Cyber Shadow (PlayStation 4) Review

One of the most important aspects of any difficult platformer is the controls, and fortunately, Cyber Shadow feels as smooth as butter. Like any good ninja, Shadow is fast and nimble, allowing for extremely precise movement. His only initial manoeuvres are a jump and a sword slash, but playing through each chapter will quickly unlock a variety of other abilities. Every popular ninja trope is here, from throwing ninja stars to reflecting bullets to dashing through the air, and each of these moves feel great to perform. Using these abilities drains Shadow's SP, which can then be recollected by defeating enemies. Levels are designed to promote usage of Shadow's whole arsenal, so properly managing SP is essential.

While the feel of the game is excellent, that only matters if the level design itself is adequate as well. The original Ninja Gaiden is infamous for its rather unfair later levels, and while Cyber Shadow is certainly difficult, it almost always feels fair. Enemies swarm through the stage in chaotic ways, but rarely are they unmanageable. At any given moment, you almost always have a path toward survival; it's just up to you to be skilled and patient enough to carry it out.

There's no life system at all, so each challenge can be tried as many times as needed. Checkpoints are spread evenly throughout each area, just rare enough for death to matter, but just common enough to not reset too much progress upon losing. Essence collected from defeating enemies can be spent at these checkpoints to refill health and SP, or to give useful temporary power-ups. These additional elements provide nice options for players who want to adjust the challenge level.

While mostly a linear experience, the level design does have its unique elements. Several nooks and crannies are hidden throughout, hiding items, upgrades, and shortcuts. Areas often wrap around themselves and interconnect, still leading players in a single direction, but in a way that keeps the world cohesive. On a grander scale, every single chapter is tied together and takes place in one large interconnected place; a world map exists for easy warping to previous locales, but beyond that, it's essentially one giant level.

As cool as the idea of an interconnected world is, it does lead to one of the weaker aspects of the Cyber Shadow. Due to each area needing to believably connect to the next, the visual variety between chapters is fairly limited. The sprite work and environments still look gorgeous, but the areas are often stuck in the similar box of being caves, sewers, abandoned labs, or abandoned buildings; all locations that don't stand out too much from each other. There are exceptions to this rule of course, especially within some later areas that look quite amazing, but the visual variety is only part of the issue.

The game is split into ten chapters, each with their own mechanics, themes, and music. This doesn't sound like much, but each chapter is fairly meaty, often taking an hour or more to beat in some cases. Lengthier levels aren't inherently bad, but the length isn't always well-utilised. Enemies and gimmicks are repeated so often that the experience can become a blur. None of the challenges are inherently bad, but there are chunks of gameplay within the middle act that aren't as engaging as the rest.

Despite some meandering elements in the middle, Cyber Shadow still comes together very well in the end. Without spoiling much, the final few chapters are absolutely the highlight, combining every mechanic learned so far into an intense but rewarding set of challenges. The game's story is nothing super special, but there is a mystery teased throughout the experience that leads to a decent conclusion. Lastly, it should definitely be noted that the music is downright fantastic; Enrique Martin has composed a set of exciting and instantly iconic chiptune tracks that add so much atmosphere to each area.