The Wonder Years 12.07.07: Week 33 - Shadowrun

Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 12.07.2007

An RPG in the truest sense of the term.

Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. You may notice this week the debut of a new logo for the column. The reason for the change is twofold - first, I think it feels a little more geekily retro (is 'geekily' even a word?), and secondly, I get fed up having to put line break tags in the HTML code each week to circumvent that advert over there. [edit: you might need to refresh the page to see it] Anyway, no other changes to speak of, so once again, let's take a trip to:

SHADOWRUN

(Sega, Genesis, 1994)

I'll happily admit, there were a few misgivings and misconceptions that prevented me from tackling Shadowrun on the Genesis on its initial release. First was the misgiving that the title was based on the eponymous seriously geeky D&D-alike role playing game - while I now recognize that geekdom is in fact something to be proud of, not something to mock (and indeed I do stake my claim to being one of their number, for we shall inherit the earth!), the younger me thought of it in true stereotypical fashion as a time-waste for people with dyed black hair who liked to dress up. Then again, the younger me also thought that the Spice Girls were a quality pop music act, so I think his ideas should probably be dismissed. The more prominent preventative factor, though, was the fact that I simply thought this game was a port of the Super NES Shadowrun, so I avoided it for a few years. Imagine my surprise, then, when it turned out to not only be an original game, and a better adaptation of the source material, but also a better game in its own right.

Bearing no similarities in concept to the Super NES title, other than sharing the storyworld of course, Shadowrun is a surprisingly open-ended action RPG. The plot follows shaman/samurai/hacker (your choice) Joshua, the protagonist, on a quest through near-future Seattle to avenge the death of his brother Michael, a shadowrunner (geek translation: illegal contractee) who came to a sticky, televised end at the hands of person or persons unknown. Through the course of his mission, Joshua becomes a fully fledged shadowrunner his own self, performing a number of jobs for various contractors (all known by the pseudonym Mr. Johnson), and uncovers some complex shenanigans involving an ancient, malicious spirit named Thon, an old Elven council, various sleazy corporations and lots of murderizing. Juicy stuff, no?

Taking a pseudo-top-down approach, the majority of the game takes on a traditional action RPG form, with the player controlling Joshua throughout the environs of Seattle and its underworld, seeking out shady characters with which to strike deals for better equipment and on whose behalf to engage in various quests, such as the liberation of employees from Big Brother-style companies, simple street fights and more. One of the better aspects of the shadowrunning is the implementation of cyberspace/the matrix/whatever you want to call it, whereby your fledgling hacker can delve into a major corporation's databases and root around for sensitive information. The game actually takes on a whole new feel for these sections, and while they're certainly limited in scope, they provide a nice breather from the majority of the game's action. The graphics in these sections are bit of a departure from the game's predominant muddy colors, which although effective at conveying the game's atmosphere are a little drab - instead bright blues and greens are used, because presumably that's what the inside of computers look like.

On the downside, and this may seem a bit of an odd criticism given the game's title, you really do need to do an awful lot of shadowrunning in order to advance through the game proper and eventually make it to Ellisia's palace. Yes, as I've already said, there is a pleasing diversity in the tasks at hand, but my god, are there ever a lot of them to do. While the non-linear approach is admirable, it could have used just a little reigning-in, as the well thought-out plot does tend to suffer when it's playing second fiddle to all the various subquests. The de-emphasis (yes, I am using such a ridiculous term) on magic is also grating, given that the contrast between the cyberpunk setting and the fantasy elements is part of what makes the Shadowrun universe so original (and also part of William Gibson's hatred for the franchise). Originality, though, is one of the game's strong points, so it doesn't suffer too greatly for these lapses.

Sadly, the franchise that Shadowrun threatened to become all but died out, with only one new game being made in the last decade, a multiplayer-only FPS for the 360 that wasn't particularly great. You have to wonder why - the 16-bit titles in the series were both received warmly, and the Shadowrun universe is perfectly ripe for videogame treatment (just witness the similarly-themed Fallout and Syndicate franchises). I guess you'll just have to track down the Genesis cartridge in the meantime, for your share of cyberpunk RPG thrills. It's not overly hard to come by, in the US at least, but usually fetches a decent buck ($30 or thereabouts). It's well worth the time to track down, not least if you're a fan of the original role playing game - this is probably one of the most faithful RPG-to-RPG adaptations (if that makes sense) that you can find. Even if the constant referencing of "Mr Johnson" is a tad amusing for the more immature among us - yes, younger me, I'm looking at you.

Shadowrun trivia

• The pen-and-paper RPG itself has been going since 1989 and is one of the most famous science fiction-based RPGs.
  
• The main character in the Super NES version is named Jake Armitage, presumably a reference to seminal dystopian cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, which pioneered the genre.
  
• The game saw a Japanese-only sequel on the Mega CD, about which I know very little. Was it any good?
  
• Shadowrun is an honorable mention in my official all-time Top 100 games, sadly.

The Videosphere

Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. For those of you, like me, who are salivating over the possibility of finally being able to pit Mario against Sonic in a straight-up fight, thanks to the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, here's something that should keep you ticking over. In fact, maybe this is where Nintendo got the idea...?




General indulgences

Every week in this section I'll endeavour to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.

This week, I have been mostly enjoying:

Sensible Soccer - well, today at any rate. I thought I'd have a quick game while I waited for the bus and ended up spending an hour trying to beat England with Finland. Some games just don't let you go. Thankfully the journey wasn't urgent.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, one of those 80s classics that I never got round to catching during that decade, primarily because I was still learning how to tie my shoelaces. It certainly does feel like a poignant snapshot of a certain period in time, much like American Graffiti. But with more tits.

Gladiators, the British version of American Gladiators which seems to be making a resurgence. I can't believe people's haircuts were ever this bad.

and Christmas shopping, which barring any major delays in the post is now done for this year. Thank the maker for the interweb, eh? [I kid, the only deity I worship is donuts.]


And finally…

As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - how does it feel to play as a God? Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.