My Detailed Review

[D00m_Sl4y3r]

This review was way too long for the "Reviews", so I thought that I would post it in a discussion thread here instead:

Shadow Gangs (Steam version) Review

After 50 hours of play time, I was finally able to complete Shadow Gangs on the Normal (Ninja) difficulty in a single play session and get myself in the Top 10 scorers on the leaderboards. Back in the days, when my reflexes and free time situation were a lot better, I was 1 CCing Shinobi and Shadow Dancer and was the top scorer at my city mall’s arcade. I loved those games and when I found out that there’s an homage pseudo-sequel available on Steam, I just had to check it out. Knowing how easy it would be to get such a game “wrong” and watching a less-than enthusiastic review by GameSack, I really wished for a demo to try out before I took the plunge, but a decent sale, combined with a recommendation from SegaLordX, finally pushed me to buy. The rest, as they say, is history.

First, let’s get this out of the way: this game is not a homage to the two excellent Mega Drive Super Shinobi (Revenge Of and Shinobi III in the US) games. The tribute that it pays is to the original Shinobi arcade game and Shadow Dancer (arcade and Mega Drive), as well as some Rolling Thunder and E-SWAT thrown into the mix. So, if you go in expecting a fan sequel to Super Shinobi 2, you might be disappointed. Not to say that a Super Shinobi fan won’t find things to like here. Heck, in my opinion, there’s a lot to like here even if you don’t have any Shinobi nostalgia. Though, the core target demographic is obviously people like me.

Graphics:

It’s mostly a good looking 2D side-scroller, which doesn’t try to impose artificial limitations on the game engine in order to look like a pixilated, low color pseudo Famicom, Mega Drive or Super Famicom game. The assets are high def and extremely bright and colorful, the faux-Japanese sprite art is well drawn and animated, the backgrounds are full of nice parallax scrolling effects and there are some nice touches such as reflections and shadows here and there. I mean, this game is no Streets of Rage 4 (a game with at least 10x the budget) looks-wise and I would’ve liked to see some more detail and effects but can’t really complain about what’s there all things considered. There are some great set pieces, such an urban cityscape, a bridge at night, top of a moving bullet train, top of a Chinook helicopter with the head of the Statue of Liberty in the background, a gothic castle, a lush forest, and a bamboo grove with the typical oriental architecture. So, most of the levels and boss encounters look pretty great. However, a few of them are a lot less exciting and look a bit amateurish in comparison, almost as if they were worked on by different individuals. That notion is reinforced by the fact that these are also the levels with the least refined and sometimes frustratingly cheap gameplay and enemy encounters. I never looked forward to playing the Canyon, Cave and (most of the) Factory levels for that reason, but luckily, all of such levels are typically followed by the good levels like the Subway and Bullet Train. While I’m talking levels, I might as well mention the fact that some of the level ordering feels a bit disjointed and not following a logical flow, almost like the original design called for one order, which was then “shuffled” later in the development process for reasons of gameplay flow and difficulty scaling. For example, the very first level which takes place in the city, ends at a subway station entrance. The natural flow would be to follow it up with the Subway level. Instead, the Subway level shows up later in the game, after a series of levels which take place outside of the city. Not very organic, but not a huge deal either.

Shadow Gangs doesn’t take advantage of either wide or ultra-wide displays. It’s rendered at 4:3 aspect ratio and fills the sides of a modern display with black borders. You can choose to stretch it to fill your entire 16:9 (or wider) screen but then, everything looks stretched and ugly. I understand why they did this way; the nature of the game would require serious gameplay rebalancing for each aspect ratio. Plus, I believe that they had a Dreamcast version in mind from the start and that platform only does 4:3 aspect resolutions. While it would have been awesome to see this game take advantage of my ultra-wide monitor, I quickly got used to the bordering and did not mind playing in 4:3 aspect ratio.

Another visual presentation nitpick was brought up in the GameSack review and involves how the game tries to automatically best frame your character in relation to screen. It can be a little slow and disorientating/jarring at first. However, I got used to the effect very quickly and was then rarely bothered by it.

I must compliment the developer or implementing a very good and highly configurable scanline graphics filter, for those of us playing on an LCD monitor and yet liking the classic CRT look and feel. I believe that the feature was added after some fans requested it and I really appreciate it being there. It makes the game look like a 32-bit arcade title.

Sound:

The sound effects do not stand out much, which in a game of this nature means that they are done well, with everything sounding like it should. The first level had some stereo effect weirdness in spots, but I did not notice it anywhere else. The announcer sounds appropriately bombastic, the sword slashes are appropriately wooshy, the punches are punchy, the groans are painful, and some enemies emit subtle sound cues to warn you of their attacks. Competent sound effects job throughout.

