Shadow the Hedgehog (game)

"Will he be good or evil? No one knows but you."

- Tagline


 * For this game's titular character, see Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow the Hedgehog is a third-person shooter Sonic game for the Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox that centers around the story of Shadow trying to recover his memory, a goal he has been pursuing since he first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2. At the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2, his memory was incomplete, and after almost dying at the end of the game, he lost it completely. He continued to seek knowledge of his past in Sonic Heroes. And now, in Shadow the Hedgehog a three-way war rages between the Black Arms, GUN, and Eggman, in which Shadow sometimes takes part while struggling to gather all 7 Chaos Emeralds, which he believes hold the key to his past. He finally regains his memory during his confrontation with Black Doom in the "Last Story" of the game. Shadow the Hedgehog was developed in the United States. This game features a mission based style of play similar to Team Chaotix's story in Sonic Heroes.

Story
The story begins with Shadow standing on a hill next to a tree, outside the city of Westopolis at sunset. A newspaper blows by in the breeze, catching on Shadow's leg and has the headline of celebrations taking place now that something called the Black Comet has come back in its fifty year cycle. As it blows off into the distance, Shadow struggles to remember who he is due to his amnesia and constantly thinks back to the one memory he seems to have left.

The scene switches to Shadow's point of view, running down a long metallic hallway with a girl as if trying to escape from something. However, soldiers suddenly appear and shoot the girl before Shadow can react, prompting him to cry out the girl's name, Maria.

As Shadow ponders who this "Maria" is, saying: "Who am I? And why can't I remember anything? And... who is this Maria?" Then a gaping hole opens up in the sky over the city. Strange black and red creatures descend from the clouds and begin to cause pandemonium in the city. Shadow turns to leave, not caring about the humans until someone calls out his name. A large floating figure, known as Black Doom, appears and tells Shadow to bring him the Chaos Emeralds "as promised" before disappearing in multiple explosions.

Fueled with desire to seek out his past and find the truth behind Black Doom's words, Shadow speeds off into the city.

The story's progression then depends on the player's actions of deciding the path Shadow takes by choosing which missions to complete in each stage. Some scenarios will reveal certain information about Shadow's past including flashbacks to the ARK and Maria and the connection of the events on board the space colony to others, such as the GUN Commander. All of the story paths have their own unique endings depending on how much Shadow aids the protagonists or Black Doom and the Black Arms:
 * If Shadow chooses to aid the Black Arms in their conquest of the planet, then he will either become a servant of the Black Arms, defeat and kill Eggman or even betray the Black Arms and claim the universe for his own. In the Darkest scenario, Shadow vows to destroy the planet with the power of the Chaos Emeralds.
 * If Shadow chooses to remain neutral to both parties, then he will become convinced he is simply an android copy of the original Shadow and then kill Eggman.
 * If Shadow chooses to aid the protagonists in combating the Black Arms, he will either become the protector of the ARK, become convinced that he is nothing more than an experiment gone horribly wrong and thinks he should never have been created or fight with Sonic to proclaim himself the most powerful hedgehog in the world. In the best Hero scenario, Shadow defeats Black Doom and vows to destroy the Black Arms and keep his promise to Maria.

However, all of the endings are actually distortions of the truth. The true story of Shadow's past is told in the Last Story, which can only be unlocked by obtaining all ten endings.

In the Last Story, Shadow is confronted by Black Doom after gathering all of the Emeralds. Black Doom commands him to give up the Emeralds so that they can begin the Ritual Of Prosperity. Sonic and the others (including Eggman) then arrive and tell Shadow not to listen to the alien leader. After it is revealed that Black Doom wishes to harvest humans as an energy source, he takes the Emeralds from Shadow and uses Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet down to the surface of the planet.

Black Doom then explains that he helped Professor Gerald create Shadow but only in return for the Chaos Emeralds, which were needed to bring the comet down to the surface. This reveals that Shadow was actually created using Black Doom's DNA. As Eggman is in disbelief that his grandfather would betray the planet, Black Doom paralyzes everyone with a special gas and leaves them to be devoured by his alien offspring. As the end seems near, Shadow suddenly hears Maria asking for help and he breaks through the paralysis. Black Doom flees, leaving Shadow the only hope for the planet.

