Shadow the Hedgehog (game)


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

Shadow The Hedgehog is a video 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 knowledge of his past in Sonic Heroes. 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.

Story
The story begins with Shadow standing on a hill outside the city of Westopolis, thinking about Maria Robotnik. After a flashback to the day she was killed, a gaping hole opens in the sky over Westopolis, and, he is contacted by Black Doom, the leader of the Black Arms, who told Shadow to bring him the Chaos Emeralds "as promised." Torn between his desire to seek out his past, and to remain loyal to his promise to Maria, the player in the game decides the path Shadow takes by chosing which mission to complete in each stage. All of the story paths, however, are warped versions of the truth, but the true story of Shadow's past is told in the Last Story, which can only be unlocked by reaching all 10 endings of story mode.

Characters
For the Hero and Dark missions, shadow teams up with various allies, including Amy Rose, Charmy, Espio, Knuckles, Maria, Rouge, Sonic, Tails, Vector, Doom's Eye, and Eggman, who provide combat support, and guidance. Anyone can grab a remote, connect to socket 2, and play a character as co-op. This can't be done with Eggman, Doom's Eye, or Charmy.

Abilities
Shadow's abilities in Shadow the Hedghog 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, but he also has the ability to use weapons (including guns, swords, rocket launchers, etc.) and drive vhicles that he finds or comandeers.

Weapons
Shadow can use a variety of weapons found throughout each stage. Weapons are commonly found in boxes and dropped from enemies. When a weapon is first picked up, Shadow receives some inital 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, it dissapears. Even 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 Stage 05s (and their power 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, and when a black box is opened, it drops all unlocked special weapons.

Chaos Powers
Shadow can use two chaos powers, Chaos Control and Chaos Blast. Destroying Black Arms, healing wounded or dead GUN troops and civilians, and putting out fires (this is done by spin dashing over them) gives Hero points and fills up Shadow's Hero gauge. Destroying GUN troops and things in the environment (such as signs and lights) gives Dark points and fills up Shadow's Dark gauge. When Shadows Hero gauge is full, it begins to drain, during which time Shadow becomes invincible 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 Shadows Dark gauge is full, Shadow gets unlimited ammunition while it drains, and can use Chaos Blast, which uses up some of the Dark gauge to creates a huge blast of chaos energy surrounding Shadow, destroying everything nearby.

Enemies
The GUN enemies include human troops and robotic troops as well as traditional GUN Beatles and walkers.

The Black Arms include gun and sword wielding humanoid aliens, flying creatures, and missile-launching worms.

The Eggman Empire Enemies are Eggman's typical robots, including the Egg Pawns and bomb-throwing jugglers, as well as new Shadow Androids.

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 has 2 or 3 missions, which can be Dark, Normal, or Hero.

Stage 01: Stage 02: Stage 03: Stage 04: Stage 05: Stage 06: Last Story:
 * Westopolis
 * Digital Circuit
 * Glyphic Canyon
 * Lethal Highway
 * Cryptic Castle
 * Prison Island
 * Circuis 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

Ranking
Shadow the Hedgehog uses the traditional A through E ranking also featured in Sonic Adventure, 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 destroying GUN troops (and sometimes Eggman's robots) and things in the environment (such as signs and lights.) Hero points are earned by destroying 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.

Music
The vocal tracks were released on an album in February 2006, entitiled 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 (Dark and Pure Dark ending theme)
 * "Waking Up" by Julien-K (Neutral ending theme)
 * "E.G.G.M.A.N. Doc. Robeatnix Mix" by Remix Factory (Eggman's theme)
 * "Chosen One" by A2 (Hero ending theme)
 * "All Hail Shadow" by Magna-Fi (Pure Hero ending theme)
 * "Never Turn Back" by Crush 40 (Last Story ending theme)