies, review index, prototypes; Wikipedia, Sonic Rush (North American release on 15 November 2005; the Sonic X voice cast)
• Firsts: what this game introduced: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Wikipedia, Sonic Rush (North American release on 15 November 2005; the Sonic X voice cast)
• Cheats & secrets: Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro stage, boss and character pages: Westopolis, Digital Circuit, Glyphic Canyon, Lethal Highway, Cryptic Castle, Prison Island, Circus Park, Central City, The Doom, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Death Ruins, The ARK, Air Fleet, Iron Jungle, Space Gadget, Lost Impact, GUN Fortress, Black Comet, Lava Shelter, Cosmic Fall, Final Haunt, The Last Way, Black Bull, Egg Breaker, Heavy Dog, Blue Falcon, Egg Dealer, Diablon, Black Doom, Devil Doom, Black Arms, Space Colony ARK; Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku)
• Glitches, exploits and oddities: Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Bugs; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Hidden content; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases
• Videos & media: YouTube, IGN, video GYIxmcUtmmE (checked with oEmbed); YouTube, FCPlaythroughs, video wxsZmmxUgkM (checked with oEmbed)
• Trivia & facts: Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sonic Scene screenshot gallery (opening newspaper, results screen, cutscenes)
• Legacy: Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku); Sega Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): release dates, prices, codes, publishers, supporting companies, review index, prototypes; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Development: poll, reveal, influences, rating, music, voice cast, concept art; Sonic Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): story, endings, partners, gameplay, weapons, music, voice tracks, trivia, re-releases
• Sales & reviews: Sega Retro, Shadow the Hedgehog (game): release dates, prices, codes, publishers, supporting companies, review index, prototypes; Wikipedia, Shadow the Hedgehog (video game), and the interviews and reviews it cites (GameSpy, Game Informer, GameSpot, IGN, Eurogamer, Nintendo Power, Kotaku)