After playing The Last Way, Shadow catches up with Black Doom and suddenly is attacked by mind control. Black Doom tells him that he can control him as they have the same blood running through their veins. Shadow refuses to believe it as the scene switches to the ARK where Charmy, Vector and Espio race to hack data disks that they found earlier in the game. They finally get inside and a film showing a sane Professor Gerald begins to play. He refers to Shadow as his "son" and tells him that he is the only hope for the planet. It is revealed that the only way to defeat the Black Arms is to destroy the Black Comet using the Eclipse Cannon, a powerful weapon built into the ARK. As the video ends, Maria steps into the frame and gives Shadow the inspiration he needs to break through Black Doom's control. Black Doom escapes and prompts Shadow to use the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Shadow and fight the alien leader. Black Doom (now in his Devil Doom form) fights Shadow and is defeated.

Shadow then uses a super-powered Chaos Control to warp the Black Comet back into the planet's orbit and tear it apart with a blast from the Eclipse Cannon. Everyone below cheers in joy as the alien threat is destroyed forever. In one final scene on board the ARK, Shadow looks at a picture of Maria and Gerald before tossing it away, remarking "Goodbye forever...Shadow the Hedgehog".

Characters
For some missions, Shadow teams up with various allies from the series, some new and old. Potential allies for Shadow include Amy Rose, Charmy, Espio, Knuckles, Maria, Rouge, Sonic, Tails, Vector, Doom's Eye, E-123 Omega, and Eggman. The allies act as combat support and guidance and give help to Shadow should he need it. When an ally is not present, Shadow himself talks to the player about what they need to do.

In the PS2 and Gamecube versions of the game, a second player can connect a 2nd controller and play a character as an unofficial "co-op mode". This can't be done with Eggman, Doom's Eye, or Charmy and will not work on the Xbox version.

Ally Special Attacks
For the most part the allies can do what Shadow can do, except things that deal with weapons and vehicles. When an ally is played as in "Co-op" mode the second player can run, jump, and attack with their character. Some allies have different attacks compared to the other allies. Allies with special attacks are listed below.
 * Sonic- Can do the Homing Attack, all other allies can do the Jump Dash but it won't home in on the enemy (this is because in order for Sonic to fight Shadow in the boss with the G.U.N. commander his homing attack would need to work)
 * Tails- Uses a Tail attack for his attack. (the only ally attack which damages more than once in one attack)
 * Knuckles- He Punches but it is slightly different than the other allies punches.
 * Rouge- Kicks instead of punching the enemy.
 * Vector- Bites the enemy with his jaws.
 * Omega- Attacks with his arms, but different than the others punches.
 * Maria- She can only jump 1 foot off the ground and can't jump dash, other than that she acts like the others.

When the ally is played automatically by the computer, they will act differently compared to the others. If it is a playable ally, then they will attack any nearby enemy if Shadow gets within range. Some allies will use their attack and others will jump to attack an enemy.

Jumping Allies

 * Sonic- Will Jump or use the Homing Attack
 * Knuckles- Will Jump to attack
 * Rouge- Will Jump or use her attack
 * Espio- Will Jump to attack
 * Omega- Will Jump to attack

Attacking Allies

 * Tails- Will use his Tails Attack
 * Amy- Will use a combo of punches
 * Rouge- Will use her Kick or Jump
 * Vector- Will use his Bite to attack
 * Maria- Will punch to attack

Enemies
During Shadow's journey, three different factions are present in the missions. GUN, the Black Arms and the Eggman Empire will all try to attack him regardless of who he sides with in a mission. The GUN enemies, who are hunting him down due to their Commander's orders, include human troops and robotic troops as well as traditional GUN Beatles and walkers and killing them earns Dark points. The Black Arms include gun and sword wielding humanoid aliens, flying creatures, and missile-launching worms and killing them earns Hero points. The Eggman Empire enemies are Eggman's typical robots, including the Egg Pawns and bomb-throwing jugglers, as well as Shadow Androids. Killing them earns either Dark or Hero points, depending on who the opposing side is.