The music is mostly 80’s style synth rock with appropriately heroic themes and sets the right mood. However, I personally find the whiny electric guitar a bit grating and wish that the tunes had more variety and hooks, similar the excellent soundtracks of the Super Shinobi games. It is a good soundtrack overall but nothing that made me hum or want to listen to it outside of the game.

Gameplay and Controls:

This is what makes or breaks a title like this. I am happy to report that the game is fun, addictive, and feature a surprising amount of variety, strategy, and depth, and for the most part controls as well as you’d want. I definitely recommend playing Shadow Gangs using a quality controller with a good d-pad. I’ve been using the 8BitDo Mega Drive/Saturn BT pad, which I highly recommend.

There’s wide variety of enemy characters and each one of them feels well thought out and requires its own strategy to dispose of in the mostly efficient manner. Discovering and mastering such strategy is a big part of the fun here. Timing and positioning are critical, and many encounters benefit from memorization as well.

The combat consists of an original (for 1987) combination of projectible attacks which make it part run ‘n gun, as well as close-range melee attacks, with less variation than a typical beat ‘em up but more than a typical action platformer. Both attack styles are controlled with a single button. When you’re some distance away from an enemy, the attack button makes you launch projectiles and then you're closer in, it makes you punch, kick or slash (depending on the exact context). The player character starts each level dressed in street clothes and able to throw shurikens, punch and kick. A bit into each level, you always find an icon which transforms your outfit to a red ninja suit and gives you a submachine gun, a katana and the ability to get to higher places using a double jump. In general, when you’re a red ninja, your attacks do twice as much damage. You also gain the ability to use mines (that you get by finding them in the levels or winning bonus stages) and screen-clearing “ninja magic”. Each level gives you one “ninja magic” attack for free and you can get additional attacks by winning bonus stages or finding secrets. The “ninja magic” attacks do accumulate and by the end of the game, I typically have about 10 of them saved up. The mines are fun to use to kill vehicle enemies or enemies that barrel roll on the ground. In addition, they are very effective against some of the bosses. “Ninja magic” use is never necessary but comes in handy for tough encounters and bosses when you’re running low on life and can’t risk another hit.

A lot of the enemies block projectile attacks and are more easily dispatched via melee combat. However, you can typically overwhelm them by throwing projectiles high and low very quickly or blocking their jump paths with a stream of shurikens (or bullets). In general, both attack styles have their uses and I tend to mix them up. Just like arcade Shinobi, this game periodically gives you the ability to jump into a different “plain” (like different sides of a fence or between ground and roof levels) and use this strategically to blindside tougher enemies of groups of them. The ability is not always there but is well implemented when it is.

The bosses all consist of various uber henchmen who have unique attack and super attack patterns for you to figure out. Some require high degree or precision, including launching projectiles while in the middle of a jump. They are fun to fight and put up a decent show, but I would have preferred to see some “big monster” type of bosses thrown into the mix as well.

Just like in the games that Shadow Gangs pays tribute to, in order to exit a level, you need to rescue a set number of hostages protected by tough enemies or groups of them. Some of the hostages are kind of “hidden” out of the way, but the game tells you how many you have left and notifies you if you leave some behind you in the level.

The primary bonus stages are similar in concept to the Shinobi ones but mix it up by requiring you to keep scores of enemy ninjas from stealing your bonus items, which are going down conveyor belts on two different (lower and upper) levels. You aim your gun by pressing left and right and try to shoot the ninjas before they can steal the items and make their getaway. The gun is semi-auto, so you really need to rhythmically mash the attack button to get a nice flow of bullets going down range. You switch between a lower and an upper conveyor belt by pressing up (or not). These bonus levels give you extra lives and ninja magic. They seem a bit daunting and frustrating at first, but become a doable, fun distraction with some practice. I was never able to get perfectly (100%) successful at them, usually only winning about half in a play session. They do get progressively harder with each level.

The secondary bonus stages are entered by obtaining an item icon placed in the middle of each level. You character (in his “regular guy” form) must kill enemy ninjas jumping out of windows of a two-store building, before they can jump away. These secondary bonus stages give you extra “ninja magic” and mines and are much easier than the primary ones. I find that the best strategy is to keep moving in order to prevent the ninjas from falling on your head and be the right distance to land a good melee hit when they land. With each level, the ninjas take less time to jump away, but I can usually consistently win all these bonus stages up until the final couple of levels.

Some of the regular stages involve a degree of precision platforming, including the “chasm” trope, where screwing up a jump means instantly losing a life. Some can be a bit frustrating at first, especially considering that a hit from an enemy sends you tumbling backwards and often falling to your death. Some scenarios have you jumping between moving platforms over a chasm, with enemies shooting projectiles at you as soon as they enter the screen. There is also one specific flying enemy that doesn’t do any conventional damage, but swoops down at you, trying to knock you off platforms. Fast reflexes and/or memorization are a must.

