Shadowrun (SNES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
2,595A playthrough of Data East's 1993 cyberpunk action RPG for the SNES, Shadowrun.
Shadowrun is one of those games that many people aren't aware of, yet nearly everyone that has ever played it absolutely loves it. It was true back when the game first came out - the reviews were extremely positive, but it didn't sell much at all - and it still seems to hold true now. The internet has spread some awareness about it, but it still yet hasn't received anywhere near its due.
You play as Jake Armitage, the victim of a botched hit. Jake wakes up in a drawer at the morgue suffering from a "burnt" brain. After terrifying the morticians who had just pronounced him dead, he escapes and immediately runs into a street courier that witnessed the attempted murder. Jake chases the guy into an alley just in time to see him be shot to death. He grabs the downed man’s gun, takes care of business, and finally comes face-to-face with a mysterious talking dog who warns him of dangers to come.
And that's just the first five minutes! The remainder involves Jake searching out who did this to him, why they did it, and following the trail of evidence to the heart of a massive conspiracy. I can't say too much more about it without giving spoilers, but it's quite a wild ride.
The gameplay is an interesting mix of styles: it's one part Secret of Mana with its stat-driven real-time combat system, and two parts CRPG with its heavy emphasis on key words, dialogue trees, and its relatively open world. The game's design was largely based on Nightshade, a similarly structured adventure game that Beam (the developer of Shadowrun) had done the year before in 1992, but with a great many enhancements made to smooth out the experience. Nightshade's influences, including the dark and gritty urban tone, the occasionally goofy humor, and the heavy emphasis placed on character interaction are all clear in Shadowrun, and it makes for a game that is absolutely loaded with personality.
Shadowrun was also one of the most serious "adult" games released on consoles. It makes no effort to shy away from gun violence, organized crime, or even addressing sex, even if only in oblique ways. It mixes in a fair amount of sci-fi and high fantasy, but it's done in such a way that it really enhances the world's uniquely dystopian flavor. The story certainly has teeth, and the world is a vital contributing factor to it - it's a character unto itself, and an impressive one at that. It’s like a crazy mix of Rise of the Dragon, Snatcher, and Blade Runner, and the mix works very well.
The graphics and sound are absolutely stellar in Shadowrun, as well. The look of the game is more typical of a PC title than a SNES one with it's small sprites and isometric viewpoint (reminds me of Syndicate!), but this allows for an incredible amount of detail in each and every scene - everything feels lived in and worn. Stuff lies in the streets, office desks are cluttered with coffee mugs and filled inboxes, street vendors hang out next to their stalls, people go about their own business in the city streets - the level of detail is impressive. The soundtrack is also a real highlight - it was done by Marshall Parker, resident music genius at Beam - and it's outstanding. The tunes regularly switch tones to suit the situation, and whether they are somber and slow or dramatic and upbeat, they all carry the grungy, industrial feeling of the world exceedingly well.
I’ve always absolutely adored Shadowrun, and it’s a game that I’ve been meaning to upload for quite awhile now. If you haven’t played it before, hopefully this piques your interest in it. If you have, well, I hope I did it justice.
Hope you enjoy it!
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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