You quickly learn, via a gorgeous opening cinema, that Shadow has no memory, amnesia being the metaphor for humanity's consciousness, lost and captive in a hostile world. While Sonic games in the past were slight and lightning fast, this game makes me want to wear sackcloth and cover my head in ashes. Shadow the Hedgehog ruins the Sonic concept. A few critics have claimed that the poor design of this game is due to an over-emphasis on speed and an under-emphasis on gameplay, but to them I say pshah – this game is slow and has too much gameplay, the type borrowed from bad RareWare games on the N64. It is as though a good ol' Sonic game is wearing a dark costume and pretending to suck. Shadow's game, on the other hand, is full of dreary, pathos-laden environments that prevent speed of any kind. It should be noted that Reala was created before both and that all of the series are Sega properties.Shadow the Hedgehog is really just Sonic dressed up in black, and how appropriate! Sonic was the fastest hedgehog around, and his world was bright and speedy.
Shadow appears as an unlockable character in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. After that, Shadow will make the opponents teleport through the tennis court when they hit the ball back to him. When Shadow super move is activated, a cutscene will play where he transforms into Super Shadow. Shadow appears as an unlockable character in Sega Superstars Tennis, where he is a speed type character. Shadow is again, a Speed-type character and this time, he has his own personal Extreme Gear called Black Shot. Shadow returns to the Sonic Riders sequel, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, once again, being an unlockable characters in the game. Shadow is one of the two characters in the game who doesn't have a personal Extreme Gear (the other being Eggman), however his default Extreme Gear option a the skate type Extreme Gear called Darkness. Shadow is a speed type character, which means he can slide on rails throughtout the circuits. Shadow appeared in Sonic Riders as an unlockable character. Shadow's levels in the mini game are much harder than Sonic's. To unlock him, it is necessary to successfully complete the mini game in all three difficulties with Sonic. Shadow appears as an unlockable character in Sega Superstars, in the Sonic the Hedgehog thematic mini game.