Ranking Every Shadow the Hedgehog Level
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- Опубликовано: 11 июл 2024
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The Patreon Link:
/ mawdewile
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0:00 Intro
0:54 The Meat n Potatoes
31:48 The Bosses (speed round)
34:55 Final List
#shadowthehedgehog #ranked #tierlist
Dance timestamps. 4:47 18:06 30:17 your welcome.
So we finally reached the era of Shadow the Hedgehog appreciation
I can't wait for a fanremake to drop. Or well, at least if it doesn't stray into fixing the parts that weren't broken too much. Though minor, I already kinda don't like what the reloaded-hack did with the Red Rings.
About time.
we truly did my friend
honestly deserved, folks are even appreciating 06 for the ambition it had, so a game which main flaw was being edgy and gameplay critiques are the same as any other multi path game with a true ending, or sonic heroes slipperiness. yeah it was hated on WAY too much.
not my favourite game, but it definitely was a childhood comfort game which held up surprisingly well noting its reputation.
Its not that bad of a game honestly and the music is great as per usual in the series
The Shadow 05 enthusiast returns
We love a good Shadow video
Does anyone actually call this Shadow 05...???
Sonic 06 is a popular fan title for Sonic The Hedgehog because another, better, game is also called Sonic The Hedgehog. So the fans call that game Sonic 06, as to distinguish it from the other game with the same name.
But Shadow The Hedgehog was always just that. Never Shadow 05. As there isn't another game in the series called Shadow The Hedgehog. Even just saying 'that shadow game or the game with guns' would make people think more of Shadows game than saying Shadow 05. 😅
@@jardejay8804
I legit don't know whether to call it "Shadow the Hedgehog," just "Shadow," or "StH," because it'll sound like I'm either referring to the character or abbreviating Sonic 06's real name 💀
I love Westopolis and it’s music because it’s such an unheard of 1st Sonic stage. Shadow’s first level could easily pass as Sonic’s last, so it shows that this game means business.
Fun tidbit about Lost Impact that I literally just found out: right next to the goal ring is a room full of destructible props and a couple weapon crates with grenade launchers. Not notable on its own, but if you go behind the props, there’s a single GUN trooper crouching in the corner. Given that, on this run of the stage where I found him, a different trooper said “we should just run”, I thought it was a nice touch, really sells how GUN isn’t doing so well against the Artificial Chaos.
You know, I just cleared Lost Impact's hero mission and I'm pretty sure I heard one of the soldiers ask "Where's Keith?"
I hate lost impact so much
@@nierrar Amazing lmao
God, I fuckin' love this game
Underrated element of Circus Park is how it kinda carries on the legacy of S3K's Carnival Night, which was always my favorite casino zone with how sleazy and like... unwholesome it feels. The music has a similar vibe, as does the "blindingly bright neon lights on black sky" aesthetic - the barrels even make a cameo!
I'd highly recommend checking out Shadow the Hedgehog Reloaded if you haven't - it makes every "kill X enemies" mission work like Glyphic Canyon, which single-handedly fixes most of the issues with the game! Lost Impact actually becomes one of my favorite levels when you can drink in the atmosphere without having to worry about scouring every corner for Artificial Chaoses.
Random shadow 05 stuff:
- In The Doom, most of the switches in the level open doors to backtrack
- In The Ark, all of the platforming segments down below have a checkpoint. 3 of the 4 defense machines are right by a checkpoint, so the game expects you to drop down and fire it from there
- The Ark's music is a remix of Final Rush from SA2
- In Mad Matrix, you basically get an A rank for completing the dark mission without dying
- A ranking the hero mission of Lost Impact is really difficult, but the heal cannon makes it easier (There's only 1 heal cannon in the level, though)
- The key reward of Sky Troops is an alternate path with a Black Volt, (rather than a Black Hawk) which I think is really cool. (It was also the only key reward I've actually unlocked)
- The path in Lava Shelter changes when you activate the defense system
- In Lost Impact, the soldiers don't fire at you unless you attack them. Lost Impact is also the only stage without a dark mission
- You can rack up so many dark points in GUN Fortress (I've gotten ~35k before)
- Sonic is the only partner character that can homing attack. None of the other characters can do that (Not even Amy or Espio)
Random opinions/experiences:
- I struggled on Iron Jungle's hero mission a lot the first time I played it. I don't know why, but I just did.
