I might be in the minority but I absolutely loved this game. Same with my sister. We found this game for only $1 at a local eb games. My sister sat there and watched me play through the whole game. She is a HUGE Final Fantasy fan and it still got her stamp of approval. I’ve never been a big rpg fan (besides FF9) but I loved this game especially the story.
This game has great remake potential. The story and world building are there, the characters are likeable enough, just up the graphics and refine the gameplay and I bet it would sell amazingly well.
I completely agree. It's like an average home cook following a master-chef's recipe, and just not quite getting it right. This would a fascinating game to remake.
Always be one of my favorite games! Super dark and forboding rpg, great music and cool spell effects. Never could understand how to trigger the spell effect timed hits..but this game is beatable without ever having to use it. Ty for this blast from the past
man, i remember this! this game was one of my first JRPG-style games, and the gameplay/mechanics eventually led me to the Final Fantasy series. thanks for the review!
I played this game all the way up to the castle (before disk 2) as a kid- but My 2nd disk was unreadable. I felt it was a graphic yet beautiful game. I replayed it as a full grown adult and it hasn’t lost that razor sharp crude since of fear you get when roaming the land, fighting disfigured creatures. I felt like the game is hated and critiqued for the things that made it special. It’s a testament to the era of games made with a certain feeling of horror and fear that games today cannot recapture. And very much belongs in anybody’s collection of PS1 classic games that loves fast paced RPG’s.
Before I watch the video, I loved this game... graphics weren't much of an issue since I didn't mind and it had that FF 7 look to it... the major flaw the game had for me was that the gameplay was so easy... even on the hardest difficulty you could just breeze through the game... the only time a character died for me was during the TOM boss fight... this game has a good atmosphere, motif, and the music was superb... the writing was also good for me, I could talk to a random NPC and they would give me a lot of text and some of them were pointless but I like that...
Ya know....I played and beat this way back when it first dropped and while the flaws were obvious it still was worth the play through. I imagine it was a very passed over game because I never heard of anybody else who had even knew of it, but honestly I was pretty into it when I played it. And it wasn't a short game so I put quite a bit of time into it, so I must have liked it. It was cheesy kinda but I actually liked that about it.
I've never heard of this RPG before and that's really weird because I feel like I should have... I don't think it's something I would play but very cool to hear about. Nice review!
If the FPS levels look and/or sound familiar, it's because they're made in Slavedriver - the Powerslave/Exhumed engine. Lobotomy - the Powerslave devs - were absorbed into Crave at some point before or during Shadow Madness' development.
All of the fps sequences in this game use the Slavedriver engine which powered Powerslave for the Sega Saturn and Ps1. Hell, They even still use some of the sounds and assets from that game.
I absolutely loved Shadow Madness, and this is the game I'd most like to see a remake of, because this was a mediocre game that, if the budget were there (as they had to cut quite a bit, and some under-baked elements were the result of never fully being refined), would have been absolutely outstanding. This game deserves the brilliant treatment it called for! An interesting fact -- This game might have the largest musical score for any RPG, and the reason is because when money was running out, the team had to halt central production to discuss what to keep going with and what to drop, but during these times, Brad Spear, the composer, was still technically on retainer so he kept writing music. That's why a lot of music is really good but randomly placed; this is ultimately shown in the Karillon location, where there's like 6 buildings that each have their own theme despite being only 1 room, and you don't even NEED to go into any of them!
@@StefanHomberger I missed that you said you really love Pre-Rendered Backgrounds; that's awesome as that's also my favorite visual style - I would only disagree with the notion that the art in the game was bad. I mean, it wasn't excellent, but I thought a lot of it had an interesting look to it when exploring. In particular I thought the city/town exteriors, as well as some of the dungeons/keeps (and some of the fantasy cyberpunk of the Gadgeteers) still looked really good from an artistic standpoint. True, a lot of this might be due to the game's decision to use some bold colors in small patches with some of these. And mind you, I definitely don't mean I thought all of it was interesting to look at; honestly only maybe half.
One thing I wish was more prevalent in games now is story definition. That's what was good about this game and compared to games now this plotline would blow most recent games away as far as story. Take final fantasy15 for instance.....This is so funny to say too, but that game ain't got nothing on this one's plot. Honestly I think ff15 was almost devoid of any plot. I actually think if I had the chance I might just give Shadow Madness another play through.
I actually bought the game guidebook for this without any idea what it was about, just because I thought the games janky old graphics were super charming
I still loved exploring the world and talking to all the people. I wish there was more cat man story. Like if he had a friend in another part of the world. I recued a cat and brought it to him.. Thats about it
Yeah, that's a great example of something that was mildly interesting, but could have been something far more involved. Much of this game is 'good idea', but imperfect execution.
