Speaking of the aforementioned hidden areas, the game does contain a nice chunk of secrets as well, with several hidden passages or destructible walls to find. Some of it is in plain sight, some of it is hidden, but it’s all fantastic, especially when it nicely blends together sci-fi and a bit of fantasy, even leaning into body horror in a few scenarios I won’t get into. Progen’s experiments and his descent into madness, remaining essence from fallen comrades that gives you their final thoughts, a look into the clan itself via areas accessed through meditation and more.
Throughout various levels, you can come across terminals detailing Dr. While anyone playing it would easily be satisfied with just the basic plot or between-level cinematics, MekaSkull went the extra distance in order to make sure that we get a feel for all of the players in this saga. The terrific graphics extend to the cutscenes as well, which leads to another area Cyber Shadow excels in: it’s story. Finally, Enrique Martin’s soundtrack is perfect, with a nice array of pulse-pounding synth beats to perfectly suit the mechanical mayhem. The enemies are also detailed and have several different forms, especially when it comes to the rather imposing bosses, some of which take up a good chunk of the screen. Despite the apocalypse that’s underway, there’s a great variety of color in all places, with a nice blend of industrial environments ranging from robot factories to laboratories swarming with biological horrors. The pixel art and animation are astounding, and even with the various little touches like parallax scrolling, it looks exactly like an NES game pushing everything it has to the limit. The first thing that immediately strikes you when playing Cyber Shadow is, unsurprisingly, the presentation. All Shadow has with them - besides their sword and skills - is a locket containing the image of a young woman, an apparent loved one whose history and involvement becomes more clear as things progress…
Their only companion is L-Gion, a little robot guide that assists them as they fight their way through the city ruins, as Shadow is now the last chance to taken down Progen. Progen has taken over the world with a synthetic army, and to make matters worse, his army is powered by the souls of the other ninja from Shadow’s clan, now wiped out. Set in the futuristic Mekacity, Cyber Shadow stars the titular Shadow, a ninja awakened from a slumber in stasis, now in a robotic body. So is Cyber Shadow also worthy of being called another lost NES classic? While borrowing more from the likes of the Ninja Gaiden games and old Natsume action games, the partnership with Yacht Club does make it feel like the pressure to live up to Shovel Knight’s legacy is arguably greater here that ever.
I bring this up because Yacht Club is now publishing another action-platformer going for the exact same feel: Cyber Shadow, from developer MekaSkull. From its graphics to its gameplay, every part of Shovel Knight made truly feel like it was some lost late-era NES game.
Sure, it was an amazing game on its own, but more than that, it nailed all of the old-school vibes it was going for. I feel confident in saying that when Yacht Club Games released Shovel Knight back in 2014, it set an impossibly high bar to clear for all retro games that would come afterwards.
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