Shadow Madness

"Many hate it, I love it! shadow madness is pure fun"

Shadow Madness is one of the greater RPG's I've ever played on the PSX. It's not a classic, but it is a lot of fun to play while it lasts. Anyways, on with the review!

Graphics: 7 The prerendered backdrops are great, but not so great is the unattractive deformed characters, the iffy battle grahpics and lame full motion videos.
Personally though, i didn't mind it. For some of the summon spells you get a FMV, and luckily, unlike FFVII you can skip these video clips, which is very handy.

Sound: 7 Eerie music abound! The sound effects are OK but not great (neither was FFVII's sounds). The sound of the sword hitting an opponent also sounds quiet poor. The music on the other hand can sometimes be great, and other times become annoying. I think 7's a fair score.

Gameplay: 9 I'm a sucker for a good RPG. I have played Breath of fire 3 and 4, Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, Legend of mana the list goes on and on, and I love all of them (with the exception of Threads of Fate). Shadow Madness may not be able to top these classics I listed above, but it is damn good fun. There is a minigame you can play during your adventures, and it is just like Crave's Exuhemed only with different enemies and settings (one setting is a supermarket). This gives the game a lot of variety, and certainly beats BOF4's crate moving mini games.
The best way to describe Shadow Madness is like a toned down version of Final Fantasy VII. The presentation is the same, and a lot of the concepts are the same too. The battle system is turn based just like FFVII.

Story: 7 without a good story RPG's generally suck. Thankfully Shadow Madness' plot is good, but nothing special. Its all been there done that stuff. Still it keeps you interested. The plot involves a strange sickness spreading throughout the land, and your effort to save the world (as usual). Fun stuff though.

Replay ability: 5 It's fun while it last, but you'll be lucky to play it a second time. It's fun and all but there is no real urge for me to play it again.

Buy or Rent? I suggest you try this game before you buy it as it's not for everyone. If you like it I strongly suggest that you purchase it, as if you give it a chance it loads of fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/01, Updated 07/12/02