Cyber Shadow Critic Reviews

Cyber Shadow by Mechanical Head Games is an 8-Bit masterpiece entangled in a beautiful, dystopian world of ninjas action and deadly automatons.

Cyber Shadow is a truly wonderful game. It's brutal, uncompromising, and insanely enjoyable to a degree that I don't often see. Between its lovingly-crafted visuals, pitch-perfect gameplay, and maddeningly difficult, yet expertly-designed levels, it's a must-play for anyone who enjoys side-scrolling action games.

You can definitely feel Shovel Knight vibes, which is not surprising, as the developers of the 2014 hit platformer offered to help polish Cyber Shadow and published it. The result is a spectacular game full of surprises, ingenious pitfalls and fantastic boss encounters. Add a simply brilliant level design, wonderful art style and great adrenaline-pumping music, and you get a game you want more and more of despite of dying all the time.

Cyber Shadow is a beautifully crafted retro action experience complete with formidable enemies and crushing precision platforming. Abilities like the bullet deflect and dash strike provides the classic ninja experience without overloading on reused mechanics. On top of that, the length and replayability options give players a healthy serving of content tosing more time into refining their skills. If you are up for a humblingly difficult but intensely fun 2D side scroller Cyber Shadow just maybe the challenge you’re looking for.

Cyber Shadow is a game that wears its influences on its sleeve and brilliantly weaves together the best elements from the 8-bit era of action-platforming titles. It is able to tell a story with more heart and depth than usually possible through this specific aesthetic. With a soundtrack that sounds like it came out of a lost Nintendo cartridge, following Shadow's journey is a thrilling ride with edge-of-your-seat combat hiding behind every corner. The game's difficulty may turn players away, but that has always been the case with older games such as Castlevania or Master Blaster. You may perish a lot, but the game is so good, you're going to want to keep trying to see how it all plays out.

Playing Cyber Shadow is like stepping through a portal and being transferred back to the late 80's - early 90's. High nostalgia factor aside, it's a finely crafted sidescrolling action platformer in and of itself and should not be overlooked by fans of the genre.

Cyber Shadow pays homage to classic ninja games such as Shinobi or Ninja Gaiden. It has a greatly "improved" 8 bit style, huge difficulty levels, and satisfying 2D platform and combat gameplay.

Challenging hommage to classic fight platforming like Shinobi, Strider and the likes – in a matching retro design.

Anyone with a penchant for old-school 2D action, razor-sharp platforming, and cyberninjas in general will adore Cyber Shadow.

Cyber Shadow's excellent gameplay, level design, variety, and music make it a great modernization of the classic Ninja Gaiden formula.

Though it can get more than a bit challenging at times, I’d heartily recommend this to any fan of the classics. Even if you don’t appreciate NES games of yore, this is still a tremendous adventure full of mystery and danger. Kudos to Mechanical Head Games on developing Cyber Shadow, and many thanks to Yacht Club for helping it reach its full potential.

There's a lot I like about Cyber Shadow. Its soundtrack is amazing, its environments are impressively designed, and its story steadily pulled me along. What holds it back, to some extent, is that it feels like it's made for people who've already played a hundred games just like it. Cyber Shadow is a product made for fans of an incredibly specific sort of gaming experience, and effectively no one else.

Just as with Shovel Knight, the other game published by Yacht Club Games, Cyber Shadow is a true homage to classic NES games, in particular to the Ninja Gaiden trilogy. It has all the elements that we remember fondly from those years, such as a retro sound and looks, but it complements them with modern gameplay mechanics. If we take off some of its visual effects and its resolution, I do see myself playing it in a classic 8-bit console. You only need the directional pad and two buttons to play it.

Cyber Shadow is an impressive old school ninja game. The kind of retro experience that can't be recommended to everyone, as it shines by being very very difficult, but a challenge that some stubborn players asking themselves if they still have good reflexes and memory will enjoy for sure.

Cyber Shadow is a hell of a ride for those who worship 8-Bit aesthetics. Yacht Club Games and Mekaskull deliver a splendid homage to the NES, even though many checkpoints will heavily punish your ego.

Cyber Shadow keeps its promise without question. This tribute to Ninja Gaiden draws on period games to give us a fun and exhilarating platform / action game. Bosses all over the place, an agile hero and a pretty tough challenge, that's exactly what we hoped for. While it will surprise players less than a Shovel Knight or The Messenger, who went further in their ambitions, it remains a good experience for fans of the genre.

Cyber Shadow isn't the peak of the genre, but it's a shuriken's throw away.

Cyber Shadow stumbles just when it was supposed to shine, unnecessarily raising its difficulty in the final levels.

Cyber Shadow is a solid retro throwback with a few things that drag it down. The feeling of becoming more powerful and being able to take down huge enemy threats with your wits and skills is very rewarding, and the levels when you can use your abilities more freely to overcome challenges are quite fun. It's the trial-and-error areas littered with cheap deaths, demanding exact precision over long and frustrating stretches, that hamper the experience. Still, if you're looking for an old-school-styled ninja game that will test your skills (and sometimes your patience), Cyber Shadow is a worthy contender.