Quick Look: Cyber Shadow

Ninjas should have dog friends.

Looks like Quick Looks are back on the menu boys!

I think there's a pretty good argument for this being the best 2d action platformer game ever made. Certainly don't dismiss it just because you might have thought Shovel Knight and The Messenger were a bit dull and repetitive, or because you could never get into Contra/Ghosts n Goblins/Castlevania/Ninja Gaiden for their punishing difficulty. It's also worth hunting for every upgrade on a first playthrough and doing a second playthrough without picking up any health/SP upgrades once you've mastered all the abilities.

Swag Blade.

Jason and Jan combo QL

@orborborb: Really? It seems neat from what I've played, but I enjoyed Shovel Knight and The Messenger way more than this.

Can we please move beyond Ninja Gaiden? There are like 4 indie games released every year trying to remake Ninja Gaiden.

Did anyone else have issues with the Down+Attack ability? I made it to chapter 6 but still couldn’t reliably pull off that move & got too frustrated with feeling like it was the controls screwing me over that I stopped playing it. A stationary enemy type which can’t attack killed me more than anything else just because it required that specific ability. Annoyed me so much.

@goulash_enjoyer: I want an actual Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden made by the makers of Ninja Gaiden

Game Pass FYI

Looks like what I need right now. An easier... much easier Ninja Gaiden / metroidvania.

I realllyyy dug this game. It sounds like Jason isn't quite at the spot where you get a bunch of additional moves. Cyber Shadow starts off relatively simple and gets more complex and varied as the game progresses. I'd strongly recommend it to any fans of classic games with some modern sensibilities.

@mfnick: My issue is unless you time it *perfectly*, you burn spirit doing the special version. It's super frustrating.

GB J.O. video crew, representing!

I enjoyed the game overall, but there were just enough gameplay and level design quirks that made me struggle to finish it. It's well done, but not a top tier side-scroller. Granted, you could do much worse.

It felt like the first half of The Messenger, except The Messenger played way better.

@jondamnit: wait there's a way to do the down attack without using the sp? I've had to waste so much sp on platform sections where you have to use the down attack.

@noboners: Yeah, pretty sure, unless it's just confirmation bias. I do know you can do it even at zero SP.

@goulash_enjoyer: Really this game has more in common with Natsume platformers like Shadow of the Ninja and Shatterhand than it does Ninja Gaiden. Those games just aren't as familiar to most, so they see ninjas and automatically assume it's a new take on Ninja Gaiden.

If you don't have SP, you'll still do it and get the height boost but it's weaker and you can't do the follow-up plunge. If you have SP, you'll use one pip of SP, do more damage, and be able to do the follow-up.

Quick looks!

They’re releasing video games again! And good ones! Got this on Switch, probably about 30 min in. It’s good. I agree with Jason that it would be more fun if there were a few more abilities available at the get-go. I respect the Metroidvania aspect they’re going for, but some of those ‘abilities’ feel like basic controls.

I saw The Messenger mentioned, and I also recommend that one 110%.

Too early in CS to really compare, but The Messenger is an easy suggestion.

That said, I’m still enjoying CS and both are worth playing if you like 2D ‘modern-retro’ games.

It's pretty good. Not perfect. Blast from the NES past, too easy, but it does get more complex as you get into it.

Yay! Quicklooks! :D

Also, this game is really great. Couldn't put it down until I finished it and can't recommend it enough.

It also has some awesome visual filters (great CRT filter and a neat broken wire filter).

+10000 for Shatterhand reference

This just makes me want to play The Messenger again, but since it's on Game Pass there is no point not trying it.

@goulash_enjoyer said:

Uh, like which games? The Messenger was the last one I can think of, at that was released 2 1/2 years ago.

That swagblade looks like fun. Not often you find a weapon that heavily depends on your movement. And with it's range ,it seems to be quite powerful in the right hands as well.

I like the game but I can't get past the second level. I wish there were more checkpoints

For sure. I am so glad I found Shatterhand randomly in my youth because I thought this was more like that. Especially when you get one of the little robot drone power ups. The system in Shatterhand where you can combine the letters in different ways to get different drones was super cool.