Super Shadow of the Beast Longplay (SNES) [QHD] [Unreleased Prototype]
123Game Info
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Developer: IGS/Psygnosis
Publisher: Psygnosis (Unreleased)
Year of Release: 1992
Game Review & Impressions
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The original Shadow of the Beast is rightfully regarded as a technical milestone for what the Amiga computer was capable in terms of video game graphics, although I doubt many who played the game would ever be so effusive about the overall gameplay. The combat and level design never lived up to the production values of the graphics and music, resulting in something that retro fans would be hard pressed to find much love for these days.
Surprisingly, the game was converted to a diverse range of consoles and computers, including the Sega Genesis, PC Engine, even the FM Towns. The Super NES was also due to receive a conversion, with studio IGS handling development, showing of a prototype of the game at CES in 1992.
The game can be completed, seems to be free of any major bugs, and looks like it was was quite a ways through the development process before it got canned. Theories about as to why this was, including the suggestion the game fell foul of Nintendo's total aversion to publishing anything that might bring its child-friendly brand into disrepute, refusing to sign off on the game unless some of the artwork (blood, skulls and other grimly dark imagery) was removed or changed.
The other factor, and one I suspect is more likely, is the game just isn't very good. This is no fault of IGS, rather the original Amiga game design isn't that great to begin with. Pushing this out on an infinitely more expensive cartridge format probably started to seem like poor commercial sense, especially if the game was going to review poorly and retailers would end up with a load of units they couldn't shift.
It's a sentiment I'd have shared, especially after playing the leaked prototype. From a technical point of view, it's solid and looks OK, but the problems which plagued the original are still present, inherent in the core design. The reaction-based combat is just as infuriating as it ever was, made worse by the fact the Beast's punch fails to have sufficient reach to register collisions with many of the enemies, with the player having to resort to some awkward jump-kickery that requires very precise button combinations to get right.
As for the game, much of it is identical to the Amiga and Genesis designs, with rare glimmers of new ideas and puzzles appearing in some half-baked form. The only genuinely new content seems to be in the game's final zone, having left the Beast Lord's castle, where the graveyard area graphics have been redesigned and what appears to be the basis for new puzzles added. Neither the reflecting laser contraptions, nor the nor does the hammer and stake/peg you collect serve any discernible purpose. The weird Newton's Cradle device with which you can swing against the final boss also seems to be somewhat pointless, although the boss is no longer just a disembodied foot; still a pretty dull encounter with which to end the game, though.
They say you can't make s silk purse out of a sow's ear, and such is the case with Shadow of the Beast. It's an infuriating game, no matter the platform, and Nintendo likely felt it just wouldn't make the cut on their 16-bit console.
Chapters
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00:00 Title music
01:16 The Plains
01:44 Under the Tree
06:40 The Plains
08:58 The Castle
11:29 Tunnel Shootout
13:23 The Graveyard
15:26 Final Boss
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