User Reviews (1 - 11 of 19)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

ESRB rated this one wrong

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game should be rated T. There is no reason for Shadow (and others) to say "damn" every 30 seconds in the game. Every time you get hit or die, it cusses. I know we are all getting desensitised to this, but the game should not be rated E10. The violence is pretend and I don't have a problem. Most E10 are due to violence with some obscure language that is hard to hear. With Shadow, "damn" is being said every 30 seconds. That's ridiculous. Never before has a Sonic game not been good for everyone. I missed the E10, thought it was only an E. Let my 5 year old play it. I grew up playing Sonic and so has my son. Very unhappy with Sega for this one. No reason for the language and no way to turn it off!

Inappropriate for children of any age.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: January 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was skeptical when my 8-year-old daughter came running downstairs and told me that the characters on my 11-year-old sons "E" rated video game were cursing, but I went upstairs to check it out anyway. Sure enough, one of the characters was using the word "Damn." Even worse, he had to shoot and kill people to get through another challenge. Do the makers of this game, (Kaizen Media Group), really think that this sort of game is okay with responsible parents? Well, it's not. There are so many interesting and funny words in the English dictionary, I can't believe that this is the only thing that Kaizen Media Group could come up with!

I'm tired of going to movies and buying video games rated for children that are full of violence and cursing. It adds nothing to the game/movie. Adults can choose freely in regards to what games/movies they purchase, but as parents we are responsible for what our children play/view. I really feel that we need to speak out about these issues. If I could return this game I would. It is definitely headed for the trashcan and I will not be buying another one from this company. I suggest that you don't either.

What are these parents talking about?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: November 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I am sick of parents basing there reviews on the content of the game. If you read the back of the game you would know that this game has VIOLENCE and MILD LANGUAGE. Second, the color and name of the aliens has nothing to do with African-American people. It is probably associated with th Nazis wearing Black. Third, do you really think that kids are going to go around saying the word 'damn' just because the heard it in a video game? If your kid starts saying damn(which I really doubt), just calmly explain to him or her that that is a bad word. This violence is NON-IMITATEABLE!!! So, stop worrying that your kid is going to cause your children to want to hurt people. Even when you attack the soldiers, they just fall down WOUNDED with no blood.

Now this is the review for the game. It plays mostly like sonic heroes. Of course, most of the levels a immpecably designed.(There are still a few duds in the bunch) This game is a great buy. And as for you parents, go blame Grand Theft Auto about something.

Parents think carefully

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 15
Date: September 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My 9-year-old received this game as a gift. Thinking it was as harmless as the other Sonic game we own, I didn't look closely at the packaging, so I didn't see the E10+ rating on the back. It was only as my 9, 7, and 5-year-olds were playing for the first time that I became alarmed. Every 30 seconds or so, I was hearing swearing. Read the other reviews. This game is not for children, not even older children, if you are as opposed to the use of swear words as I am. The E10+ rating is misleading. This should be rated T. I won't allow my children to play this game because they act out what they play and imitate dialogue. I don't want my 5-year-old saying "D---" and it's a sad world when I have to police and screen everything that comes into my home. I definitely don't want my children being as disrespectful as the other children reviewing this game are. From now on I research every game that my children want to get.

Reiner and Me are Right

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 11
Date: February 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Before I write my review, I want to share with you all a review written about this game by Reiner of GameInformer magazine to prove to you that I am not the only one that thinks that this game sucks:

"Wait... this game is mislabeled. This isn't Shadow the Hedgehog. It's that miserable Broken the Hedgehog! With the scent of a dirty diaper permeating from his speedy wake, this killer of classic gaming franchises does what he does best. He sucks. Not since Bubsy have I seen a mascot-based action game corner the market in unresponsive controls, disastrous level designs, inconsistent framerates, traumatizing character designs, and (my personal favorite) just being flat out broken. At the very least, this game has its place in the history of gaming for that. Shame on you, Sega."

Now for my review: If you have any sense of self-worth or decency, don't buy this game. If you do, it's just a waste of your money. You ask, "Why isn't this review longer?" Frankly, because Reiner already said what needed to be said. Listen.