- Glyphic Canyon is placed in the best spot it could be because the hero and dark missions of Westopolis (along with the hero mission of lethal highway) aren't fun, imo.
- In my opinion, Space Gadget is my 3rd least favorite level.
- The Ark is one of my favorite stages
- I didn't realize there were weapons during the Heavy Dog bossfight, so I ended up homing attack it to death the first time I fought it. That took forever.
- Expert mode isn't that difficult, OTHER THAN Cosmic Fall. Cosmic Fall is painful in expert mode.
- I need Knuckles' Central City voicelines compiled into one video
On the Glyphic Canyon love, I feel like that placement was intentional. I don’t think the Hero and Dark missions for Westopolis are that bad, but there’s a good handful of reasons why a first time player won’t do them their first time around, including being used to normal Sonic games and a few enemies for both sides being beyond the ring. They fully expected players to go Neutral first, and put their best Stage 2 on that route. And their best transition cutscene, or at least the one I feel makes the most sense to show a new player.
On a more conspiracy theory style note, I feel like Lava Shelter also has very…deliberate placement. Besides being the Stage 6 where you solely fight Eggman instead of the Black Arms or GUN, simply going there locks you into the Shadow Android stuff…which, foreshadowing in Heroes aside, is just stupid. In that way, it’s almost like a punishment: the Neutral path is reward early with Glyphic, simply as leeway for the majority of players who will go that route, but keep refusing to engage in alignments and you get the dumbest endings. Though, you do inevitably have to get two of them, and you can get the punishment anyway for doing the wrong Hero or Dark mission on a route that had nothing to do with the androids before. At least Lava Shelter’s great as a stage.
Some more stuff:
-As a stark contrast to The Ark, Lost Impact is the only level in the game that lacks an evil mission.
-Each aligment and the last story's ending has a vocal theme associated with it:
Good path: All Hail Shadow
Moral path: Chosen One
Neutral path: Waking Up
Impure path: I Am All Of Me
Evil path: Almost Dead
Last path: Never Turn Back
-There are FIVE Ark levels in this game. (The Doom, Lost Impact, Space Gadget, The Ark and Cosmic Fall)
-Prison Island and Black Comet have the same theme, just slightly altered.
Random opinions/experiences:
-Space Gadget is my favourite level in the game, with Lava Shelter as my second and Lost Impact as my third.
-Central City is my least favourite level in the game.
Cosmic fall is so epic in concept, and I've always loved it for that, but man, actually _playing_ the level is such an infuriating experience for me. Cycle-based platforming where you're constantly waiting for the game to line up platforms correctly so that you can traverse is not my cup of tea at all, but I still have huge respect for the level because of how utterly awesome it is.
Ugh shadow the hedgehog has so many cool ideas like shadow turning into the gaurdian of the space colony ark in one of the endings like knuckles on angel island its so cool.
And than you have stuff like the final stage of the game thats just a copy paste of the comet levels lammmmmme
This game is both awesome and bad
It’s nice seeing other people who actually like Shadow’s game. Great video btw, keep up the good work
Do you think we ever see shadow the hedgehog on the ps plus premium catalog?
I find Central City’s Hero Mission really fun actually. Knuckles counting down every single bomb really made the search more engaging. I also felt that when you’re actually doing the missions, the game aims you towards the next one pretty well. The breakable wall problem isn’t really a thing for me because the bombs nearby are so easy to destroy, which almost guarantees the wall’s destruction as well.
6:01 Want to destroy ships in "destroy ships" missions? Have no fear, the Shadow Rifle is here!
That son of a gun can destroy stuff one shot for enemies, and for ships just fewer shots.
Personally, I always thought the Hero mission of Lost Impact gets overhatred. Yeah, it can be confusing, but it gets easier to search for them once you segment each section by the rail lifts. Just make sure to explore around once you find the rail lift, and there shouldn't be much worry of missing one as long as you're decently thorough. Plus, I always found it easier to search for the Artificial Chaos compared to the GUN soldiers, since they're big, bright blue targets.