Abilities
Shadow's abilities in Shadow the Hedgehog are similar to those from Sonic Adventure 2. He can jump and jump dash/homing attack, as well as spin dash, light dash, and slide to attack while running, and can preform a punch-punch-kick combo. He also has the ability to use weapons (including guns, swords, rocket launchers, etc.) and drive vehicles that he finds or commandeers. Shadow also keeps his ability to wall run from Sonic Heroes. He can be able to use Chaos Spear, but only when you unlock the last story and turn into Super Shadow.

Weapons
Shadow can use a variety of weapons found throughout each stage. Ranging from pistols and machine guns to close combat weapons, Gatling guns, bazookas, and even laser rifles. Weapons are commonly found in boxes and dropped from enemies. When a weapon is first picked up, Shadow receives some initial of ammunition for that weapon; more ammunition can be gathered by picking up more copies of the weapon. Only one weapon can be held at a time, and when Shadow runs out of ammunition for his weapon, he will toss it aside and it disappears. Even melee weapons such as swords have ammunition points, which may represent their durability.

Six special weapons can be unlocked in Story mode. The first five are each unlocked by completing either the Hero or Dark mission of one of the five Stages (and their ammo can be increased by completing both the Hero and Dark missions.) The last special weapon, the "Shadow Rifle" is unlocked upon completion of the Last Story.

These special weapons are contained within black boxes with Shadow's head on it. When one of these boxes is opened, it drops all unlocked special weapons.

Chaos Powers
Shadow had ability can use two different Chaos Powers, based on how the player makes him act towards enemies/allies. Destroying Black Arms, healing wounded or dead GUN troops and civilians and putting out fires gives Hero points and fills up Shadow's Hero gauge. Destroying GUN troops, environmental objects and healing Black Arms gives Dark points and fills up Shadow's Dark gauge.

When Shadow's Hero gauge is full, Shadow becomes invincible, gets unlimited ammunition, and can activate "Chaos Control" which fast forwards through the stage (or slows down time in boss battles) until the Hero gauge is empty. When Shadow's Dark gauge is full, Shadow gets the exact same benefits as with the Hero Gauge, but uses Chaos Blast, which uses creates a huge blast of chaos energy, destroying everything nearby. Chaos Blast can be used up to three times before the Dark gauge is drained.

There is also a third Chaos Power that only be used in the Last Story, called Chaos Spear.

Interestingly, while both sides are often seen exchanging shots with one-another, they will rarely ever hit each other. This is because the developers wanted all the enemy deaths to be a result of the player's actions. The player cannot simply wait out a fire fight until enemies are weakened, but must instead do the work themselves.

Story Mode
The story mode of Shadow the Hedgehog is broken into stages, with cut-scenes in-between. The first stage of a game of story mode is always Westopolis. After that, however, the next stage played is determined by which "mission" was completed in the previous stage. For example, if the "Dark" mission is completed in Westopolis, the next stage will be Digital Circuit, whereas if the "Hero" mission is completed, the next stage will be Lethal Highway and if the "Normal" mission is completed, the next stage will be Glyphic Canyon. Each stage (except for Last Story, which has only The Last Way), has 2 or 3 missions, which can be Dark, Normal, or Hero. There is a door in each stage, which requires five keys to unlock. There are bonuses such as weapons, vehicles and shortcuts behind the door.