I just loved how dark and menacing the game's atmosphere was. It was also neat how you could dodge random encounters. Took SquareEnix a long time to figure that one out with Bravely Default. I wish 'horror' RPGs happened more often.
It may be an odd take, but even the elements you review as bad for this game, kinda make me want to play it more? As you mentioned about the fledgling development team etc and how it was all done, the mix of failures and achievements all together... Kinda makes it feel like this game is one of those good, rare examples of video game making history. you will never ever get titles like this again, it seems like there is a lot to be gleaned from playing through and looking at the choices made by developers at the time. I actually enjoy blunders in earlier video games, silly text choices, odd sound effects, all that kinda experimental stuff. There is certainly enough going on here for me to want to add it to my physical collection. Nice review dude :)
At this point, I am frankly shocked that 'The Legend of Dragoon', as a Sony property, hasn't been given a remaster or remake. I adore 'Legend of Legaia'. The music was fantastic, the characters were memorable and endearing, and the combat system is one of my favorite turn-based systems ever conceived.
I agree 100% Loved this Game so much! Another Game i really liked was Technomage: Return to Eternity, it had such a great story, music, memorable Characters and they even did a open voice casting for people from the streets to speak in lines, really cool if you'd ask me. Nice Kuwabara pfp!!!
not amazing but i did like some aspects of it. like the ideas of the characters since playing as a robot scarcrow is pretty amusing and the games writing is also amusing. but yeah even for back then this is a pretty ugly game. had no idea it was craves first game. i really liked jade cocoon alot. good review
i never knew this existed.... It seems like the branch off group threw all their good (possibly rejected from the previous company) ideas. Crams too many good, but not thought out well ideas, into one game.
There is no right or wrong; it's an opinion. There's nothing wrong with liking this game more than FFVII. That's just as valid an opinion. I'm glad this quirky titles has fans. I enjoyed this game, and it's still in my PS1 collection.
The level cap and battle menus really hold it back. The story, music, locations, world map, world building, characters and atmosphere are all amazing and definitely still hold up.
Very good. I edit a fanzine called HyperPlay RPG. Have you heard of us? Would love you to write for us, if you fancy. Check us out at hyperplayrpg.com - we've got about 1,000 readers worldwide.
it's a concept game made by inexperienced designers and rushed through the development process that was trying to be final fantasy 7 and legend of the dragoon and failing hard.
I might be in the minority but I absolutely loved this game. Same with my sister. We found this game for only $1 at a local eb games. My sister sat there and watched me play through the whole game. She is a HUGE Final Fantasy fan and it still got her stamp of approval. I’ve never been a big rpg fan (besides FF9) but I loved this game especially the story.
I just purchased this game today. Looking forward to playing it soon.
This game has great remake potential. The story and world building are there, the characters are likeable enough, just up the graphics and refine the gameplay and I bet it would sell amazingly well.
I completely agree. It's like an average home cook following a master-chef's recipe, and just not quite getting it right. This would a fascinating game to remake.
looks like we'll be getting that remake real soon!
They're porting to pc now it seems. Maybe the remake can still happen.
Feb 15 on steam
Despite its flaws, Shadow Madness will always have a special place for me. "There will be death".
It does have its charms. A fun experience I was glad to have.
I love this game, didn't mind the graphic , i was a kid back then , but the gameplay it was beautifull
Always.
2:33 "There will be death"
The best line of shadow madness
Definitely lol
Always be one of my favorite games! Super dark and forboding rpg, great music and cool spell effects. Never could understand how to trigger the spell effect timed hits..but this game is beatable without ever having to use it. Ty for this blast from the past
man, i remember this! this game was one of my first JRPG-style games, and the gameplay/mechanics eventually led me to the Final Fantasy series. thanks for the review!
Finally someone else who knows this game even exists! haha.
I just thrifted the original promo T-shirt for this game and I’m learning the history of it…pretty dope story.
That's awesome! I never knew there was a T-shirt.
I played this game all the way up to the castle (before disk 2) as a kid- but My 2nd disk was unreadable. I felt it was a graphic yet beautiful game.
I replayed it as a full grown adult and it hasn’t lost that razor sharp crude since of fear you get when roaming the land, fighting disfigured creatures. I felt like the game is hated and critiqued for the things that made it special. It’s a testament to the era of games made with a certain feeling of horror and fear that games today cannot recapture. And very much belongs in anybody’s collection of PS1 classic games that loves fast paced RPG’s.
