Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling platform computer game produced by Reflections (Later known as Reflections Interactive) and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Commodore Amiga but the game has been ported to many other systems. The original Amiga release cost £35, an unheard of price for a video game in that era, but it did include a T-shirt in the box bearing a print of the box's artwork.
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Shadow of the Beast is dreadful. I'd honestly say the other negative reviews oversell it, I'd genuinely liken it more to an Action 52 game or something along the lines. It breaks me a little to know that real money was spent both making it and spent on it by unknowing kids in stores.
It has two sequels for some reason, apparently. 3 is Amiga exclusive but 2 is not, and I thought to myself maybe it'd be funny to look through. It's really not much better honestly, and it has all the previous game's worst issues completely intact. There's still only one life and no continues, but this time you get to see plagiarized art before you're booted back to the company logos, I guess?? There's still dead ends and all that fun stuff, too. It might honestly be uglier, even. But the general feel to it is a tiny improvement, I suppose. It feels like an actual game almost, rather than a really early work in progress or something like the first game. It still fucking sucks, that being said. There is no value to be found in either of these games. I suppose the cover art for both is pretty cool, but that's genuinely all.
It has two sequels for some reason, apparently. 3 is Amiga exclusive but 2 is not, and I thought to myself maybe it'd be funny to look through. It's really not much better honestly, and it has all the previous game's worst issues completely intact. There's still only one life and no continues, but this time you get to see plagiarized art before you're booted back to the company logos, I guess?? There's still dead ends and all that fun stuff, too. It might honestly be uglier, even. But the general feel to it is a tiny improvement, I suppose. It feels like an actual game almost, rather than a really early work in progress or something like the first game. It still fucking sucks, that being said. There is no value to be found in either of these games. I suppose the cover art for both is pretty cool, but that's genuinely all.
Beat it in my first sitting in like an hour, I was shocked it ended when / how it did. Plays fine enough but man there really is no reason to go back to it.
Half a star for the music, half a star for the graphics and another half star for the intro that gave me nightmares as a kid. Stylistically this game is stunning, haunting and a sight to behold.
Gameplay wise though it's shit. It's full of dead ends, gotcha moments and ways to fail your game that you couldn't have seen coming at all. It's just a slog and not one I want to revisit ever.
Gameplay wise though it's shit. It's full of dead ends, gotcha moments and ways to fail your game that you couldn't have seen coming at all. It's just a slog and not one I want to revisit ever.
99% of this game is godawful. Genuinely one of the most unplayable games in existence. But HOLY SHIT IS THE GAME OVER SEQUENCE IN THIS GAME FUCKING BEAUTIFUL AND DESERVES TO BE IN AN INFINITELY BETTER GAME. That game over sequence elevates this .5 stars cuz im feeling insanely generous.