So I was standing at the local Hollywood Video, looking for something to cure my boredom with. I ended up walking away with three games: Shadow the Hedgehog, Soul Caliber III, and Devil May Cry 3. Shugo seems to have taken care of Soul Caliber III, so allow me to add some enlightenment to Shadow the Hedgehog.

I've played both of the Sonic Adventure games and I've loved them to death. The story has always been excellent and the gameplay so nice as to not ruin a perfectly good storyline.

So I figured the telling of Shadow's past, present, and future should be the same, right?

Apparently not. Even before this game came out, I knew this game would be trouble. But I still wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I rented it anyway.

Not only does this game suck, it's got nothing to do with the Sonic storyline. It supposedly takes place after Sonic Adventure 2, when Shadow goes super and then falls to the planets surface. Everyone thinks he's dead (kinda...cause it's a kid's game) and then it just ends.

Shadow the Hedgehog picks up right after this, with Shadow waking up and seeing "aliens" attempting to take over the planet. The leader of said aliens sends a transmission to Shadow, claiming he knows who he is. This gives Shadow a chioce: Help the Humans or Help the Aliens.

You'd think a game that gives you a choice would be awesome (I'm looking at you, Fable), but it just doesn't work in this game. At the very beginning, during the first mission, you run into Sonic...and all he says is 'Long time, no see.'!

If you had seen one of your friends plummet to the planets surface from SPACE, you would be much more excited than that, right?! I mean, come on...it's Sonic....he's a good guy...hedgehog...thing....

Ok, well getting past the horrible story writing you'll find...even crappier gameplay. They try to keep constant with the whole 'this is a fast paced game' thing, but they also attempted to add a shoot-em-up aspect to it. This causes you to stop and start blasting things, which moves away from the aspect of fast paced. Especially since some of the sub-quests require you to stop and shoot EVERY enemy nearby.

It gives you a choice which side you are on in mid-game, but the problem is that no matter what side you're on, BOTH sides will shoot at you. And shooting back is a pain in the butt, since there is no added impliment for aiming. All you can do is change the way you're looking and pull the trigger. Spray and pray, basically.

All in all, I didn't enjoy this game at all. It was a free rental, so I'm not completely bummed. And I am EXTREMELY glad I didn't purchase this game. Congrats, Sega. Another big miss.

FINAL SCORE: 4/10
RANK: Richard Simmons bad.

Damn...this is going to be a HUGE blow to Sega and Sonic fanboys. Ah...well...