Levels
Stage 01: Stage 02: Stage 03: Stage 04: Stage 05: Stage 06: Final Bosses: Last Story:
 * Westopolis (Starting);
 * Digital Circuit (Pure-Dark/Dark) after Dark mission in Westopolis
 * Glyphic Canyon (Normal) after Normal Mission in Westopolis
 * Lethal Highway (Pure-Hero/Hero) after Hero mission in Westopolis - Black Bull as Boss
 * Cryptic Castle (Pure-Dark/Dark) after Dark Mission in Digital Circuit or Glyphic Canyon - Egg Breaker as Boss
 * Prison Island after Normal Mission in Glyphic Canon, Hero Mission in Digital Circuit or Dark Mission in Lethal Highway (Normal)
 * Circus Park (Pure-HeroHero) after Hero Mission in Glyphic Canyon or Lethal Highway
 * Central City (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in Cryptic Castle
 * The Doom (Semi-Dark) after Dark Mission in Prison Island or Normal Mission in Cryptic Castle - Heavy Dog as Boss
 * Sky Troops (Normal) after Hero Mission in Cryptic Castle or Dark Mission of Circus Park or Neutral Mission in Prison Island
 * Mad Matrix (Semi-Hero) after Normal Mission in Circus Park or Hero Mission in Prison Island - Egg Breaker as Boss
 * Death Ruins (Pure Hero) after Hero Mission in Circus Park - Black Bull as Boss
 * The ARK (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in The Doom or Central City - Blue Falcon as Boss
 * Air Fleet after Dark Mission in Sky Troops, Normal Mission in The Doom or Hero Mission in Central City (Semi-Dark)
 * Iron Jungle (Normal) after Hero Mission in The Doom, Neutral Mission in Sky Troops or Dark Mission in Mad Matrix - Egg Breaker as Boss
 * Space Gadget after Hero Mission in Sky Troops, Normal Mission in Mad Matrix or Dark Mission in Death Ruins (Semi-Hero)
 * Lost Impact after Hero Mission of Mad Matrix or Death Ruins (Pure Hero)
 * GUN Fortress (Pure Dark) after Dark Mission in Air Fleet or The Ark
 * Black Comet (Semi-Dark) after Dark Mission in Iron Jungle, Neutral Mission in The Ark, Neutral Mission in Air Fleet
 * Lava Shelter (Normal) after Normal Mission in Iron Jungle, Hero Mission in Air Fleet or Dark Mission in Space Gadget
 * Cosmic Fall (Semi-Hero) after Hero Mission in Iron Jungle, Neutral Mission in Space Gadget or Lost Impact
 * Final Haunt (Pure Hero) after Hero Mission in Space Gadget or Lost Impact
 * Sonic & Diablon - Fought by completing Dark mission in GUN Fortress, Black Comet, and Final Haunt
 * Egg Dealer (Normal) - Fought by completing Lava Shelter, Cosmic Fall on Dark & Black Comet on Hero
 * Black Doom (Hero) - Fought after completing the Hero mission in Final Haunt, GUN Fortress and Cosmic Fall
 * Last Stage: The Last Way
 * Last Boss: Devil Doom

Ranking
Shadow the Hedgehog uses the traditional A through E ranking also featured in Sonic Adventure 2/Sonic Heroes, etc. A certain minimum total score is required to earn each ranking, with A being the most points and E the ranking earned when less than the required number of points for a D are earned. The number of points required for each ranking varies between stages and between missions within each stage. There are also three types of points earned during the level, and the way the total score is calculated depends on which mission is completed. Normal points are earned by collecting rings and items. Dark points are earned by killing GUN troops (and sometimes Eggman's robots) and things in the environment (such as signs and lights.) Hero points are earned by killing Black Arms (and sometimes Eggman's robots), healing wounded or dead GUN troops and civilians, and putting out fires. Your total score for Normal missions equals your Normal score plus your Time Bonus (Hero and Dark scores are ignored.) Your total score for Dark missions equals your Normal score plus your Dark score plus your Time Bonus minus your Hero score, and your total score for Hero missions equals your Normal score plus your Hero score plus your Time Bonus minus your Dark score. By earning an A rank for all stages, "Expert Mode" - a challenging version of all stages is unlocked, similar to "Super Hard Mode" in Sonic Heroes.

Final Levels & Endings
Final levels do not feature neutral missions, causing the player to choose either a Hero or Dark boss battle as their final fight.


