The game masquerades as some kind of Ninja Gaiden throwback, but if anything its overall quality smacks more of b-tier NES action games like Shatterhand and Vice: Project Doom.
Beyond the faux-retro aesthetic, Shovel Knight had a foundation of fun player movement that helped sell the challenge to just about everyone right out of the gate. Alternatively, Cyber Shadow locks all of its interesting character abilities behind story progress. I spent most of my playtime wishing I had rudimentary abilities that I could tell existed within the game somewhere. By the time I got the parry, my patience was sapped away by the levels' cruel and unwieldy design. Maybe this game gets fun when you unlock all the upgrades - I'm not about to find out.
Cyber Shadow feels allergic to the idea of having much of an identity of its own beyond obnoxious difficulty. I can only recommend you check out Panzer Paladin instead.

Reviewed on Feb 01, 2021


2 Comments


I kinda was on my toes about any more NG NES revival games, so I was already kinda going “mmm maybe wait for a sale at least”. But I couldn’t help but feel just from watching the trailers that the vibes were rancid or non-existent. Honestly unfortunate that it seems more like the latter from what I’m reading here

3 years ago

I cannot explain how odious and barren of personality this thing is. Worth at the very least checking out so you can immediately bounce off it, too.