is a 2005 platform game developed by Sega Studios USA and published by Sega. It is a spinoff from the Sonic the Hedgehog series starring the character Shadow. It follows the amnesiac Shadow's attempts to learn about his past during an alien invasion. Gameplay is similar to previous Sonic games, featuring fast-paced platforming and ring collecting, but introduces third-person shooter and nonlinear elements. Shadow uses a variety of weapons to defeat enemies and complete missions that determine the plot and playable levels.
Sega Studios USA chose to make a game featuring Shadow to capitalize on his popularity and resolve plot mysteries that began with his introduction in Sonic Adventure 2 (2001). Shadow the Hedgehog was written and directed by Takashi Iizuka and produced by Yuji Naka, with music by Jun Senoue. Iizuka strove to attract an older audience; Shadow's character allowed the team to use a darker tone and elements otherwise considered inappropriate for the series.
Shadow the Hedgehog was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game event. It was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in North America and Europe in November 2005 and in Japan in December. It received generally unfavorable reviews<!-- DO NOT CHANGE TO "MIXED" AS THIS IS NOT WHAT METACRITIC SAYS. Thank you. --> from critics, who criticized its controls, mature themes, level design, and addition of guns and other weapons to traditional Sonic gameplay. However, some praised its replay value, and the game was commercially successful, selling 2.06 million copies by March 2007. Over time, the game has developed a cult following.
Gameplay
Shadow the Hedgehog is a platformer that incorporates elements from the third-person shooter genre and elements from the action-adventure genre. Like previous games in the Sonic series, basic gameplay involves running quickly, collecting rings, tricky platforming and destroying enemies. Shadow collects rings as a form of health; when he is attacked by an enemy or takes damage from the environment, ten of his rings bounce away from and form into a circle around him. When Shadow has no rings and takes damage from an enemy he dies, loses a life and goes back to the last checkpoint, which also serve as teleportation devices, allowing Shadow to return to different sections of the current level. Each level is completed by undertaking a mission, and each mission is labelled "Hero," "Dark," or "Normal". and the "Dark" missions involve completing tasks for either Black Doom or Doctor Eggman. The "Normal" missions involve reaching the Chaos Emerald or Goal Ring at the end of the stage. All enemies attack Shadow regardless of the mission chosen. Each level features cutscenes that advance the story, and seven levels also feature boss battles.
thumb|left|225px|Shadow uses a [[submachine gun to shoot a G.U.N. soldier. The game's mature themes and its addition of guns were two major areas of criticism.|alt=The hedgehog from the cover shoots a single bullet from a machine gun-like firearm at a human soldier who attempts to do the same. The setting is a disheveled city street at night with tall buildings surrounding the area and an elevated highway overhead.]]
New gameplay features distinguish Shadow the Hedgehog from previous Sonic games. For example, Shadow can pick up and use guns to fight enemies. and allow him to perform Chaos Control and Chaos Blast. Chaos Control allows Shadow to move more quickly in levels and slows time in boss battles, and Chaos Blast creates an explosion that destroys or severely damages all nearby enemies. Shadow can perform Chaos Control after the player fills the Hero Gauge by defeating Black Arms soldiers (or by doing other heroic acts such as; putting out fires and healing wounded soldiers), and he can perform Chaos Blast after filling the Dark Gauge by defeating GUN soldiers (or other evil acts such as; healing the enemies or destroying scenery). that retains the single-player mechanics but is set in one of three specially designed stages and uses a vertically split screen to separate each player's view. Each player chooses one of the available characters—Shadow, two metallic versions of him, and palette-swapped variants of each. The combatants attack each other and steal each other's rings until one is eliminated. Additionally, in single-player mode, a second player may take control of Shadow's hero sidekick characters in the stages, though Dooms Eye, Dr. Eggman, and Charmy remain uncontrollable. This feature is omitted entirely in the Xbox version. Sega formally announced development of the game for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox video game consoles on March 23, 2005. The same year, Sega released the game in North America on November 15, 2005, in Europe on November 18, 2005, and Japan on December 15, 2005.
Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka and series co-creator Yuji Naka led development, with Iizuka serving as writer and director and Naka as producer. Iizuka, who had worked on the Sonic the Hedgehog series since 1993, targeted a younger audience with previous Sonic games and wanted to attract an older audience with Shadow the Hedgehog. The game's development team wanted to make a game featuring Shadow to resolve plot mysteries that began with the character's introduction in Sonic Adventure 2. Naka stated in an interview with GameSpy that he wanted to use Shadow as the game's main character due to his popularity among fans and being the best fit for a "gun action" game.
The game features several animated cutscenes produced by Blur Studio. The music of Shadow the Hedgehog was composed by Jun Senoue, with additional work by Yutaka Minobe, Tomoya Ohtani, and Mariko Nanba. Lost and Found: Shadow the Hedgehog Vocal Trax is a video game soundtrack album released on CD on February 22, 2006. The album contains seven vocal songs from the game, one of which is a remix of Dr. Eggman's theme from Sonic Adventure 2. Another soundtrack, Shadow the Hedgehog: Original Soundtrax, was released on the same day. It contains all instrumental tracks from the game, as well as the vocal song I Am... All of Me, albeit in a shortened form.
In Japan, Shadow the Hedgehog was promoted through a collaboration with Japanese hip-hop group M-Flo, whose song "Tripod Baby" was remixed and featured in the commercial under the title "Tripod Baby (Shadow the Hedgehog Mix)". In addition to this, an alternate music video for "Tripod Baby" featuring the remix included new scenes with Shadow.
Shadow the Hedgehog was the first Sonic game to use the 4Kids cast from Sonic X following the death of Doctor Eggman's previous voice actor, Deem Bristow. This cast continued to be used until late 2010 when all but Mike Pollock were replaced before the release of Sonic Free Riders. In 2024, lead voice actor Jason Griffith recounted at MomoCon that at one point during the game's development, Sega had intended to attempt to receive an M-rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, and that there existed a hard drive containing hours of unused "recordings of Shadow yelling f*** at Tails and Sonic and stuff." He stated that although he did not understand why they had written such profane lines, he "just went with it" and enjoyed it.