 * GUN Fortress (Pure Dark)
 * Hero: Rouge the Bat: Find the 6th Chaos Emerald; afterwards, these two defeat Black Doom and Shadow declares he will conquer the universe.
 * Dark: Doom's Eye: Destroy GUN's 3 Central Computers then defeat Sonic the Hedgehog and Diablon (controlled by GUN Commander). Shadow then declares he was created to bring order and justice to the humans, and he is "going to destroy this damn planet".
 * Black Comet (Dark)
 * Hero: Knuckles the Echidna: Find the center of the comet; Dr. Eggman appears and demands Shadow hands over the six Emeralds to him. With Knuckles help, Shadow defeats Eggman and declares that he, and only he, knows what is best and that is the master of his own life.
 * Dark: Black Doom: Eliminate all the GUN armies infliltrating the base, then defeat Sonic & Diablon and steal the seventh Chaos Emerald. Shadow announces himself the protector and servant of Black Doom.
 * Lava Shelter (Neutral)
 * Hero: E-123 Omega: Find Dr. Eggman and defeat his army; when they find him, Omega and Shadow are determined to defeat him (Shadow stating he will make him regret creating him); when they do, Shadow announces himself "Shadow Android" and that he will take over and lead the Eggman Empire.
 * Dark: Doctor Eggman: Activate the base's lava defenses to stop G.U.N. from entering. Afterwards, Shadow decides to kill Eggman in response to his creation for him; he then declares he is the copy, replacement (and thanks to the Emeralds, stronger) version of the original Shadow the Hedgehog.
 * Cosmic Fall (Hero)
 * Hero: Vector the Crocodile: Find the Computer Room before The ARK explodes then defeat Black Doom. Once finding the last emerald Shadow accepts to himself that he is an expirement gone horribly wrong.
 * Dark: Doom's Eye: Find the Chaos Emerald. Shadow and Vector then defeat Eggman. He soon declares himself protector of the ARK.
 * Final Haunt (Pure Hero)
 * Hero: Sonic the Hedgehog: Find Black Doom then defeat him; Shadow announces to keep the promise he made to Maria "Protect the Planet she loved so much"
 * Dark: Doom's Eye: Activate the Comet's shield defenses. He later fights Sonic & Diablon. After getting all of the Emeralds, he declares himself the most powerful hedgehog in the universe.

Cast
This is the first game in the series to feature the 4Kids voice actors.

Music
The vocal tracks were released on an album in February 2006, entitled Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax. They are:
 * "I Am... All of Me" by Crush 40 (Intro song, Main theme, and Final Boss theme)
 * "Almost Dead" by POWERMAN 5000 (Pure Dark ending theme)
 * "Waking Up" by Julien-K (Neutral ending theme)
 * "E.G.G.M.A.N. Doc. Robeatnix Mix" by Lee Brotherton and his Remix Factory (Eggman's theme)
 * "Chosen One" by A2 (Semi-Hero ending theme)
 * "All Hail Shadow" by Magna-Fi (Pure Hero ending theme. Following games often use this as Shadow's theme as opposed to the others)
 * "Never Turn Back" by Crush 40 (Last Story ending theme)

4Kids Controversy
Shortly before Deem Bristow died, Sega decided to hire the 4Kids voice actors in the Sonic The Hedgehog games, one of the first of the new voice casts games being Shadow the Hedgehog. This move has not been well received by many Sonic fans, although some, particularly fans of Sonic X, do prefer the new voice actors, others have grown fond of the new voices in recent years, despite being against it in the beginning, and some others still prefer the Adventure cast all these years.

