Shadow the Hedgehog (video game)

Shadow the Hedgehog
North American PS2 box art
Developer(s)	Sega Studios USA
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Takashi Iizuka
Producer(s)	Yuji Naka
Designer(s)	Takashi Iizuka
Programmer(s)	Takeshi Sakakibara
Artist(s)	Kazuyuki Hoshino
Writer(s)	Takashi Iizuka
Composer(s)	Jun Senoue Yutaka Minobe Tomoya Ohtani Mariko Nanba
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog
Engine	RenderWare
Platform(s)	GameCube PlayStation 2 Xbox
Release	NA: November 15, 2005 EU: November 18, 2005 JP: December 15, 2005
Genre(s)	Platform, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Shadow the Hedgehog^[a] is a 2005 platform game developed by Sega Studios USA (the former United States division of Sonic Team) and published by Sega as part of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. The game follows Shadow as he attempts to learn about his past, while suffering from amnesia, as he does an alien invasion plagues the Earth. Shadow the Hedgehog reintroduces third-person shooter elements from Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, but greatly expands upon the concept and introduces nonlinear gameplay to the Sonic franchise. To defeat enemies and progress through the game, Shadow can use a variety of weapons from each faction and complete missions that will determine the game's plot and subsequently playable levels.

The development team wanted to make a game featuring Shadow to capitalize on the character's popularity and resolve plot mysteries that began with his introduction in Sonic Adventure 2. It was written and directed by Takashi Iizuka, produced by Yuji Naka, and scored by Jun Senoue. Iizuka, who targeted a younger audience with previous Sonic games, strove to attract an older audience with Shadow the Hedgehog; Shadow's character also allowed the team to use elements otherwise deemed inappropriate for the series. It was the first Sonic game to utilize the voice actors from the 4Kids dub of Sonic X; it was also the first entry in the series to receive an E10+ rating from the ESRB due to its mild use of profanity and fantasy action violence.

Shadow the Hedgehog was revealed at the March 2005 Walk of Game event, and it was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in North America and in Europe in November 2005 and in Japan the following month. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized its controls, mature themes, level design, and addition of guns and other weapons to traditional Sonic gameplay. However, some praised its replay value. Despite this, the game was commercially successful, selling 2.06 million copies by March 2007.
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