The Shadow the Hedgehog game was a lot like the 3D Sonic games from the Dreamcast era, only edgier and with more guns. Despite playing like Shadow was sliding around on ice skates the whole time and having a plot that felt out of place among the Sonic universe, the game’s multitude of endings and soundtrack have gained a cult following over the years. When a previously lost beta version of the Shadow the Hedgehog game resurfaced recently, it caused a stir among Sonic fans and video game archivists alike.
The disk in question was something of a mixed bag of content, unfortunately. The journey the folks at Last Minute Collection went through to try to get the game to boot up is full of technical issues and insight into the creation of game disks. After a lot of work, the team was able to learn more about the game disk in their hands.
The Shadow the Hedgehog disk is a beta version of the Xbox build of the final game, created late enough in development that it would run on a retail version of the console. Though it wouldn’t fully boot on the team’s Xbox 360, they did manage to find a previously unheard version of All Hail Shadow by Crush 40 on the game’s jukebox menu, which was more than enough to make fans excited about what else might be on the game disk. Unfortunately, it seems that the team has yet to get the song to play, leaving the track taunting them from just beyond their grasp.
Efforts to restore this early version of Shadow the Hedgehog are ongoing. Last Minute Collection uploaded the fruits of their labor to Archive.org so that others could pick up the two different versions they managed to compile but couldn’t get to work in the hopes that the collective might of the Internet might provide the key to bringing this lost relic back to life. While the game itself hasn’t aged well, Shadow the Hedgehog’s legacy within the Sonic series is impossible to ignore, as evidenced by his appearance in the Sonic Prime show, so any new information about it is important.
Published: Jan 6, 2023 04:30 am