Trivia

 * Some GUN soldiers shout, "Mr. Yuji Naka is alright!".
 * Since this game is similar to Sonic Heroes in graphics and other subjects, Knuckles is the only one to retain, or has a similar victory pose to his Sonic Heroes pose.
 * Before Westopolis, in Shadow's flashback when Maria gets shot in the American version it fades to white, in the Japanese version you see her fall to the ground.
 * Shadow, Knuckles, Espio, the G.U.N. Commander, and even Sonic swear at least once in the game.
 * There are a few Sonic Adventure 2 tunes reused in the game. Event - Strategy, Blue Falcon (uses a remixed techno version of GUN Mobile boss), Heavy Dog (GUN Mobile with different drums), and 2P vs Battle (remixed version of Radical Highway). Event - Super Shadow has a small clip of "Live and Learn", the main theme from Sonic Adventure 2.
 * Additionally, many levels in this game have names similar to levels from Sonic Adventure 2. These being Glyphic Canyon (Wild Canyon), Lethal Highway (Radical Highway), Prison Island (Prison Lane), Sky Troops (Sky Rail), Iron Jungle (Iron Gate), Space Gadget (Crazy Gadget), and Cosmic Fall (Cosmic Wall)
 * This game has made the character Vector the Crocodile popular for the line "Find the computer room!" in the Cosmic Fall stage.
 * Big the Cat is the only playable character from Sonic Heroes to not return in this game.
 * This is the first Sonic game with an E10+ rating from ESRB and a 12 rating from PEGI. It's also the most violent and mature Sonic game made.
 * Originally, the song Who I Am by Magna-Fi was chosen to be the opening theme. However, it was replaced by 'I Am...All Of Me' by Crush 40. Thus, Magna-Fi recorded another track, 'All Hail Shadow'.
 * Also, another song called Broken was replaced by Chosen One, since Sega could not contact the song's vocalist.
 * The gun that Shadow is seen holding on the cover of all versions of the game (and various promotional material) does not actually appear in the game. However, it could have been a concept model for the 'Shadow Rifle', or just a generic gun to help promote the new gameplay function. It bears a slight resemblance to the 'Healing Gun', another unlockable weapon.
 * The song "All Hail Shadow" by Magna-Fi became Shadow's theme song, until Crush 40 made a remix for the song.
 * In one of the final boss fights, after fighting Sonic & Diablon, Shadow will say "Game Over, Sonic." which is possibly a reference to Sonic Adventure 2 from the Hero Story, in which Sonic says "Game Over, Shadow".
 * In the ending of last story, Shadow said "Goodbye forever... Shadow the Hedgehog". Albeit translated differently, the line essentially has the same meaning as the last words spoken by Sonic in the last story of Sonic Adventure 2.
 * In the American version, the GUN soldiers grunt and groan when killed, but in the Japanese version they just die.
 * In the Lethal Highway stage, on a billboard, NiGHTS can be seen flying.
 * In the American version, Shadow swears by saying "damn" and when telling Eggman he will regret creating him in the hell, but In the Japanese version when Shadow says "Where is that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?", the word "damn" is not present and instead of hell, he says Eggman will regret creating him in the other world.
 * In the Last Story, Black Doom transforms into a more powerful form, Devil Doom, but transformation does not make it clear if he absorbed the power from the Chaos Emeralds like others who have Super forms usually do. A possible explanation might be that Black Doom can turn into Devil Doom at will
 * Some of the plot and gameplay elements bear a resemblance to the Halo series, such as the weapons used by G.U.N. and the Black Arms, being able to use cars and different weaponry, a super strong being with knowledge of different weapons and vehicles being the main character, the use of weapons of mass destruction in space, designs of the Black Arms being similar to some Covenant aliens, traveling through space, and the Black Arms apparently having views almost religious in nature.
 * Two bosses in this game have names taken from Nintendo's series, F-Zero. These are Blue Falcon and Black Bull, which are the names of machines driven by the main protagonist and the main antagonist, respectively.
 * At the opening, you can see Shadow using a bike. Interestingly, on the bike's back wheels, the SEGA logo can be seen. Also this bike returns in Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing as Shadow's cart, the Dark Rider, with some modifications. It has been changed to the appearance it was given in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and the Shadow the Hedgehog symbol is painted on the side of it.
 * One of the endings in Shadow the Hedgehog is titled as "Shadow's Second Death...?", which can be accessed by aiding Vector the Crocodile in the level Cosmic Fall (which is referred to as the "semi-hero ending"). In this ending, Shadow says, "I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A research experiment...gone deadly wrong! I caused so much destruction... I should have never been created!" This could possibly hint that Shadow could probably take his own life sometime after saving the world.
 * Shadow the Hedgehog was supposed to have an odd type of first-third person view that is indicated be a map similar to other 3rd person shooters such as of War Gears of War and and Clank Ratchet and Clank. (Reference to the picture on the right)Shadow_Concept_Macomber6.jpg
 * Although the game was directed towards a more mature audience, the game was nominated for a Golden Joystick Award for family game of the year in 2006 on a United Kingdom newspaper site called "The Sun."
 * Even though all of the weapons created by G.U.N. show magazines that can be used to reload, there is no way to reload a gun in this game.
 * Sonic is the only assistance character who can use the Homing Attack. This could be down to his involvement in one of the final bosses. This is also currently the only game where a Homing Attack(only in Sonic's case as a CPU) can defy certain logics, such as being able to aim straight upward or at times instantly retaliating with one after getting hit.
 * Although not an ally, Cream the Rabbit is featured as an objective.
 * The game homages several well known films. In one of the cutscenes, the White House in Central City is destroyed by the eclipse cannon, resembling the film "Independance Day." The Eclipce Cannon itself shares several features with the Death Star from "Star Wars", a space station the size of a moon with a beam capable of destroying a planet. The levels "Mad Matrix" and "Digital Curcit" may be referencing the classic Disney film Tron.
 * This the first, and so far only, main series game which does not feature Sonic as a playable character.
 * However, using a 2nd controller, it is possible to control Sonic and the other helper characters, save for Eggman, Charmy and Doom's eye. However, these characters cannot use weapons or vehicles like Shadow.
 * There is a humorous glitch in which a Black Warrior is seen running in place and looks as if it is exercising.
 * This is the first 3D Sonic game that does not feature Super Sonic.
 * To beat all the stories and achieve 100% completion of the game, the first level, Westopolis, must be completed 326 times.

