You can play Sonic Adventure 2, which introduced Shadow the Hedgehog to audiences, on PC. You can play Shadow Generations, the latest outing of the dark hedgehog, on PC or any modern console. But you can't play the crucial middle chapter of Ultimate Lifeform's story unless you pull out hardware that came out over 20 years ago. I'm talking about Shadow the Hedgehog – the game, not the man, the myth and/or the legend – the only game in which Shadow starred until the release of Generations last year.
In a way, that's understandable. Shadow the Hedgehog wasn't well received at the time of its release – it currently sits at 45 on Metacritic – and was pretty heavily scrutinized for its provocative edginess and janky controls. And even good games from the early to mid-2000s tend to age poorly. Sonic Adventure 2 received much better reviews (the critical average is 73), but if you pick it up in 2025, you'll run out of nostalgia pretty quickly. The camera is everywhere and it feels like it can't keep up with what you're doing.
And not in the fun 2D Sonic way, where the camera shows how fast Sonic can fly through the level with his super speed.
Shadow's missing second act
Regardless of quality, Shadow the Hedgehog is the crucial second act that ties its story together in Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow Generations. Most fans don't play Sonic games solely for the story, but as a kid growing up on the Blue Blur, I was very interested in the world and history of the Blue Blur. I want to go back and see how Shadow got from A to C.
Sega seems to have big plans for Shadow. The publisher declared the year 2024 “Fearless: Year of Shadow”. The version of the character voiced by Keanu Reeves played a big role in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. We only got Sonic X Shadow Generations at the end of last year. Sega also toured a physical replica of Shadow's motorcycle, Dark Rider, and collaborated with LEGO on Shadow-centric sets.
With all the hype surrounding the moody mammal, it doesn't seem strange not to be able to play the first one (and have been for almost two decades). only) Game he's ever played in on modern hardware? So what if Shadow the Hedgehog was made back then? So what if it has little chance of surviving without major changes? Why not make the big changes? Not letting us play this game on modern hardware isn't exactly Year of Shadow from you, Sega!
Shadow may have aged better than you think
Upon release, the game's story was met with criticism, with many reviewers complaining that the game was too boxy. Now, 20 years later, we know that's the whole Shadow thing. I don't think Sega needs to mess with the story too much. Give our boy a gun and let him go shoot and say some damn. Shadow's fans love him for who he is, curses and everything.
Although well-publicized, offensive-sounding lines like “Disgusting black creatures, get out of my sight!” might be worth a second look.
The game's bigger problems revolved around the controls, and those can easily be reworked. Tweak the homing attack, tweak the camera, clean up the graphics, and update the capture to be closer to modern standards, and you're in business.
Sega seems to be aware that the game's lack of availability is a problem, as it includes an optional recap of Shadow's story in Shadow Generations. But if Sega really wants to be Fearless like Shadow, it needs to go back to the game that started it all.

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This can't… be my fate!