Shadow Gangs has three difficulty levels and I think that the difficulty scaling is pretty much perfect. On Easy, you get five hits before you lose a life and there are fewer enemies and tough enemy groupings to deal with in the levels. Combined with three lives and the ability to find hidden lives or win them in the bonus stages and the generous 15 continues, I believe that everyone should be able complete the game without too much trouble on this setting. The Normal difficulty still gives you 3 lives and 15 continues but decreases your life bar to 3 hits and toughens up the enemy presence and placement. Even with my experience with Shinobi/SD games, it took me quite a while to master the game enough to be able to finish it on this difficulty. However, while the game allows to start of any level that you completed before, I restricted myself to finishing it all in one sitting, like I had to do with the arcade games, and it was often a matter of having the free time to progress through all the levels. I tried the Hard difficulty too and quickly saw the “Game Over” screen. This difficulty level takes away the life bar altogether; one hit and you lose one of the three lives. In addition, there are no continues. I think that I am too old and have way too little free time for mastering this difficulty level, but it’s cool that it’s there for the most hardcore players.

Gameplay Criticisms:

The game features fall damage, resulting in instant death, even when you’re not over a chasm but a certain height away from the ground. This mechanic can be a bit frustrating and look jarring, as you often don’t even realize why you just died. At least the developer has listened to the complaints and increased the allowed fall height, making things less frustrating. Still, a ninja who can super jump 15 meters up in the air, should not be dying from a 10-meter falls. I commented on this in the developer’s patch notes thread and they quickly responded to me, explaining that the mechanic is meant to keep your from being able to bypass large chunks of the levels. I am hoping that in the sequel, they can design the levels around this and eliminate such fall damage.

Also, the enemy attacks knocking you back mechanic, combined with a very short post-damage invincibility window, can result in groups of enemies bouncing you between attacks until you’re dead, without the ability to regain control. However, this happened to me rarely and mostly when I was just beginning to master the game.

Finally:

To wrap things up, Shadow Gangs really hit the spot for me. I mean, I got over 50 hours of gameplay out of it and then felt the need to spend time writing this long review. I obviously dig it and think that it’s an under-appreciated gem of an indie “classic tribute” – a real labor of love, with way too few Steam reviews and leaderboard entries. I am hoping that this positive review might influence some more people to buy and enjoy it, helping fund a sequel, which would be an instant purchase for me. If “Sega” was still Sega, they’d offer to produce and throw resources behind such a sequel, making in an official Shinobi game, enabling it to reach its full potential and join the ranks of the likes of “Sonic Mania” and “Streets of Rage 4”. Maybe there’s some hope of this happening?

[ShadowGangs]

Hi D00m_Sl4y3r;
Very detailed review, thank you :)
I'd like to respond and also answer some points:

1) I am happy you didn't trust GameSack on Shadow Gangs

2) The game dev cost was around 100.000$, with a bigger budget there would have been many more effects, and especially sprites anim frames, longer intro and outro, voices etc...

3) Straight levels, (bridge, train) are action packed and people like them (my brother liked the subway level as it throws on the player tons of enemies). But there is a good balance imho between straight A to B levels and bigger more vertical ones (like the factory, forest etc...) and I tried in each mission to have straight one followed by a vertical one or the reverse.

4) Yes you are right about the levels shuffling :), Subway was meant to be the second level, but then I didn't want the Ninjas out of the train so early in the game. we'll try in Shadow Gangs II to keep the natural order, it's not easy as it needs to take into account many considerations. My consideration for Shadow Gangs was good action and fun even if it doesn't make sense story or context wise in many places.

5) 4/3 was selected to keep the relentless action, wide screen would show more of the level but the action and enemy surprise imho would diminish and would change the game flow and action completely, imho for the worst.

6) Camera best framing is very important in Shadow Gangs, the game uses a dynamic camera positioning system, depending on the context in the level, always to show more where the action happens or is expected to happen.

7) big monster bosses would require lots of $$$ to draw and animate. The reason for their absence is budget limitation, but also I wanted each boss to be human, and to have a distinct personality. I didn't want non human bosses from the start. I dislike also the big bosses in the background that hit with his hand for example, like the ones in God Of War for example. I wanted a one to one human vs human boss fights.
We'll try to make bigger bosses in Shadow Gangs II, but still no background boss, or object boss.

8) Fall damage, Shadow Gangs II will not have it, promised :). We'll make the levels in a way the fall damage is not required.

9) Control can be regained between bouncing by using the ninja magic. But I agree it's not available in Fighter mode, and requires you to have ninja magic in the inventory. We'll think about ways to handle this in Shadow Gangs II, I still don't want invincibility frames post hit after touching ground.

Glad you liked the game and thank you very much for this detailed review and for the positive Steam review .

[GnomeSlayer]

I enjoyed reading this.