Reception
Shadow the Hedgehog was released in 2005 in North America on November 15, in Europe on November 18, and in Japan on December 15. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon its release; the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions are respectively rated 51%, 45%, and 49% on Metacritic and 54%, 49%, and 52% on Game Rankings. By May 17, 2006, the game's worldwide sales total exceeded one million. The game was later released as a part of two budget lines—Greatest Hits for the PlayStation 2 (this represents sales of at least 400,000), and Player's Choice for the GameCube (250,000).

Much criticism stemmed from the unwelcome sense of maturity and, in particular, the addition of guns. Game Informer staff writer Matt Helgeson said that "not only is this new 'adult' interpretation of Sonic painfully dumb, it’s also ill-advised and almost feels like a betrayal to longtime fans." Eurogamer staff writer Tom Bramwell felt that "the game's other selling point – its darker edge – [is] not really meant for us." G4 sX-Play and GameSpy staff writer Patrick Klepek thought similarly. In contrast, Nintendo Power staff writer Steve Thomason rated the game 8.0 out of 10, stating that "[t]his darker take on the Sonic universe succeeds for the most part, giving the series a bit of an edge without going overboard on violence."

The game's controls were criticized, especially because Shadow's homing attack caused unexpected character deaths. Game Informer ' s Matt Helgeson complained that the attack "frequently sends you careening off into nothingness, resulting in cheap death after cheap death." Nintendo Power, X-Play, Eurogamer, Official Xbox Magazine, and GameSpy agreed. Other complaints focused on the mechanics of weapons and vehicles. Greg Mueller of GameSpot felt that the guns were nearly useless because of a lack of an aiming ability. IGN staff writer Matt Casamassina, 1UP.com staff writer Greg Sewart, Game Informer, X-Play, GameSpy, and London's The Times also criticized the mechanics of Shadow's weapons and vehicles, and other aspects of the game's controls. However, Nintendo Power claimed that "blasting Shadow's foes with the wide variety of weapons at his disposal is just plain fun."

The many possible paths through the game caused reviewers to praise the game's replay value. Rating the game 8.3 out of 10, GameTrailers stated that "this choose-your-own-adventure style gives the game replay value that many platformers lack." The Melbourne, Australia, publication Herald Sun, and Official Xbox Magazine thought similarly. Nintendo Power agreed, although criticizing the difficulty of the missions that require the player to locate objects. GameSpot praised the game's variety of levels and its music. Shadow the Hedgehog was voted the best game of 2006 in the Official Jetix Magazine Reader Awards.

Plot Holes
At the beginning of the opening, Shadow can be seen standing in front of the moon. Doctor Eggman destroyed nearly half the moon in Sonic Adventure 2. Although it could be possible that it's the side that was left intact, or even the Space Colony ARK judging by how its rear looks like the moon's surface. The latter seems unlikely, seeing as the ARK's back-surface seems to be mostly brown in color. Although, it could be possible that there is a second moon in Sonic's world, as seen in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.

Another plot hole is Prison Island which was destroyed in Sonic Adventure 2. The Island it self was not destroyed, but the G.U.N. base was. Maybe this was a secret area not in SA2, or maybe G.U.N. rebuilt it.

Another notable plot hole is that the picture of Sonic and Shadow in the Presidents' office could only have been taken after the Earth was saved in SA2, as they could have only been seen together then, but Shadow was presumed dead after that event. And apparently they have Sonic Heroes-styled models on the picture.

Videos
thumb|left|300px|Shadow the Hedgehog Trailerthumb|300px|right|Shadow the Hedgehog commercial

Artwork
For more see: Shadow the Hedgehog (game)/Artwork