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Cyber Shadow

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Cyber Shadow
Developer(s)Mechanical Head Studios
Publisher(s)Yacht Club Games
Director(s)Aarne Hunziker
Designer(s)Aarne Hunziker
Composer(s)Enrique Martin
Engine
Platform(s)
ReleaseJanuary 26, 2021[1][2]
Genre(s)Action, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Cyber Shadow is a side-scrolling action-platform video game created by Finnish indie developer Mechanical Head Studios and published by Yacht Club Games. Featuring an 8-bit aesthetic, it follows a cybernetic ninja named Shadow who sets out to rescue his clan in a world overrun by machines.

The game is being mostly developed by Aarne Hunziker, who is the sole member of Mechanical Head Studios. It was first shown at PAX East 2019, having been in development from years before and silently announced before that event. It contains stated inspirations from other platform video games such as Ninja Gaiden.

Gameplay

Cyber Shadow is a side-scrolling platforming game in which players control a ninja character who battles enemies with a sword and various special abilities acquired as subweapons. It features an 8-bit aesthetic which shares similarities to Shatterhand[3] and contains several gameplay elements of Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, Castlevania and similar games, which include snaking paths and occasional backtracking.[4][5] Several bosses are present.[5][6][7]

The game's story is told primarily through cinematic cutscenes, though in-engine ones are used as well.[8]

Plot

The game's plot follows Shadow, a cyborg[9] ninja who sets out to rescue his fallen clan in a world overrun by synthetic lifeforms harvesting them for their powers.[6][4] It is specifically set in the ruins of the fictional Mekacity.[10][11][7]

Development

Cyber Shadow is being developed by Mechanical Head Studios, a team consisting purely of the creator Aarne Hunziker, and published by Yacht Club Games.[11] Aarne Hunziker, having already been developing the game for years on his own, initially had no intention of teaming up with a publisher; he was first discovered by Yacht Club while posting about the ongoing development on Twitter,[12] and later was convinced by them to "join [their] little family".[13] Although most of the development is handled by Hunziker, the music will be composed by Enrique Martin and produced by Jake Kaufman;[11][7][14] in addition to their usual role as a publisher, Yacht Club is giving design feedback from their previous experience developing Shovel Knight.[7][12]

Hunziker's first experience in game development was hacking the ROMs of classic games to manipulate their visuals, effectively customizing them.[4][9] He later decided to create an own game, but scrapped it four years later to begin coding from scratch what would become Cyber Shadow. He has had continued difficulties with the development of the game due to its scope and having to do it almost entirely alone.[4]

Hunziker has described the game as one that combines "the level design principles of Mario, the skills and action of Ninja Gaiden, the enemy designs of Contra and the dark visual aesthetic of Batman",[14][7] but has also said that it is more deliberately intended as a callback to Shadow of the Ninja.[5] In an interview with Siliconera, he said that "[t]he story is about exploiting carefully nurtured ancient knowledge with logic" as a reason why it involves both ancient ninjas and futuristic robots.[9]

The game was first shown at PAX East 2019,[12] though it was announced less publicly earlier.

In the "Yacht Club Games Presents" on February 26, 2020, it was revealed that the game would release in 2021, and that the Shovel Knight Amiibo would be compatible with the Nintendo Switch version of the game.[15] It was released on January 26, 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,[16] Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.[10][14][2]

Reception

All versions of Cyber Shadow have received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.[17][18][19][21][20]

References

  1. ^ Goslin, Austen (February 26, 2020). "Cyber Shadow is a 2D ninja action game published by the makers of Shovel Knight". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved March 5, 2020. Cyber Shadow is scheduled to be released in fall 2020[...]
  2. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow launches January 26, 2021". Gematsu. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  3. ^ LeClair, Kyle (April 16, 2019). "PAX East 2019: Cyber Shadow Delivers More Goodness Straight Out of '91". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Gach, Ethan (March 28, 2019). "Hands-On With The Gorgeous New Ninja Gaiden-Like Cyber Shadow". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Ronaghan, Neal (April 1, 2019). "Cyber Shadow Might Be The Next Great Throwback Ninja Platformer". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Tailby, Stephen (March 28, 2019). "Shovel Knight Dev Yacht Club Games Announces Cyber Shadow for PS4". Push Square. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e Wales, Matt (March 27, 2019). "Shovel Knight dev unveils 8-bit-style ninja romp Cyber Shadow in new trailer". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  8. ^ Peeples, Jeremy (March 27, 2019). "Yacht Club Games Announces Cyber Shadow". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c Couture, Joel (January 28, 2017). "Cyber Shadow Developer Talks About The Work That Leads To Pretty Pixel Art". Siliconera. Curse LLC. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Romano, Sal (March 27, 2019). "Ninja action platformer Cyber Shadow announced for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c Doolan, Liam (March 28, 2019). "Yacht Club Games Reveals Cyber Shadow, A Thrilling New 8-Bit Ninja Platformer". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Bailey, Kat (March 31, 2019). "How Cyber Shadow is Benefiting From the Expertise of Shovel Knight's Developers". USgamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Doolan, Liam (April 2, 2019). "Cyber Shadow's Publishing Deal With Yacht Club Games Didn't Happen Overnight". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  14. ^ a b c Winslow, Jeremy (March 27, 2019). "Shovel Knight Dev Reveals Its Next Project". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  15. ^ Velasco, Sean; Faulker, Alec (narrators) (February 26, 2020). Yacht Club Games Presents 2.26.20 (YouTube video). Yacht Club Games. Event occurs at 2:24. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  16. ^ Wales, Matt (January 13, 2021). "Meet the one-man studio behind Cyber Shadow". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 26, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 26, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Cyber Shadow for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  22. ^ Mitchell, Saltzman (25 January 2021). "Cyber Shadow Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 26 January 2021.

Further reading

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