Whenever opportunities arise to test games with a more retro feel, my heart is filled with joy. The golden age of 8 and 16 bits provided us with excellent games, but there is always room to create more, exploring new worlds, themes, and ways of playing.
Mechanical Head Studios must have drunk a lot from games like Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania to create Cyber Shadow, the object of this analysis. As much as it has its own identity and a very interesting plot, it is impossible not to remember these franchises in the first minutes of gambling.
Here, we are placed in a dystopian world that is undergoing a terrible threat. In parallel, the life of Shadow, a cybernetic ninja, is hanging by a thread, but in addition to saving the city of Mekápolis, he has to rescue the master of his clan. Thus, surviving and perfecting yourself as a hero will be the keynote of this game, which provides us with enormous nostalgia and a very heavy story.
Pixelated drama
With a few minutes of gameplay, we realized that, despite being inspired by 8-bit classics, Cyber Shadow exudes a unique personality. That's because its sprites and renderings are of enormous quality and match well with the gameplay that is proposed, with many hits, jumps, and enemies everywhere (we'll talk more about that later) and, of course, with the story that is told to us. And while Shadow's trivial enemies don't complement the script well, the heart of everything he does is beyond attractive.
Here, we have Doctor Progen, a once benevolent scientist who got lost in the middle of his experiences and made life in Mekápolis a real hell. Awake after a long sleep, Shadow himself will have to solve everything and face this troubled doctor in the near future.
Unfortunately, the ninja, who is part human, part cyborg, has his life on a string and will need to get more equipped, advance through extremely complicated phases and try to arrive whole not only to face this huge enemy but also to recover his clan, which had been destroyed after the kidnapping of his grandmaster.
With very linear progression, it is possible to understand very well the script and its narrative, which ties and entertains, something quite different from what happened with most games of the 8-bit era, more focused on light and relaxed entertainment. In addition to the small films that appear between stages, there are, many times, the spirits of the ninjas of your clan scattered through the stages to situate you about what is happening, something very visceral and macabre, but intelligent.
Here, the pixelated appearance does not, at any time, take us away from what is happening, and that is the greatest merit of Cyber Shadow. Everything has a lot of weight, depth, and reason.
Challenger
Without major spoilers, let's talk about the gameplay.
For anyone over 30 like me, nothing in Cyber Shadow will sound strange. Quite the opposite. We feel that, despite the simplicity of the graphics and sounds, everything is very well thought out and complete. It is not enough to advance and kill your enemies: you must improve your character and make them stronger for the challenges to come.
So, even with the countless deaths, we will have, the save points will, in addition to allowing you to start over, give you some extra skills that will appear according to the level. In other words: the game equips you to enjoy it, as long as you spend the energy balls that are harvested in the progression of the game. This, of course, will not be enough, and beating the bosses sent by Doctor Progen will make you more equipped and with permanent skills, such as jumping on the wall and launching fire with your sword.
The sword, by the way, is the perfect weapon to be used in Mekápolis, since practically everything can be destroyed by it. But, if the stock thickens, we can make use of special powers acquired by beating the big bosses, such as the fire mentioned above or the shurikens.
These add-ons are also important for unlocking certain parts of the levels, such as secret entrances and locks.
Technically flawless
Something that surprises in Cyber Shadow is that it does not present flaws or absurd moments of difficulty, very characteristic of games of this type. Everything was thought out in a very balanced way, with some more complicated moments, of course, but nothing that irritates or makes you abandon control.
Even in situations with many enemies on the screen and complicated parts in the levels, everything is possible to be done to overcome them, either with brute force or with Shadow's agility. The learning curve is not long and it is possible to be wild in the game in a few hours.
In addition, the complements and skills mentioned above were very well thought out, matching the theme of the game. Yes, we are talking about a ninja, but also a cyborg in a futuristic land. Lasers, light shields, and weapons are welcome.
On the graphics and sound side, Mechanical Head Studios did a great job. Even with the characteristic pixelated, the movements of Shadow are very fluid, as well as the enemies and challenges in the phases, which were well fitted and provides us with a great mixed feeling of nostalgia and modernity. There is also a good color palette and background sprite movements.
The sound effects, in turn, are simpler but do not compromise the experience in Cyber Shadow.
The game, it should be noted, is 100% in Brazilian Portuguese.
Nostalgia and weight in the right measure
Cyber Shadow is yet another retro treat that comes to modern consoles. With nice gameplay and a very heavy storyline, it is a game that you will spend hours playing and will not even notice. It is a mandatory title for fans of the platform / metroidvânia genre.
Cyber Shadow is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game was also included for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
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