The Dark missions of Mad Matrix or The Doom were always way worse for me. Lost Impact is easier to map out compared to those levels due to being more linear, so it's easier to find the targets without mindlessly going in circles. Heck, The Doom has a glitch were one of the GUN robots sometimes won't spawn unless you take the key door route there, so you might be stuck looking around for something that doesn't currently exist on the map! The level is probably the glitchiest in the game in general (like you falling through the map at 14:28).
Nice seeing more Shadow stuff from you! You're improving with every new vid!
Lava Shelter is definitely my favorite level. King K's video on the game does a good job explaining why it's the peak of Shadow's gameplay. Honestly, outside of a few really dire duds, most levels in Shadow are fine. They're usually a bit too linear and copy-paste heavy but they flow well and are rarely egregious.
The expert mode is not the mission right? That sounds like a fun way to play the game
With the thing you mentioned about certain levels sharing similar looks, once I caught onto that myself, I kinda saw the similar stages like different acts in classic Sonic (or Heroes, since those stages technically follow the act structure too). Sky Troops is Act 2 to Glyphic Canyon’s Act 1, Mad Matrix is a second part to Digital Circuit, etc..
There are two interesting oddities when the stages are viewed that way. First, Black Comet and Final Haunt: they follow the act structure, but both are stage 6’s, while most of these pseudo act connections aren’t in the same column of the route map. Second, a trio: The Ark, Space Gadget, and Cosmic Fall. Essentially, Space Gadget’s highly diverging routes make the paths so distinct as to count it as two different acts: the Hero/Neutral mission lines up with The Ark (the only other case of similar stages sharing a column, you decide which one’s act 1 or 2), while the interior areas in the Dark mission are act 1 to Cosmic Fall’s act 2.
I hope you found this interesting. If not…well, wouldn’t be the first time I’ve wasted time thinking dumb stuff about Sonic. You’re reading the comment of a guy who spent time comparing Chaos Emerald orders between games (which, fun fact, Shadow has the exact Emerald order as Heroes; minor detail, but I don’t think it helps some of the negative opinions toward this game if you get what I mean).
Makes good content: Check
Likes Shadow 05: Check
I'd like to award you the status of best Sonic RUclipsr!
Aw damn, more content from my favorite Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) channel.
Very good stuff! My own memories of playing through the PS2 version are growing faint but I definitely remember running in circles in Central City - despite only going through that stage like, four times total.
Also, while I definitely understand liking the colorful levels, those bright, vibrant lights did make my eyes strain after playing a while (especially Prison Island - that specific green hue with the bloom of this game is killer). Still, those cyberspace levels live in my brain forever, so they certainly made an impression.
I agree with your stance on Cosmic Fall! Honestly, the most annoying thing about it was the route to FIND THE COMPUTER ROOM
Like, I found triangle jumping to be a janky mechanic most of the time, and - usually - the penalty for messing up the triangle jump isn't too bad. But that one triangle jump you HAVE to do if you want to get to the hero mission, and lose a lot of time if you fail it was a little annoying. A lot of work to hear the best credits theme in the game next to Never Turn Back, imo
All in all though, great level, and great list too! Entertaining, well researched and very well deserved for a game that needs more love.
Actually you can clear the mission without doing that triangle jump, there’s a platform that goes up and down right next to the goal ring, though it can be tricky to land on it without touching the ring. But other than that, I agree with you and Mawde that it’s a pretty good stage, and yeah triangle jump is janky, especially in that section
Almost like the game expects you to get better at playing it and to know the mechanics and how they work. Gee.... it's not like that's ever been done in a game before
@@leargamma4912 Just because you know how to do something doesn't make it any less of a pain in the ass.
First off, the game barely uses triangle jumping, and when it does, it very rarely leads to anything you can't get another way, making it unlikely that you've had much time or reason to get good at it.
Secondly, the angle the triangle jump makes you fly at is extremely awkward, which is fine for long chunks of wall, but in that particular section, you need to aim for panels instead, which is a much steeper ask than any other triangle jump section in the game.
