Cyber Shadow is a side-scrolling action and platform game created by the Finnish indie studio Mechanical Head Studios and published by Yacht Club Games. The game uses an 8-bit style and tells the story of a cybernetic ninja named Shadow who tries to save his clan in a world controlled by machines.

The game was mainly developed by Aarne Hunziker, who is the only member of Mechanical Head Studios. It was first shown at PAX East 2019. The game had been in development for many years before this event and was announced without much publicity before the show. The game draws inspiration from other platform video games, such as Ninja Gaiden. It was released on January 26, 2021, and received mostly positive reviews, with players praising its graphics and gameplay.

Gameplay

Cyber Shadow is a side-scrolling game where players control a ninja who fights enemies using a sword and special tools called subweapons. The game has an 8-bit style similar to Shatterhand and includes gameplay ideas from games like Shadow of the Ninja, Ninja Gaiden, Mega Man, and Castlevania. These include winding paths and some backtracking. There are several bosses in the game. The story is shown mainly through short movie scenes, and some scenes are made using the game's own engine.

Plot

The game's story follows Shadow, a half-human, half-machine ninja who tries to save his fallen clan from robotic creatures that take their special powers. The story takes place in the ruins of a made-up city called Mekacity. Shadow moves through Mekacity, fighting robotic creatures and a traitor from his clan named Apparitor. He also frees the spirits of his captured clan members by ending their lives. Shadow's main goal is to find the Master of the clan, who had a romantic relationship with the original human version of Shadow. Shadow learns that the Master was dying from an unknown illness affecting the spirit. Her father, trying to save her life, attacked the city with his robotic army, betrayed the clan, and used their special powers to keep his daughter alive. Cyber-Shadow tries to defeat the father to free the Master's spirit from her dying body and reunite with her in the Ethos, a spiritual realm.

Development

Cyber Shadow was created by Mechanical Head Studios, which is made up of only one person, Aarne Hunziker. The game was published by Yacht Club Games. Aarne Hunziker had been working on the game alone for many years and did not originally plan to work with a publisher. He was discovered by Yacht Club Games when he shared updates about the game on Twitter. They later encouraged him to join their team. While Hunziker handles most of the game’s development, the music will be composed by Enrique Martin and produced by Jake Kaufman. Yacht Club Games is also providing design advice based on their experience creating Shovel Knight.

Hunziker first learned about game development by modifying the code of classic games to change their visuals. He later decided to create his own game but abandoned the project. Four years later, he began building Cyber Shadow from the beginning. He has faced challenges during development because the game is large in scope and he has mostly worked alone.

Hunziker has described Cyber Shadow as a game that combines "the level design of Mario, the action skills of Ninja Gaiden, the enemy designs of Contra, and the dark visual style of Batman." He has also said the game is intentionally inspired by Shadow of the Ninja. In an interview with Siliconera, he explained that the story involves "using carefully preserved ancient knowledge with logic," which is why the game includes both ancient ninjas and futuristic robots.

The game was first shown at PAX East 2019, though it was announced earlier in a less public way. During a "Yacht Club Games Presents" event on February 26, 2020, it was announced that the game would release in 2021 and that the Shovel Knight Amiibo would work with the Nintendo Switch version. Cyber Shadow was released on January 26, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

Reception

According to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews, all versions of Cyber Shadow received "generally favorable reviews." Another review website, OpenCritic, reported that 84% of critics recommended the game, calling it highly praised. IGN gave the game an 8/10 rating and noted that its gameplay, level design, variety, and music made it a strong update of the classic Ninja Gaiden style.

Nintendo, which operates the Nintendo eShop, stated that Cyber Shadow was one of the 15 most popular independent games sold on the Nintendo Switch in 2021.