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[IbizaPocholo]

 

[havoc00]

Love this dudes vids

 

[Sticks]

I dont but I love Shadowman

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

I love Shadow Man. Truly love it. The Acclaim comics the game was based off are incredible and I've been very lucky to talk to Tim Haywood who made the exquisite soundtrack for this game. Acclaim really were the arbiters of their own demise weren't they. If anyone is interested, Tim runs a discord server for the game and a Facebook page.

 

[Elginer]

This game hold a special place in my heart. I remember buying this game after a kick ass review in PC accelerator magazine back in the day. I had just got a creative labs awe 64 sound card and holy shit balls the sound track and positional audio was fucking tits. The game was so dark and creepy and also darkly funny at times. Good shit!

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

This would be one of my most wanted remakes.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

This would be one of my most wanted remakes.

You probably know but night dive did an incredible remaster with the unfinished content included.

 

[tylrdiablos]

I think I played this on the Dreamcast... did it have really weird/clunky controls? I think I got lost a fair bit too.
Will have to look at some YouTube info/reviews.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

I think I played this on the Dreamcast... did it have really weird/clunky controls? I think I got lost a fair bit too.
Will have to look at some YouTube info/reviews.

It was a classic Metroidvania style game. But it was a belter.

 

[Physiognomonics]

This would be one of my most wanted remakes.

The remaster is perfect. Both ligthing and controls have been improved. Thanks to the new lighting I didn't mind much the old textures (that still look a bit better at native 4K).

They added some new material (including a new level) and the performance is perfect.

 

[Barakov]

I think I played this on the Dreamcast... did it have really weird/clunky controls? I think I got lost a fair bit too.
Will have to look at some YouTube info/reviews.

All these things describe Shadow Man. It was a product of its' time but I remember enjoying it quite a bit. This thread made me remember to pick the remaster.

 

[BennyBlanco]

All these things describe Shadow Man. It was a product of its' time but I remember enjoying it quite a bit. This thread made me remember to pick the remaster.

$3.79 on CDKEys. I just got it myself. Loved this game on dreamcast but I don't think I ever finished it. Actually nvm, the version on CDKeys is the older Night Dive release.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

This game hold a special place in my heart. I remember buying this game after a kick ass review in PC accelerator magazine back in the day. I had just got a creative labs awe 64 sound card and holy shit balls the sound track and positional audio was fucking tits. The game was so dark and creepy and also darkly funny at times. Good shit!

The play rooms were so fucked up where you can see them torturing baby monsters and you can hear the squeak of toys, then the whirring of a saw blade and screams from the mother.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Shadow Man! One of the most atmospheric games around. Plus a look at the Shadow Man comics (up until the game's release).

Shadow Man is one of the best games I've ever played. I'd have to sit down and think more on my list, but after finishing, it feels like a top 25er on my list. And this was my first time playing it. Now, back in the day, a Young Boulder did try to make it a rental on a blockbuster night for the N64. But mama and papa boulder said no. And having now played, that turned out to be a good thing. The atmosphere of Shadow Man is some of the best, most unsettling I've come across. This would've given me nightmares how I played it as a youngin.

There's been many games I've covered on this channel where I was kicking myself after for not having played it sooner. But none as much as Shadow Man. It's a title I've been aware of since my early days. I mean, when you have an N64 full of child-friendly games, this dude is going to stand out. I was aware of the influence games like Zelda and Resident Evil had on it. But I wasn't expecting to see a bunch of Tomb Raider's DNA within Shadow Man. Or how its progression and exploration is like a Metroidvania before that became a well-established template. And a 3D one to boot, which is still a rairty these days.

1999 saw many classic games released. Silent Hill, Resident Evil 3, Soul Calibur, Unreal Tournament, Quake 3 Arena, Final Fantasy 8, System Shock 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Planescape Torment, Super Smash Brothers. There's many others I haven't mentioned. Where it seemed like every other week, we were getting a new landmark title. Shadow Man slots in there with the very best.

And to go along with that, Shadow Man sets a standard for what a remaster should be. This is what I played for this video. Now to be fair, that bar is quite low when it comes to remasters. A lack of options, unneccesary changes in art direction, censorship, new bugs. Something where it was clear it was slapped together to the lowest bidder. Night Dive Studios, who remastered Shadowman are guilty of buggy remasters, like Blade Runner. But not here. You have choices for modern qol changes and visuals, or keep it in-line with the original. They added in cut content like levels cut for time from the original. They even brought back the original game's composer to remaster the music, sound, and compose new tracks for the restored levels. It was very much a labor of love and should be what all remasters strive to be.

Because more should experience Shadow Man. A game that isn't afraid to let you explore and get lost in its immersive world. Where few games have been able to match its sense of exploration and and progression. In a different timeline, studios took more queues from intricate, interrconnected games like Shadow Man instead of a slew of open-world titles that became glorified checkbox simulators.

And as Shadow Man is based on a comic book series, this video will also dive into the comics. At least the ones up until the release of the game. I'll bring up some elements here and there while covering the game, with a further dive later in the video.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Prelude
04:26 - Shadow Man Intro
20:06 - Exploration In Shadow Man
23:20 - Shadow Man - A 3D Metroidvania?
29:08 - Collectathon Elements of Shadow Man
33:22 - Platforming & Combat of Shadow Man
39:38 - On the Atmosphere & Sounds of Shadow Man
44:04 - Highlights & Plot of Shadow Man
01:10:06 - On the 90s Shadow Man Comics, Valiant Comics, & Acclaim Entertainment
01:27:56 - The Return of Valiant, Shadow Man, & Acclaim Entertainment