And thirdly, it comes at the very end of the level and slipping up once means you've got to redo a lot of stuff over again, making it even harder to practice doing it.
Potentially even more if you mess up at the only time in the entire game you have to turn a corner while triangle jumping, which is, funnily enough, right above the goal ring.
Falling into that means you've gotta do every level up to one of the last levels all over again in order to get the ending, because you can't unlock endings you haven't gotten yet via stage select.
Easily one of the most, if not the most frustrating sections in the entire game.
Hey look, someone who also understands the greatness of Cosmic Fall
Cosmic Fall is a cinematic masterpiece 🙌
Sky Troops was my favorite in terms of stage design and music!
An agreeable list! Heavy Dog and Blue Falcon always gave me goosebumps.. Something about going up against a military machine and hearing the despair in the poor pilot's voice + the banger OST. HELL YEA
good video :)
Fun fact did you know Death Ruins' theme is used in Teen Titans
WHAT?! Do you know which episode?
@@mawdewile this is a video that showcases it
ruclips.net/video/UHh5RNgCN8I/видео.html
I hear it. I definitely hear it
With the pass of time, I really start to love this game more and more, some how. Shadow is a really solid game and levels work greatly, and Space Gadget and Lava Shelter are some great levels
I am willing to add to your Cosmic Fall defense purely for story reasons. Given the cutscene with the General that opens it, this stage, especially if you go Hero for the Black Doom fight, feels like the most appropriate end for a standard run of Shadow. Glad it was the first stage 6 I reached.
Cosmic fall was always overhated anyhow.(Outside of expert mode. I'm actually glad I never played that mode thus far because I've seen how much its Cosmic Fall stinks.)
This was recommended on a whim and you know what? It was a really good watch! Given the material of Shadow is... Uh... Well, if you're here watching this you've played it, it was a joy to see someone NOT talk smack about it constantly! Very refreshing~
I've finally found someone as passionate about this game as I am, great list and great points! 🗿
i knew i wasnt the only one!
@@chaosspider5765 You know what they say..the more, the merrier.
For some reason, I did a whole ass video guide on this game back in 2019-2020. I still think I'm the only one to show all the key locations.
It's not a great game, but it's nowhere near as bad as anyone makes it out to be. Not even close.
@@angryasian1998 I do not know how to follow up to that one, good idea and well played
Whenever people complain about Mad Matrix being confusing, I always think
"...But it's just connect the dots? There's either four dots at the edges of the map, or 30 dots between them."
As for the draw distance, I've never had a problem. Whenever you blow up one bomb, odds are very reasonable that another is visible from there, and that you should head in that direction.
Finally more awesome content! I always look forward to your videos man:) you do such a wonderful job. I love your creativity
Every video you do on this game really makes me appreciate the effort that went into it. Even the levels that you think don't play as well as the others, I can appreciate how they tried to vary the gameplay up and give you different challenges.
Great list! As someone who enjoys a little Shadow now and then myself, I was really happy to see you judge the stages fairly, I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t give the better stuff a break. Overall, I don’t think there was a single point I could argue.
I will back up the issue of the game giving you no idea where you missed targets. I’m lucky enough to have the guide, which does tell me where to go in stages, but even better, has a quick count of how many targets you should have checked off by each checkpoint, a much easier thing to quickly reference. If the actual game just had that reference, these missions would be way better.
Always happy to see positive takes on this game, great video
Man, I just remembered to subscribe to you last night after rewatching your black knight video, and now there's new content already
Love your videos. Also seeing appreciation for this game is nice
It's really nice to see some Shadow 05 love for once. It's one of my favorite Sonic games and I love a ton about it, like the music reflecting each stage perfectly (my favorite usage of it is GUN Fortress being somber because it's the Pure Dark route and reflects on all the horrible stuff Shadow has done). Keep up the excellent work
These videos are always bangin
As someone who absolutely loves watching Shadow the Hedgehog videos. (I guess I just find this a very entertaining game to watch). Thank You for this smorgasbord, you have no idea how happy you have made me. Please do more Shadow videos in the future.
Love your content.