An actual gamer review

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: February 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Briefly, my thoughts on the issue of the game's "appropriateness":

-Maybe the word "damn" isn't as generally taboo as it used to be, however up to this point the Sonic series has been, to my knowledge at least, squeaky clean, much like the Mario games. Even Sonic and other good guys use the word here. And kids still do go around imitating their favorite video game heroes, so it's not to be dismissed so lightly. I think having them use it was a bad idea.
-The "blackness" of the aliens has nothing to do with racism or Africans. The game is not racist in any way so shut up about it.
-This is the first Sonic-themed game where you fight against humans (besides Dr. Eggman), but even when you shoot them they don't die; they just lay there wounded and there's no blood.
-At first glance, one might think that this puts Sonic just a few steps away from "capping hookers" a la Grand Theft Auto. I'd say that's too alarmist and point out that Shadow is not the same character; Sonic says in the game that he "wouldn't be caught dead" with a gun.

Okay, now to the gameplay.
-Basically, this game plays like Sonic Heroes with guns. If you didn't like Sonic Heroes, you won't like this either (I obviously did hence the high score). Instead of having teams like SH, Shadow has a "mission character" who follows him and gives advice on how to fight enemies and beat missions.
-The guns are only semi-new to the Sonic series, since Tails would ride robots with gun-arms in the Sonic Adventure titles. Using them takes some getting used to, but soon became intuitive for me. I thought they fit okay with Shadow's character but I'm glad Sonic doesn't ever pick up a gun.
-Whether or not it "captures the feel of old-school 2D Sonic" depends on the level. Some of the levels are well-designed and succeed at this, and some are too cramped and frustrating, requiring trial-and-error to beat. You can pick your path through the game, though, so you can avoid the lame levels once you know them.
-The camera is needlessly frustrating to control, and this is what breaks some of the levels. Fortunately, you don't always need to worry about it, again depending on the level.

The storyline and production values are excellent, as we'd expect from the Sonic series. The voice acting is better than in Sonic Heroes but still isn't perfect.

The pro reviewers overreacted in my opinion when they said Sonic Team was losing the plot with this game. I say it's worth at least a rental from anyone who likes Sonic (and that should include everyone who's ever picked up a controller). But parents of <10-yr-old children should be wary of the "damnits."

A look at the facts for worried parents out there

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: February 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I would just like to point out and possibly reiterate a few things first off.

Dear "Amy",
*Quote*If I would have known all of this I would have never spent the money for my seven year old to have this game."

It concerns me that you, as a parent, would even buy this for your seven year old. ESRB rates games for a reason, and this one, if you take the time to look, is rated E10+. Maybe that's confusing, so allow me to explain. That means ESRB finds this game is generally (please note that word, it's important) suitable for anyone over the age of 10. In fact, ESRB explains the rating as, and I quote, "Content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older." Now maybe I missed something, but if I recall my math classes 7 is less than ten, not greater...

Secondly, to "Great Parent". I believe Jim "Therum" said it best in the following quote: "THE ALIENS ARE BLACK SKINNED! THE NAME OF THE ALIENS IS "THE BLACK ARMS." THE FACT THAT YOU DO NOT REALISE THIS MAKES YOU A HORIBLE PARENT WHO LACKS BASIC COMMON SENSE. Also, the aliens having black skin is IMPORTANT TO THE STORY and to SHADOW'S LIFE."

Symbolism shows us that the color black is generally associated with darkness, shadows, and evil (Why do you think so many people judge the deemed "goth" crowd because of their clothes before that get to know them?). 'Black' does not apply exclusively to the African American community, and every time black is used it's not a potshot at African Americans. People take this racist thing WAY too overboard these days. I'm all for African Americans being treated fair and not being discriminated against and all that good stuff, but there's a point when enough is enough, and this is one of those points. I mean geesh, the next thing you know people will be screaming over the drow in DnD games and the like being racist because they're a black (and I mean black black if you don't know what a drow is) skinned outcast race of elves *rolls eyes*.

That said, I can agree that Shadow would be better suited with a rating of T instead of E10+, and if I were a parent I would probably take care about letting my child play the game too early, however if the game appals you so much, there's a very simple solution. Don't let your child play it. ESRB rates games for just that reason, so cautious and worried parents have a guideline for what is suitable for their children and can avoid unsuitable games. On that note, however, it's not ESRB's job to figure out what's right for YOUR child. They can only rate the game *drumroll* GENERALLY (there's that word again!)