Before I watch the video, I loved this game... graphics weren't much of an issue since I didn't mind and it had that FF 7 look to it... the major flaw the game had for me was that the gameplay was so easy... even on the hardest difficulty you could just breeze through the game... the only time a character died for me was during the TOM boss fight...
this game has a good atmosphere, motif, and the music was superb... the writing was also good for me, I could talk to a random NPC and they would give me a lot of text and some of them were pointless but I like that...
This game had a really dark atmosphere, the summons were cool and the submarine part was weird lol
Ya know....I played and beat this way back when it first dropped and while the flaws were obvious it still was worth the play through. I imagine it was a very passed over game because I never heard of anybody else who had even knew of it, but honestly I was pretty into it when I played it. And it wasn't a short game so I put quite a bit of time into it, so I must have liked it. It was cheesy kinda but I actually liked that about it.
James Goku i agree, it’s an underrated rpg and I’m glad you got to experience it and enjoy it
@@CenturianEagle thanks. Did you play it too?
Imagine an rpg that doesn't make it about grinding and focuses on the story... its like the exact opposite of the Disgaea series.
I've never heard of this RPG before and that's really weird because I feel like I should have... I don't think it's something I would play but very cool to hear about. Nice review!
I love this game
If the FPS levels look and/or sound familiar, it's because they're made in Slavedriver - the Powerslave/Exhumed engine. Lobotomy - the Powerslave devs - were absorbed into Crave at some point before or during Shadow Madness' development.
I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for adding! There's always so many fascinating behind-the-scenes things with games like these.
I love the music track in this game
Kaze Yari me too
All of the fps sequences in this game use the Slavedriver engine which powered Powerslave for the Sega Saturn and Ps1. Hell, They even still use some of the sounds and assets from that game.
I absolutely loved Shadow Madness, and this is the game I'd most like to see a remake of, because this was a mediocre game that, if the budget were there (as they had to cut quite a bit, and some under-baked elements were the result of never fully being refined), would have been absolutely outstanding. This game deserves the brilliant treatment it called for!
An interesting fact -- This game might have the largest musical score for any RPG, and the reason is because when money was running out, the team had to halt central production to discuss what to keep going with and what to drop, but during these times, Brad Spear, the composer, was still technically on retainer so he kept writing music. That's why a lot of music is really good but randomly placed; this is ultimately shown in the Karillon location, where there's like 6 buildings that each have their own theme despite being only 1 room, and you don't even NEED to go into any of them!
I wholeheartedly agree: this is a game that needs a second chance, and could be brilliant.
@@StefanHomberger I missed that you said you really love Pre-Rendered Backgrounds; that's awesome as that's also my favorite visual style - I would only disagree with the notion that the art in the game was bad. I mean, it wasn't excellent, but I thought a lot of it had an interesting look to it when exploring. In particular I thought the city/town exteriors, as well as some of the dungeons/keeps (and some of the fantasy cyberpunk of the Gadgeteers) still looked really good from an artistic standpoint. True, a lot of this might be due to the game's decision to use some bold colors in small patches with some of these. And mind you, I definitely don't mean I thought all of it was interesting to look at; honestly only maybe half.
I absolutely loved this game
Very well done review.
Thanks!
One thing I wish was more prevalent in games now is story definition. That's what was good about this game and compared to games now this plotline would blow most recent games away as far as story. Take final fantasy15 for instance.....This is so funny to say too, but that game ain't got nothing on this one's plot. Honestly I think ff15 was almost devoid of any plot. I actually think if I had the chance I might just give Shadow Madness another play through.
Agreed 100%
Stefan Homberger there will be death....lol
@@StefanHomberger dude I had forgot I looked this up four years ago and I just started thinking about this game for some reason. Yes I’m the og post.
I actually bought the game guidebook for this without any idea what it was about, just because I thought the games janky old graphics were super charming
So...............Guess what game is coming to Steam on the 15th.
That's so odd. I wonder why this obscure game is getting released.
@@StefanHomberger 'Shrug'
Maybe if it sells well we will get other games.
Ebay randomly recommended me this game, I was mildly curious but thankfully your review has steered me clear of it. Much appreciated, good video.
This is a good review my friend
Thank you.
I loved this game. But by far it's biggest problem was that it was way too easy.
I loved this game
I still loved exploring the world and talking to all the people. I wish there was more cat man story. Like if he had a friend in another part of the world. I recued a cat and brought it to him.. Thats about it
Yeah, that's a great example of something that was mildly interesting, but could have been something far more involved. Much of this game is 'good idea', but imperfect execution.