Coming back to this to say it is one of my favs and I hope you do more Shadow
There will undoubtedly be more Shadow
Cosmic Fall in A-Rank!!! Awesome!
That was one of my favourite levels in the game. Running and jumping across broken parts of the ARK as it falls from space is just so cool!
I always think of it when I think of this game.
Also, nice outro.
Black Bull is cute
Great video fun watch
the fandub reference at 16:15...I like this game getting love
Ayy, nice, looking forward to this.
Love the Black Doom voice at 16:15. It reminds me of the fandub version
i love this video man i miss this game being my favorite sonic game since i played adventure 2
Awesome video bro 😎, this game was my childhood so I still have a soft spot for it lol
pretty solid tierlist ngl
love the outro
I will fight you on black comet, it is my favorite of the final stages. Like, on the first run through it is a long haul, for the good and bad that comes with it. But when trying for A ranks I was surprised by how fun it is. The abundance of strong enemies on both sides means you will have no shortage of the best guns in the game, no matter the route.
The dark route feels like the only level to do the "kill em all" objective the best. As powerful guns aside, they provide about 10 or so more GUN mechs then you are required to kill, giving you a lot of leeway to not sweep every corner of the level, or skip a portion if you desire. It also helps when you realize that outside of one linear passage, there isn't any GUN enemies on the acid pools, so you can usually blitz through them.
The hero route, being the standard route, has less to talk about. But one notably nice thing is, due to the acid pools, you can extend the duration of chaos controls. Like at the final section towards the end, you can chaos control over 3 times longer than you're supposed to. The amount of chad energy from turning a 10 minute level into a 5 minute one is through the roof.
It's almost like most of this game's problems comes from not the levels, but the missions you're expected to do in them, and how much you have to play this game, going through these different levels and experiencing some of their really bad missions likes "Kill X of Y enemies, and there's only X enemies in the stage, and the stage has a maze-like design that makes it easy to get lost in".
Thank you for doing this its insane no one has done this yet.
I'm soooo glad that you made this video. I played this game CONSTANTLY throughout junior high when I had the GameCube. The main complaint for me is just that the game itself is less than 6 hours long, some levels were just bleh, and some of the endings...I was like, what the hell. I do agree that some boss fights were good and a couple callbacks to SA2 was really nice. // I just wish people weren't so harsh about this game upon release all because of a few bad words and a darker tone. Dirge of Cerberus did the same thing and nobody whined about it - even though it came released after Shadow a year later. Anyways, great video and thanks for bringing back memories
I could've sworn that I beat Lethal Highway's hero mission as a kid with just homing attack. You just had to get the timing right and it changed depending on the angle of the road the tank was on.
Bro's spittin facts with Cosmic Fall, that level gets a lot more flack than it deserves
It’s nice to see some love for Shadow the Hedgehog. I’ve got a soft spot for this one, being my first Sonic game. So seeing some praise is pretty gratifying
Awesome video bro.
Ey! nice to see someone else passionate about shadow 05!
And I love your ranking of cosmic fall
Never thought I'd see the day where someone makes not one, but TWO videos on Shadow that isn't completely bashing the game. This makes me appreciate this game just a bit more. Great video here!
Thank God, a youtuber who loves my fav game of all time
I just 100%'d this game today for RetroAchievements and man it's so fun! I love how in Cryptic Castle Eggman says stuff like "Does my castle scare you, Shadow?" He really just wants to hear that you're impressed
I think at its core the game’s main concept of branching storylines and ‘creating your own adventure’ is super ambitious and something I wish was more common. Unfortunately the supporting game design fumbled the ball so hard with its core execution, and it’s sad to see many great level designs used here be associated with the game’s massive failure :/ if the branching level tree and in game missions had an overhaul for the better I have no doubt Shadow The Hedgehog would have had a significantly better reputation. Still, I appreciate the boldness of the devs for attempting a game far out of regular sonic at the time!
As someone that actually enjoys the doom and lost impact I have to express my annoyance at central city. It is a stage designed for exploration (no lienar path) WITH A TIME LIMIT, so you can't actually explore or figure out the layout until you've died a bunch of times. The maze ark levels are most enjoyable when going slow and doing a mental map. The stupid city maze is not enjoyable and it should burn in a fire.
