[8/28/04] Shadowrun (SNES)

[OverlordMondo]

Game: Shadowrun

Genre: Action/Adventure/RPG

System: SNES

Emulator: ZSNES, SNES9X

 

The year is 2050...

 

And the megaplexes are monsters casting long shadows...

When you become a shadowrunner, that's where you live...

in the cracks between giant corporate structures.

 

The Megacorps are powerful in a time when power means information...

...computer information flowing in the global network known as the Matrix.

 

 

Cut to a scene of you getting fragged...

 

Followed by getting healed by a shapeshifting dog.

And you'll be wondering what's going on, unfortunately, you've lost your memory.

Oh, and also...

 

That sets up the story for ya.

 

After leaving the poor frightened morticians (now hiding in the closet), you come across someone who swears he saw you get geeked by those hitmen! He suggests you carry a firearm and runs off.

 

Running after him you find him fragged by a large orc. You pick up his Beretta (he didn't specify where to get one...) and fire back. Walking to the end of the alley, you're confronted by a dog. (for those of you who don't play Shadowrun, it's a spirit).

 

Yeah, freaky. After that you're left with no real clues as to what's going on or where to go. But not to worry, exploring will lead you into a few random gunfights. Shooting up gansters and hitmen gets you "Karma", which is used to further your character. Sadly, there aren't many options for character development. Enemies also drop money in the form of Nuyen. This can be used for a few vital things, like Cop Badges, or for more firepower. Again, the only reason to choose one gun over another is it's power, not many options.

 

The real point to all this exploring is to find out who you are, and why someone hired hitmen to kill you. As you move along you'll find some old acquaintances, as well as some new characters.

 

Later in the game you'll recieve the ability to use magic, by finding the components required and taking them to a certain person, you'll learn a new spell. Truthfully, I didn't use the offensive ones much, I stuck to my guns, but the defensive spells are always nice.

 

You'll also be able to hack into computers once you get a Deck (A sort of portable PC/keyboard, needs a monitor to use), and also you'll need you're datajack fixed. Otherwise you won't be able to jack in to even the simplest networks.

 

You'll be fighting all sorts of things, human or otherwise, as you progress through the game. It may be wise to hire some help, in the form of a Shadowrunner, if you don't want to get fragged by someone with bigger guns and more people than you.

 

All these people and things you meet can sometimes be hard to recognize. There's a lot of pallette swapping going on. Though the spirtes themselves are pretty well made.

 

The soundtrack is one of my favorites to date, though I still haven't found most of it in any tangible form. There's some hard-rockin beats and also some mellow eerie tunes, all of which appropriately fit the area you're sifting through.

 

The controls can get on your nerves sometimes. You move around normally, but to shoot or examine things, you have to bring up a cursor to aim with. Leaving you locked in place while you push the cursor toward your target, who can often be moving around and firing like mad.

 

Gamplay: 8/10

Graphics: 7/10

Sound: 10/10

Controls: 6/10

 

Overall: 7/10 C+

I give this game a

 

[Wizard]

The game is also on Genesis.

And I agree to everything.

[OverlordMondo]

The game is also on Genesis.

And I agree to everything.

The Genesis Shadowrun is a completely different game, I swear, and will prove it to you be reviewing it tonight. Or tommorrow.

 

Edit: Gah, where'd my pics go...I'll fix that.

Edit2: That's better.

Edited August 29, 2004 by LordKanti

[emsley]

I got this game for chirstmas from my parents.

Oh the memories.

This game does infact rule.

[alexis]

Kanti is right the game for Genesis is completely different and for whast i know that game ruled, i played the snes version but got bored, pretty bored indeed i played it a lot and got very far soon, but the game sort of sucks and i hate the control, the game is too short IMO and the enemies are so few, it was a good game but kinda dissapointing as i am a fan of cyberpunk i ofund some cool details but not too many, i heard there is a sort of sequel for PC but they changed the cyberpunk background for

aliens,i dunno i oculd never play that game,i wish i could find it and give it a try

[Inky]

I've finished the snes version of shadowrun prolly 20 tymes. I love it.

I am starting the Gens version now so far getting used the the differences. maybe I'll set up a review after I finish it.

[Agozer]

Duuude.... What the evil bump.