The soundtrack of Cyber Shadow might actually be favorite thing about the game! It was composed by newcomer Enrique Martin and Jake Kaufman (of Shovel Knight fame), and simply put, ROCKS HARD. You’re going to need some better headphones Things escalated pretty quickly during this boss fight. Again, with checkpoints I found everything tolerable (like in Kaze and the Wild Masks), but your skills will certainly be tested! My final death count was 252. The dreaded (or classic, depending on how you look at it) knock back is also present, as are numerous flying enemies and projectiles near instant death pits or spikes. Generally the game stays balanced in the middle, but does veer (sometimes quite precariously) toward the “tough” side! At no point did I feel I was on the verge of rage quitting, but checkpoints are often spaced pretty far apart, sometimes enough to truly frustrate you if die just short of one. Imagine Cyber Shadow walking a tight rope with “tough” on side and “fair” on the other. Without the option to change them, some moves never quite felt intuitive to me, even by the end of the game. In theory, it’s a fun throwback, but in reality, the usage of more buttons would have helped make the robust move set easier to execute! There are some options to remap basic commands, but special moves require two buttons. Everything was designed to emulate the original NES controller, which had two main buttons. It’s also ten times better than The bloody Messenger, which I might add is crap.Of course there has to be an “elevator ride of doom”. It’s a thoroughly polished, exceptionally playable side-scroller that manages to stand out even in a world with no shortage of the same. You have infinite lives, too, which while I’m not a fan of I never felt like the level designed had been compromised to account for it. #Cyber shadow chapters upgradeTo boil the thing down to comparisons, it’s basically Shadow of the Ninja but less punishing in another Shovelism you can tinker with the checkpoints, here spending in-game currency to upgrade them to give you various buffs and power-ups when you die and restart. Let’s be sure to give credit where it deserves to the obviously hugely talented composer Enrique Martin, though. Listening to the rather brilliant music I found myself thinking “wow, this is very Jake Kaufman (Virt of Mighty Switch Force/ Double Dragon Neon/ Shovel Knight fame)” and, lo and behold, he is the music producer. Only ninja facts from these fingers, my friends.Īesthetically the game is an absolute treat, with the same “Hi-bit” graphics giving the vibe and feel of an NES on steroids. No ninja worth their salt would ever crouch down to avoid something they could jump over. Stooping down to avoid things is rubbish. I even took a few hits because I tried to duck under things when there is no duck. Cyber Shadow is the same, and limiting the basic motions in such a simple way actively forces you to engage with the level design more actively. My suspicion is – and it’s probably bollocks – that this was a Yacht Club suggestion, because Shovel Knight can’t crouch either and it helps to make the game laser-focused on your jumping skills. This is a very small, very Stuart Gipp thing to focus on – forgive me for being who I am, Nauties – but I sort of love the fact that you can’t crouch in this game. When you replay an old level with your new means of traversal it’s your ingenuity that finds the newly-accessible secrets and side-routes, not some glowing neon sign pointing you directly at the Content. Put simply, the game feels excellent from start to finish, with no moments of underpowered frustration or obvious, laboured shortcuts. This is not an easy thing to do, but it’s testament to the smooth movement and ultra-responsive controls that Cyber Shadow manages it with grace and style. Brilliantly, though, the lack of these skills in the early game never made me feel hamstrung without them, just increasingly powerful and capable as I racked ‘em up. While it’s not a Metroidvania, the levels fold in on themselves cleverly and tease connections accessible only later in the game as you unlock more skills for your ninja. Strong praise, I know, but it’s warranted – the polish on display here matches Yacht Club’s previous release with aplomb, and the level design is truly exemplary. One suspects that neither were the developers, but it brings me no end of pleasure to report that not only is Cyber Shadow bleedin’ good, as predicted, but it’s also a worthy stablemate to the aforementioned flagship hi-bit indie, Shovel Knight. I wasn’t, however, expecting Shovel Knight maestros Yacht Club Games to pick it up for publishing honours. From first stumbling across it on the developers’ Twitter as a one-man passion project, I made a mental note to Get It Played. It was pretty clear that Cyber Shadow was going to be good.
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