Also, Black comet and Final haunt are literaly the same level, except one is flooded, so the last way's complaint is funny. No it's not a combination of both, it IS both.
Using the Lance Battle song of PS2 as your outro? Sick.
I Love Lost Impact and The Doom the calm music and hanging out with Maria was great.
Digital Circuit is the best one easily. Nothing can change my mind on this. It’s fast pace, flashy fun. The most Sonic-esque level in the game. And to top it all off, the OST is amazing.
I’ve been watching sonic RUclips since 2015 or 2016 and this is the first person I’ve come across who’s favourite entry is shadow the hedgehog. Nice😂
Glad to see someone else who appreciates Shadow, really over hated game in my opinion (definitely not biased)
I respect anyone that has this much appreciation for any game, let alone a game that is this bizarre (i love it too)
Very good list, and not just because it's meaty, but because I agree with it! The only two gripes are that I would swap Lost Impact and the Doom, and that Westopolis being played 10 times is not a big deal when you consider there are three different missions to partake when doing it.
Can't wait to see what you churn out next.
P.S. I have heard about a mod for this game called Shadow the Hedgehog: Reloaded that mods the game to remove many of the complaints you have. For instance, Mad Matrix Dark? Only requires 20 bombs. I haven't played it yet, but I have full intention of doing so when they finish it.
Nice to see a video like this come out while I'm trying to get all 326 sequences complete. When I'm done with maybe I'll make a video based on that perspective
I would love to see it :)
Rank every route in this game next
Perhaps….
As contradictory as it sounds, the explosive weapons are actually the best option for deal with the mandatory shadow android fights in Iron Jungle. Get off the lift, aim at the side, fire, and the explosion will clip the edge of the lift and explode prematurely, this explosion is large enough to be able to reliably hit the closer Shadow Androids (and if you grabbed the explosives from the key door, all of them in a single blast).
It's definitely not the intended way to deal with them, but whatever works works hahahah
Finally, someone who understands my like for the Shadow 2005 game.
Two video? What a fortunate time we are in
Jon Arbuckle and Moe Szyslak dancing to Final Haunt's music is simply too amazing.
I doubt this'll get read but, I think Central City is a cool level! The open levels are the most fun in this game to me- where you can skip platforming if you're good at the game and go where you feel. This level being open encourages me to just RUN RUN RUN, which goes well with the frantic searching you end up doing and the counting down timer. The vibe of the city is also very hectic too.
I think the objectives are also really easy to find. Aside from not knowing about that explodable wall on my first try of the dark mission, I had no trouble with either missions.
Worth noting, I don't think the hero mission bombs that explode do so "prematurely." I think this is an illusion.
There are two types of bombs in this level- ones you CAN get and ones you can't which will inevitably explode no matter what. I know this because I've reached several bombs LONG before they blew up and no interactions were possible.
This is frustrating if you don't realize this- you falsely assume you're FAILING when this happens.
But once you DO know this, it just adds to the hectic, fast paced feeling the level has.
Also, the suck-gun is really satisfying to use, and I love that this level is designed around it.
I think Death Ruins may be my favorite stage. It is short, but I don’t mind it. A simple romp through a sick jungle with the standard “Race to the goal” gameplay of the Adventure series.
16:16 The voice for Black Doom reminds me of the one in the Shadow fandub. Either this is a coincidence and that you didn't know or you intentionally did so.
As somebody that finished all 326 routes, I think you made a solid tier list
W video (Shadow the Hedgehog is my favourite Sonic game)
i enjoyed this video! i’ve actually never played a sonic game but i liked this it was cool. where should i start if i wanted to play some sonic games? i have a ds, switch, wii, wii u, and a playstation
Great content. One of my new favorite channels. Now make a shadow the hedgehog swear word tier list.
Memory re-unlocked
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY. THE MORE THE MERRIER!
Surprisingly, I actually have the hero mission of Lost Impact completely memorized from my last playthrough about a year ago. Did it a couple times, A ranked it completely guideless last night. Great ranking also, I love this game
The chosen one
I definitely agree with digital circuit on S tier. It’s my favorite course.
