These rooms are almost all unique, and engaging to overcome, but they’re also very easy to understand.Įven in the busiest rooms, where there might be six or seven enemies, moving platforms, collectibles, and meticulously timed traps, all the objects have their own unique look and animations that make them easy to pick out. The game’s levels feature rooms with interesting enemies, jumping puzzles, difficult-to-dodge traps, and often a combination of all of three. This kind of quickness allows the game to offer complex platforming and faster enemies, while still giving me time to react.Īnother asset that helps Cyber Shadow is its visual clarity. If I’m in the middle of a jump to the right, I can still immediately flip to the left, slash an enemy, and turn right back around. Every movement feels reactive and snappy, giving the game a quicker feel than its inspirations.Ĭyber Shadow even includes midair control of your jumps. Unlike similar games such as Shovel Knight (developed by Yacht Club Games, the publisher behind Cyber Shadow), which featured slow, purposefully delayed jumping, and mechanics that felt like they were ripped from an NES cartridge, Cyber Shadow feels comparatively modern. The game is accompanied by an outstanding chiptune soundtrack.ĭespite its retro style, Cyber Shadow never feels old. Image: Mechanical Head Games/Yacht Club Gamesĭrawing inspiration from NES games like Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Shatterhand, Cyber Shadow uses pixel art to bring out the gorgeous color contrast in each environment and highlight the game’s unique enemy designs. As in most platformers, this means that I spend most of my time jumping over spikes, traps, and dozens of other obstacles, all while using Shadow’s katana to take out the robots that are in my way. Developer Mechanical Head Games has modernized that approach to challenge with Cyber Shadow by making something that lives up to the legacy of those retro games, while also feeling approachable and fair.Ĭyber Shadow is a 2D action-platformer that follows a cyber ninja named Shadow who has to save a dystopian city that’s been overrun by evil machines. Ninja Gaiden, and other ultra-difficult platformers of its era, found charm in making you stick around through each punishing death. Make sure to play the game and see for yourself what it has to offer, as it is a great trip to the past NES days and more.Cyber Shadow is inspired by a long line of games that didn’t seem to care whether you enjoyed them. When upgraded, they unlock some additional functions too, which we won’t spoil in this article here. 2nd Spoiler alert: All of those Special Abilities, can be upgraded when you reach a certain point into the game. That’s it, those are all the special abilities you can unlock in Cyber Shadow. You can use it for traversing the environment fast, or escape some dangerous situations. While running, if you press the attack button, you’ll slash forward a fair amount of distance, which not only is a great way to attack enemies, but turns you invulnerable for the duration of the animation sequence. Now you can run! Well ok, there is more to it. Afterwards though, you should be able to do it constantly, out of habit. The way you use it though needs some time to get used to, since it is a little odd. Very interesting skill, and can be used in MANY instances within the game. If you attack that orb, it sends back the projectile in the form of a slash-like wave. The moment you deflect it, a stationary orb is created at the same spot. ParryĪ rather interesting technique, Parry can be used to deflect incoming projectiles. You can now open some additional doorways as well. Not much to say about this one, as it simply enhances the damage of your trusty Katana. Unlocks a multitude of traversal options in result. As the titles suggests, you are now able to slide to walls, whenever you bump onto them. You would have thought that a Cyber Ninja would have this by default, but it is actually an ability you unlock further along the way. On a side note, the specific ability is extremely useful to jump through longer gaps, since it propels you a little further whenever you use it. That said, Shadow comes plunging from the sky with his sword aiming down, hitting anything on its way. Of course we would have an ability that looks like Shovel Knight’s signature attack ‘Shovel Drop’, in a game with Yacht Club Games brand on it. Very useful in some bosses and occasionally open paths you otherwise wouldn’t be able to go through. Throws a number of fire projectiles, in upwards motion. Self-explanatory, a throwing projectile that can damages enemies and turn on/off switches from afar.
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