Shadowrun Retroview
Cyberpunk Ahead of its Time
With the retro wheel streams underway, catching steam and intrigue, I was able to do a few things. It enabled me to tackle games that have been sitting in my backlog for far too long, while also showcasing older SNES games that people either cherished, or never got to experience themselves. This particular game was one I never played as a kid, so it was the first time I got to play and complete Shadowrun . If Shadowrun isn't the one and only cyberpunk RPG on the Super Nintendo, it joins a very small list, which makes it a unique experience. Still, Shadowrun is ambitious and has a lot of good things it implements, but feels burdened by being on an early 90s console.
Shadowrun is set in the futuristic world of 2050 in the US city of Seattle, where a virus has killed off most of the population. Mutants, magic, and other mystical beings exist now, though giant corporations still control the world. The game begins by watching the main character get gunned down by a bunch of street punks, only to get resurrected by a fox deity, before waking up in a morgue, much to the surprise of the attendants who have just stashed a corpse in the freezer. Players then take control of the amnesiac protagonist, Jake Armitage, and are introduced to the point and click aspect of the game. The world is presented in an isometric view, and Jake is able to walk around the map. If he sees something interesting, he can activate a mouse that can hover and click the interesting bits of the world. The color palette for this game is dark, and everything is saturated by design, but this also renders some important items and places hard to spot. Players will need to be very diligent to find all the secrets in Shadowrun .
[caption id="attachment_186794" align="aligncenter" width="394"] Get used to sifting through rows of special words in this game![/caption]
Another thing players will have to get used to is the vocabulary system. When Jake talks to NPCs, he can learn special words to use in current and future conversations. These special hints are pivotal to story progression for Jake and the mystery of who murdered him, why, and what lies beyond that plot. Who these hints need to be spoken to is not always obvious, and some words will need to be regurgitated ad nauseum until new hints are discovered. This system is innovative and unique, but also clunky, as NPCs won't offer new words unless provided with the exact key to unlock the next chain of events.
Shadowrun also uses the point-and-click feature for its combat. Instead of a mouse, Jake uses a reticle and can drag it to lock on enemies and begin gunning the bad guys down. Luckily, the game has a decent homing system that keeps the target on the enemy as long as they stay on screen or aren’t too fast. It's not a terrible combat system, but it also feels like the SNES was the wrong console for it. Jake is also able to collect Karma, which acts as experience in Shadowrun , where he can boost specific stats that can help him in combat, or while navigating the other systems in the game. Jake can also equip numerous weapons and armor that enhance his combat performance. Mercenaries called Shadowrunners can be recruited by Jake. These rogues will join Jake for the right price, and most are unique enough so that RPGamers can play around with who they want accompanying Jake.
[caption id="attachment_186796" align="aligncenter" width="411"] Stay still so I can shoot you please![/caption]
One part of Shadowrun that seemed inventive, but fell flat on its face, was the hacking system. Jake can hack into the matrix to find secrets and collect money, but the presentation is just Minesweeper, where if Jake steps on the wrong tiles too much, it's Game Over. It's not fun, but it also can't be avoided, and the end of the game is loaded with sections where Jake must go through numerous levels of these in order to reach the finale. The concept was definitely better than the execution.
Shadowrun is a grandiose RPG on the SNES with some interesting ideas that would be better utilized in games that came afterwards. Shadowrun also came out in the day and age where games did not hold players' hands, which made a lot of sections of the game hard to traverse. I had to go back and use the Counselor's Corner section of my handy-dandy Nintendo Power magazines to solve a few puzzles. I certainly saw the game plenty in that classic publication, and was eager to finally give it an honest try. Still, the game is a fun murder-mystery styled story wrapped in cyberpunk-fantasy aesthetic. Shadowrun is n entertaining journey from start to finish, so I can definitely see myself going back and replaying this game again.
Disclosure: This review is purely comparing this game to other SNES RPGs. Nintendo Power issue 48 has an article for this game, and there are numerous Counselors' Corner columns featuring Shadowrun questions.
The post Shadowrun Retroview appeared first on RPGamer .
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