Cyber Shadow

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Cyber Shadow is is an Action-Platformer released on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2021. This game has players fighting through hordes of robotic enemies as a cybernetic ninja warrior.

Everything about this game’s presentation seems designed to evoke nostalgia for the classic era of great 8-Bit Nintendo Entertainment System games like Ninja Gaiden, and to that end, Cyber Shadow features excellent pixel art graphics that look the way nostalgic gamers think the best games of that era did, but in fact the level of detail and subtle little animations here are subtly well beyond what we saw in that classic era of gaming. This is complimented by a catchy chiptune soundtrack, with great songs like Biothermal Towers, Apparitor, Disposal Facility, and Rooftops.

While the visuals evoke the classic games of the 8-bit era, so too does the gameplay, which channels Ninja Gaiden to some degree, but in many ways has its own feel that makes it fairly unique. Players start off with just a melee attack, but gradually power up their abilities as they progress through the game, with players speeding through hordes of enemies by the game’s end.

The level design and enemy design here is fantastic, and the game really does a great job of keeping everything interesting throughout the game, shaking things up with level-specific hazards, new enemy interactions, and clever use of environments that has players thinking through how they’ll approach enemies.

And while this is a fairly fast-paced game, you will want to think out how you work your way through the levels, because this game can get extremely difficult. Much as in those old-school games Cyber Shadow imitates, one false step can send players into an instant-kill pit or a one-hit kill level hazard, and while this game does make use of checkpoints, they often feel like they’re spaced too far apart. Also, while this game does provide players with some extremely fun abilities late into the game, the early-game progression is a bit slow-going – the gameplay is still good, but extremely simple, and it takes a while for things to get really interesting.

Of course, the elephant in the room here is another game in the modern gaming era that was clearly inspired by Ninja Gaiden – The Messenger. Suffice it to say that both games are different enough to occupy the same space, and fans of the classic Ninja Gaiden games would do well to get both of these games. However, if you’re forced to make a choice between one or the other, I’d recommend The Messenger over Cyber Shadow – it has better pacing and progression, and its late-game surprises are far more spectacular than anything found in Cyber Shadow.

However, even if Cyber Shadow doesn’t quite measure up to The Messenger, I must stress that it doesn’t have to. Cyber Shadow is still an absolutely superb Action-Platformer, and any fan of the classics of the 8-Bit era should consider this game a must-have. Those not swayed by nostalgia may still want to give this game a look, as well, too – just be aware that it’s a challenging game and you’ll be dying a lot.

tl;dr – Cyber Shadow is a challenging retro-style Action-Platformer clearly inspired by 8-Bit classics of the genre like the Ninja Gaiden series. While it takes a bit of time to really get interesting and the high difficulty means this game won’t be for everyone, the gameplay here is overall very well-crafted, the level design is superb, and fans of the genre looking for a fun challenge would do well to add this game to their collection.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2021 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Action Game

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