Damn good review, thank you.
Thanks!
Very nice narration audio quality! What microphone did you use?
Thank you! Just some random $20 mic I got a few years ago.
yeah i dont like the constant disc switching. at the time im used to finishing one disc and then moving to the next
i love this game, one of the best
this would be an awesome remake. you have the great story and dialogue, just fix the graphics and gameplay
I just loved how dark and menacing the game's atmosphere was. It was also neat how you could dodge random encounters. Took SquareEnix a long time to figure that one out with Bravely Default. I wish 'horror' RPGs happened more often.
I love games that combine the atmosphere of an RPG with horror too. Games like Koudelka, the Shadow Hearts games, Parasite Eve (especially 1).
I'd love to see a really good turn-based horror-themed RPG come out now on something like the Switch.
@@StefanHomberger FF7 had a good horror feel to it which is why I worry about the remake not recapturing that again.
one of my best rpg with ffvii, chrono trigger adn suikoden ii, can you suggest me another gdr like theese please?
This game needs a proper remake with the right team. I bet it could do well if someone really tried.
It may be an odd take, but even the elements you review as bad for this game, kinda make me want to play it more? As you mentioned about the fledgling development team etc and how it was all done, the mix of failures and achievements all together... Kinda makes it feel like this game is one of those good, rare examples of video game making history. you will never ever get titles like this again, it seems like there is a lot to be gleaned from playing through and looking at the choices made by developers at the time. I actually enjoy blunders in earlier video games, silly text choices, odd sound effects, all that kinda experimental stuff. There is certainly enough going on here for me to want to add it to my physical collection. Nice review dude :)
Thanks! I agree, I often find a certain charm in the blemishes of games that make interesting choices.
Despite the flaws with the game, I still enjoyed it. The game definitely felt like a dark situation.
They really need to remake this for ps4 along with legend of dragoon end legend of legaia
At this point, I am frankly shocked that 'The Legend of Dragoon', as a Sony property, hasn't been given a remaster or remake.
I adore 'Legend of Legaia'. The music was fantastic, the characters were memorable and endearing, and the combat system is one of my favorite turn-based systems ever conceived.
I agree 100%
Loved this Game so much!
Another Game i really liked was Technomage: Return to Eternity, it had such a great story, music, memorable Characters and they even did a open voice casting for people from the streets to speak in lines, really cool if you'd ask me.
Nice Kuwabara pfp!!!
It was basic... I still love it
I thought I was the only person crazy enough to buy this game. I remember looking at the box art and thinking to myself why I wasted my money!?
I love it
not amazing but i did like some aspects of it. like the ideas of the characters since playing as a robot scarcrow is pretty amusing and the games writing is also amusing. but yeah even for back then this is a pretty ugly game. had no idea it was craves first game. i really liked jade cocoon alot. good review
So, without trying, I reached max level in this game at about 25% through and was one shotting everything, including bosses, from there on out.
i never knew this existed....
It seems like the branch off group threw all their good (possibly rejected from the previous company) ideas. Crams too many good, but not thought out well ideas, into one game.
Me: Mom I want final fantasy 7!
Mom: We have final fantasy 7 at home!!!
Final fantasy 7 at home:
The concept art for all of the characters made up for the hideous models. I just used my imagination lol.
Who else couldn't beat this game because they only had disc 1
Better than ff7, prove me wrong
There is no right or wrong; it's an opinion. There's nothing wrong with liking this game more than FFVII. That's just as valid an opinion. I'm glad this quirky titles has fans. I enjoyed this game, and it's still in my PS1 collection.
@@StefanHomberger "prove me wrong" is just a saying
The level cap and battle menus really hold it back. The story, music, locations, world map, world building, characters and atmosphere are all amazing and definitely still hold up.
Those darn tf2 bots
Its crazy how mario rpg on snes has better graphics.
Very good. I edit a fanzine called HyperPlay RPG. Have you heard of us? Would love you to write for us, if you fancy. Check us out at hyperplayrpg.com - we've got about 1,000 readers worldwide.
I have not heard of you, but an RPG fanzine is certainly intriguing. I'll be checking you guys out after work today.
it's a concept game made by inexperienced designers and rushed through the development process that was trying to be final fantasy 7 and legend of the dragoon and failing hard.
vampjoseph11 even if is not a ff7 is still a beautifull game
Apparently, it was animated by one modeler. They had good talent
It just sucks because the things they did right were actually pretty amazing.
I remember this piece of *&$@ game.