Back to Indie games in 2021– Cyber Shadow

Like many others, I have waited a long time for Cyber Shadow and can say for myself that the wait was worth it. Mechanical Head Studios and Yacht Club Games present a fantastic 8-bit action platformer that will delight any retro fan. From the staging to the control to the game world and its story, an incredible number of gears mesh perfectly and motivate you to continue playing. For indie game enthusiasts there are also some setting options to create even more nostalgia. The comparatively short game time may be the only thing annoying some players. Otherwise, Cyber Shadow is a fantastic and motivating action-platformer that I can totally recommend.

Many old gamers still remember games like Ninja Gaiden or Mega Man. So tough to beat games, that they almost drove game fans crazy in the 80s and early 90s. In these 2D jumping games, the character ran from left to right, jumped over platforms or traps, and had to clear tons of enemies out of the way. This is exactly how «Cyber Shadow» works. In this game, the players take on the role of a ninja, who armed with a katana sword, stands in the way of an artificial life form. This threatens to destroy the whole world.

There are now many 8-bit platformer games that are deliberately kept in the style of the NES or SNES era. We should thank the developer and publisher Yacht Club Games, who demonstrated with the very popular Shovel Knight series how a modern implementation of the genre can be combined with classic game ideas.This time, the latest title from Yacht Club Games does not come from the Shovel Knight developers, but from the Finnish one-man development studio Mechanical Head Games. Cyber ​​Shadow, like Shovel Knight, pays homage to past classics but is more oriented towards representatives like Ninja Gaiden. In addition to a stylish 8-bit style, you can expect tons of opponents and challenging jump sequences in which you have to prove your skills.

As the name suggests, the world of Cyber ​​Shadow combines motifs of classic ninja stories with a futuristic setting. As a member of a clan of chosen guards, you guard Mekacity, a city that is moving further and further into the age of technology. As part of this development, robots are gradually being created that relieve humans of tasks and become more and more advanced over time. As in many other sci-fi scenarios, there comes the point in Cyber ​​Shadow where the machines under the guidance of the mad scientist Dr.Progen raise against the people and destroy the player’s hometown. The members of your clan will be tracked down one by one and converted into living batteries, as their essences can be used as energy sources. This energy, in turn, is due to a connection with Ethos, a spiritual world to which only members of your clan have access.

In this initial situation, you wake up as a cybernetic ninja Shadow, who is given the task of freeing the members of the clan and saving the mysterious master who was captured by Dr.Progen. To do this, you not only have to regain the skills that you lost in the long stasis but also try to remember your old life and rediscover the paths of your clan. The story of the game largely makes use of familiar patterns but also surprises with interesting ideas at one point or another. Overall, the world of Cyber Shadow is exciting enough to keep the player engaged. Above all, the rather unique combination of ninja mythology and sci-fi elements helps develop an interest in the world. get the effect of 3D games on casino online by playing them frequently.

The focus of the game is clearly on the gameplay. As mentioned earlier, Cyber ​​Shadow is a classic 8-bit action platformer. This means that you play the entire game essentially with the control pad or optionally the analog stick as well as a jump and an attack button. At the beginning of the game, your movement and attack repertoire are limited. You jump through the largely linear 2D worlds and strike enemies with your blade who get in your way. All other skills that you unlock in the course are designed as a combination of direct input and the attack button. Press the attack button and move down simultaneously, for example, to trigger a magically enhanced jump attack, if you have enough soul points to serve as mana reserves. During the game, you can find items in hidden sections that increase your hit and soul points. This gives you an additional incentive during the game to investigate the corners of the detailed level and look for entrances.

Moving through the game itself is especially fun. Shadow steers itself precisely through the demanding levels. Meeting opponents can quickly lead to screen death if you do notdeal with them in time or if they throw you into the abyss. A nice trick: Most of the opponents are much more susceptible to attacks from behind, which encourages an evasive play style that corresponds to the fighting style of a ninja. It is a good idea to jump over enemies or wait for them to turn away to quickly take them out. Cyber ​​Shadow is also a very demanding game with this approach. Often you will need more than one attempt to internalize any pitfalls in a passage such as hidden traps or the rhythm of projectiles. The same applies to the bosses you encounter during the game. You must learn the movement patterns and react accordingly to be successful. This shows that Cyber ​​Shadow relies little on chance. The duration of a fight depends solely on how well you have understood the approach of the other person. If I needed several attempts for a demanding battle at the beginning, the same fight went much better and faster after a little practice.

The big star of Cyber ​​Shadow is undoubtedly the presentation during the entire gameplay. You can tell that AarneHunziker put many years into this project and continued to refine the design and the pixel art of the title. Cyber ​​Shadow shows with its stylish world, the character, and opponent designs, and the animations, what is possible within the framework of an 8-bit limitation. The chip soundtrack is alsoabsolutely fantastic, which perfectly accompanies the playful events and inspires the next attempt even if it fails. Enthusiasts can also use classic CRT filters and thus mimic the image of classic tube TVs. Particularly charming: There is also an option for a CRT signal with a poor connection which makes the image look blurry. From a technical and staging perspective, Cyber ​​Shadow is very close to 8-bit perfection.