The early era of 3D Sonic was a beautiful period full of memes, really impressive highs, and tons of lows we put in a big effort to pretend they weren’t a thing. Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes were two of my favorite games back in my early teenage years, even though I am aware of their many, many, MANY flaws. Well, I’m aware of them now, I simply pretended they were perfect back in the day and refused to listen to criticism. But there was another 3D Sonic game released during that time I had never played up until now. The pinnacle of mid-2000’s edginess, a game that even I, as a twelve year old, thought to be incredibly tryhardish: Shadow the Hedgehog. A game that’s now twenty years old. Let’s finally tackle this edgelord.

The initial video reveal, as well as printed ads, made Shadow the Hedgehog look like a gigantic deviation from the traditional 3D Sonic formula, given the big emphasis on showcasing Shadow wielding a big, fat Desert Eagle in pretty much every single page or minute of its CGI reveal. That’s… not the actual truth. Yes, Shadow can wield guns and whatnot, but in truth, this is still very much a normal Sonic game. Go from A to B, collect rings, run as fast as you can, use your homing ball dash, and search for Chaos Emeralds. The difference lies in two aspects, one minor and one major. The minor one is the actual usage of the guns, which are limited in availability, and are nowhere near as violent as the ads may have suggested. The major one is how the game’s progression system was designed.

The major difference between Shadow the Hedgehog‘s level and progression design when compared to the other three 3D Sonic games that preceded it is that there are multiple outcomes depending on how you play said level. This game is somewhat objective-based, but only if you decide to tackle it this way. It takes advantage of Shadow’s somewhat conflicted nature as an anti-hero to give you the possibility of playing the game as either a hero, a villain, or as a neutral third party, depending on your actions inside of a level.

For instance, there might be a moment in which you will be faced with a conundrum: should I help out Sonic or Knuckles, or even Charmy the Bee defeat a bunch of evil aliens in a level, or should I help out said evil alien kill every single human soldier I see in front of me? This is basically the kind of outcome you might be presented with. You may also decide to not give the utmost crap about these objectives, leading to a neutral route, with Shadow acting like the most epic edgelord in history, stating that “nobody controls his destiny but himself”. God, I love how dumb this game can be at times.

These objectives are Shadow the Hedgehog‘s main highlight, but they are also the game’s biggest weakness. The problem is that these Sonic games shine when you don’t have to think really hard about them. Just go really fast, so fast that you don’t even have time to pay attention at how janky these titles are. When you tell players that, in order to experience 66% of what the game has to offer, they have to slow down and complete objectives, problems start showing up in droves.

You will then realize that the framerate is quite crappy, that the level design feels repetitive and nonsensical, and that the aiming system (you know, the one thing Sega was really counting on being a big selling point) is terrible. Sonic games have never been made with combat in mind, and Shadow the Hedgehog is no different. If you slow down and decide to tackle the game as Sonic Team wanted you to do, you might not have a great time. But to be honest, if you’re an adult playing an old Sonic game in 2025, you are well aware of how janky these games are, and you probably don’t care. You’re here to focus on the actual highs these games have to offer, and to be fair, Shadow the Hedgehog does have a big high: its presentation.

I have no idea why, but I just love the visual and sound presentations in this specific era of Sonic games. Yes, Shadow the Hedgehog uses a crapton of Dreamcast-era reused assets, but for real, it’s charming as hell. The game might try to look as edgy as humanly possible, but it’s still a cartoonish platformer using a lot of colors and lighting effects. It runs quite poorly for a 3D Sonic game from that era (some levels struggle to reach 60fps, and I don’t know if that’s a general issue or a Gamecube issue), but the game itself still looks decent enough. But then there’s the sound design, and that’s just plain good all around.

Why is the music so good in this game? Why are those guitar riffs so heavy and catchy? There was no need to rock this hard on a silly little mascot platform, but Sonic Team has never, ever fumbled when it comes to music in their games. Even some of their more reviled titles such as Sonic Forces (a game I unironically like, don’t at me) features great music, and Shadow the Hedgehog is no different. What impressed me somewhat is that the voice acting, in parts, wasn’t bad at all. This was Jason Griffith’s first acting role as Shadow, and he’d reprise said role for the next five years. It’s actually… quite good. It’s not overly serious, but not amateurish and crappy. Shadow actually showcases emotional conflicts and some half-decent monologues about the point of existing in this world, even if the game itself is totally ridiculous.

I think this is what makes this actually crappy game somewhat digestible: it has a “mojo”. A mojo seen in other Sonic games from this era, that makes you ignore its flaws. This bizarre charm does a herculean job at makin Shadow the Hedgehog palatable, despite its many, many, MANY flaws. I legit cannot explain why it makes you want to keep on playing it, but it engrosses you despite its sheer stupidity. It can’t even be nostalgia; I had never played the game prior to tackling it for this piece. It’s just a mysterious charm that encompasses most Sega games from this era, even when they are inexcusably bad.

Shadow the Hedgehog is an oddly amusing and hilariously idiotic title that certainly hasn’t aged quite well, and that’s because the game has never actually been good to begin with. But man, I really enjoyed tackling it for this anniversary piece. It’s something so pathetically edgy for no apparent reason, a perfect showcase of 2005’s nu-metal and emo-infused cultural zeitgeist. It’s a little kid trying to act like a big boy, and I couldn’t help but find it to be charming as hell, despite it being a truly flawed game. But it’s still worth giving a shot. These Sonic games from back in the day feature a certain mojo that makes you ignore its flaws and have you focused on what little they have that can be considered positives. Shadow the Hedgehog is no different. A true example of something so stupid it’s actually amazing to experience.