You will never convince me to think Sky Troops isn't a cut above the rest... hah.
So according to this listing, the best paths through the game are...
Westopolis, Digital Circuit, Crytpic Castle, Sky Troops, Air Fleet, Lava Shelter (Archimedes and the Tortoise/Where Is My Happiness?)
Westopolis, Glyphic Canyon, Circus Park, Sky Troops, Air Fleet, Lava Shelter (The Machine-Laden Kingdom/New Determination)
Followed closely by...
Westopolis, Digital Circuit, Cryptic Castle, Sky Troops, Space Gadget, Final Haunt (The Ultimate Confrontation/Miracle of Love)
Westopolis, Glyphic Canyon, Circus Park, Sky Troops, Space Gadget, Final Haunt (Dark Hegemony/And The Dream Continues)
Alternatively, the worst path through the game is...
Westopolis, Lethal Highway, Prison Island, The Doom, Iron Jungle, Black Comet (Despair's Quickening/The Beginning)
And then the most mediocre path of the game is...
Westopolis, Lethal Highway, Prison Island, Mad Matrix, Iron Jungle, Cosmic Fall (The Eternally-Closed Door/The Sealed-Away Ark of Sin)
based piranha plant still making shadow the hedgehog videos, very epic
it's almost making me want to replay the game but I don't hava a crt tv to hook up the xbos to at the moment, haha
Shadow genuinely has some great level design hidden under the shoddy mission structure and it's nice to see someone recognize that
Digital Circuit, Sky Troops and Final Haunt are some of my favorite Sonic levels period
A tier list thst I 100% agree with? Now this is rare
Lava Shelter, The Ark and Air Fleet are my favorites of them all.
Ark is kind of unique and I like it as a truly nexus, as it is just Final Rush from SA2 but as a warzone, like westopolis, but bigger, GUN mechs and Black arms really seems to be fighting each other.
Air Fleet is like the last important choice, leading each to a whole different layout for the last stage but the stage itself is everything Sonic is, a multi-way ride, platforming, combat, speed and certain difficult, hero mission takes some time, the level is long and harder for neutral and dark can be challenging as the damn airship endures a lot.
Lava Shelter is like Air Fleet but harder, full of speed, many instakill near platforming, shadow android put a good fight and is one of few dynamic levels, as active eggman defense systems change the path ahead and I could say is few levels that puts whole gameplay mechanics in action.
UNDERRATED CHANNELLLLLL
Imagine if you had to beat Lost Impact and The Doom like Security hall where you have 5 minutes to beat both of the levels.
9:37 I’m pretty sure having two levels per theme is basically Sonic tradition
In space gadget you can just switch the thing to the netrual mission so then you won’t need to wait for the timer to go down.
Circus park deserves an S rank just because of that DAMN FOURTH CHAOS EMERALD
This really brought me back. Thanks, man. I don't think Shadow is a good game, but I appreciate it for some reason. I like the missions like destroying Eggman's balloon ship, but other than that, I agree with most of your assessments. I didn't even know lost impact has less confusing level design than the doom. Well, it would have been unfortunate if they both got E rank. 26:12 I'm not sure that's supposed to be glass. It looks more like a biological web to me.
The outro is nice.
17:01
Funny you use that metaphor: Scientists (including NASA for... some reason) have, for decades, actually done tests on exposing spiders to under various substances and seeing what kind of webs they make afterwards. A spider that “had one too many drinks” makes a web that’s radiation symbol/propeller/electric fan shaped. The level more resembles what a spider makes while on caffeine.
I agree with you about Central City's design, but man you ought to at least mention the music that plays in it. It's... just so good.
I absolutely love Mad Matrix as a level, not to mention how the music for that level is something i wish i could find more of.
Am I alone in thinking it's incredibly jarring to hear both sonic and knuckles swear. Like I don't even think knuckles spends enough time around people to pick up the word. I can picture espio swearing oddly enough. But I think vector would act like the awkward father and only swear when he isn't around charmy. But charmy would accidentally hear it anyway.