Shadowrun

"Good SR RPG"

ShadowRun is originally a table-top RPG, such as Dungeons and Dragons, though it takes place in a futuristic, cyberpunk setting. You play Joshua, a man looking for answers in the death of his brother, Michael.

Character:
There's only three different "types" you can choose. Two of the three, the samurai and the decker, are very similar in that they start with nearly the same essence (humanity), can both take cybernetic enhancements, and don't have to spend karma (experience) to raise sorcery skills. The shaman, the third option, is different and is lacking some of the better options the samurai or decker has. The lack of being able to play the character the way you want to play is a drawback that is inherent to many 8 and 16 bit games. [4/10]

Gameplay:
As a veteran of ShadowRun, I can reliably say that the game does use a lot of good points of the tabletop game. Sega takes the basic backdrops of the setting (corporations, Matrix, skills, stats, experience gaining) and incorporates them in a strong way. Anyone that has played ShadowRun on pen and paper can tell you that the rules are extremely extensive, and Sega obviously simplified them without any real noticeable drawbacks. Those new to the game may find it tedious, strange, and different. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of different types of "shadowruns". There are extraction, acquisition, matrix, and delivery/bodyguard runs, but nothing else. [8/10]

Story:
A bit lacking. There are some secrets in the game, even if you've read elsewhere that there aren't. There is one "secret" character, non-plot specific runs, and other little things you can do. The main line of the story isn't fully linear, and some pieces can be skipped almost entirely. You don't actually have to have contact with the two minor bad-guys until the very last of the game if you don't want to, though they do offer some good contacts earlier. One might say that the game actually loses some face with it's storyline. Find your brother's killer, save the world. For a gamer like myself, simply going on the shadowruns and gaining stats to become badass was just as enjoyable, if not more, than defeating the game. [6/10]

Media:
Otherwise known as sound/music/graphics. Not bad for Sega. The "real world" graphics are passable. They aren't cartoonish without being superficial. The game's real masterpiece is the Matrix, which was greatly interpreted by Sega's graphic designers and put into the game. The cyberworld combat was good for the time, but anyone that has played a decker in the tabletop RPG will find the graphics a welcome sight, and nicely handled by the system. The music was okay, for the time. If the game was done over again, they'd undoubtedly license some cyberpunk groups for tracks. For what Sega could do, it wasn't bad. [8/10]

Replay:
Eh. The story isn't really worth playing again once you found everything in the game. The only reason to play it again is to see how badass you can get. It's worth it for hardcore gamers, especially those that love ShadowRun, but for others, it might be better to just try it once and see if you like it. [5/10]

Overall:
For gamers, and those that like ShadowRun in particular, it's a must-play. If you haven't heard or tried to play ShadowRun before, don't get your hopes up that it's going to be so great. It might be, it might not. For myself, it's my favorite Sega Genesis game of all time. But then, I'm biased. [7/10]

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/07