As the concerned parent you are, you should be paying attention to what YOUR child is like. ESRB's raters don't live with your kid from day to day, so they can't say whether your kid is really suited for a game. That's *gasp* one of the jobs of a parent! To know your kid and know how things affect them!

So basically what this boils down to is this...you can be appalled all you like, but at the end of the day it's your parenting that's really going to be put to the question.

----------

Of other note, after renting Shadow the Hedgehog I have to say I'm not as impressed with it as I thought I would be. The guns don't appeal to me, the cameras are -terrible- and do most definitely cost you a LOT of lives, the game is (in my opinion at least) far too short, and the storyline is rather tepid so far. Honestly, there was SO much Sega could have done with this game, but it seems like they just threw together some wild idea and ran with it instead of really thinking it out. Don't get me wrong, the concept of being able to choose what path you'll take is awesome, but the way it was presented in this game was flawed.

I will say, I do love the opening theme and eventually hope to find the CD for the game (*side rant* No there is -NOWHERE- in the lyrics where it says "I am evil". There's some "I am"s and the word "evil" in the song as it's talking about Shadow trying to find his path, but never does it say "I am evil"...some parent has a vivid imagination I think), but overall I wasn't impressed with the game enough to want to buy it or even rent it again. It falls FAR short of the much better thought out Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, which allows for extracirricular gameplay after you finish the storyline (LOVE the chao!) in my opinion.

That said, come on Sega...can't you match SA2:B with a cool and reasonable Shadow-based storyline? I think that's all Sonic fans are asking for here.

A Darker Side of Sonic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is simply a darker version of Sonic. It's really about time that it went from its candy-coated past into a darker area.

I also hasten to disagree with the parents who find this game offensive. If you had checked the back of the box, you would obviously realize that there was mild language and fantasy violence. Racism? This is all symbolic, it has nothing to do with the color of a human's skin. Black has traditionally been the color of evil. The fact that they are known as the "Black Arms" doesn't make it any more racist.

I thought this was an excellent game because it finally lets you be truly evil. This is new in Sonic, and is vey lightly touched on in the game industry (aside from the boring GTA). Anyone who takes all this violence seriously should not be a parent, because this is obviously fiction (aliens, robots, personified animals) and it is easily deduced that you can't do these actions in real life.

In short, I found this game very fun and I think that more games should get a little bit darker. The candy-coated image is getting tiresome. If parents can't teach their children that this can't happen in real life, they should not be parents.

Once again, I've lost faith in humanity.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is not rascist. The Black Arms are black because *spoilers alert* Shadow has part of Black Doom in him, so Shadow the creatures need some resemblence. *end spoilers*

The game is rated 10+. If your child is younger than that, don't buy them the game. If your child is 10 or older and you think the word "Damn" is a problem, you shouldn't be a parent, and I feel sorry for your child. Also, I went through the lyrics, and I did not see "I Am Evil" anywhere. You need to open your eyes a little bit. Your child will see worse things on the news, so stop complaining.

In other words, this game is alright. Don't buy this game expecting a normal Sonic game. The gun was an intresting touch to the game, and I personally love it. When you get hit you don't lose all your rings, which is awesome. The music in this game is awesome, except Almost Dead. You can ask any hardcore Sonic fan and they will tell you it's a garbage song. Powerman 5000 isn't garbage, though. Not much else to say. There are a few nifty guns you can unlock, but overall it's an easy, but replayable game.

What?!?!?!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all, the game is not racist. The "black creatures" are black aliens. Also, do you really think your child WANTS to go around saying (...)every time he gets hit by something? There's something I learned from my parents that a parent-child relationship can be heavily damaged when the parent is proven extremely wrong with something that involves the child.

Anyway, Shadow the Hedgehog is a really fun game. It allows you to choose whether you want to do the evil said or the hero side. The guns are a nice touch to a platforming game, and I don't think lock-on is needed. I will agree that (...)was overused. There are many quotes in Shadow the Hedgehog that get extremely annoying, too.

But, please parents. Realize what you are doing to your kids. You're hurting them as much as the videogame hurts you.

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions