Sonic Games With Best Playable Shadow the Hedgehog

Key Takeaways

• Shadow the Hedgehog, a fan-favorite, features in a number of Sonic the Hedgehog games since Sonic Adventure 2.
• Shadow is playable in various titles like Sonic ’06, Sonic Forces, and Sonic X Shadow Generations.
• Despite criticisms, Shadow’s 2005 solo adventure explores his past, offers a unique non-linear structure, and delves into his character.

It’s no understatement that Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the Sonic franchise’s most popular characters. In his debut title, Sonic Adventure 2 for the Sega Dreamcast, he dies saving the world from the monstrous Finalhazard. However, he’d amassed such a fan following that Sega brought him back in future games. The lore was changed to say he didn’t die but was rescued by a Badnik and placed in stasis for a future in the Sonic franchise.

Despite his large fan base, though, the grim hedgehog hasn’t seen many recent mainline appearances. He has largely appeared as playable only in spin-off titles. His mainline playable appearances, where Shadow is a central character having a large role, were in several of the early 3D Sonic games, before the “Boost era.” So, what games has this mysterious rival of Sonic’s appeared in, and which offers the best experience playing as Shadow?

Updated November 2, 2024 by Nadia Grace Mullings: Fans of the Sonic franchise, and especially those of Shadow the Hedgehog, remain excited for his upcoming movie debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, as the “Year of Shadow” gradually reaches its end. In the meantime, the success and critical acclaim for Sonic X Shadow Generations serves to extend Shadow’s appeal to both long-time fans and new fans alike, with exciting new gameplay and features.

Shadow the Hedgehog has always been a popular character since his debut in 2001, and nowadays, fans are glad to have him included in a mainline game with his unique gameplay style after many years.

1 Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Series

Speed-Type Character

For fans of both Nintendo and Sega’s mascots, this is a must-play title with no shortage of immersive fun for all ages. Players compete in a wide range of Olympic sports and imaginative Dream Events, in which sports are played with a twist, set in various locations from the Mario and Sonic games.

Shadow is playable in every entry in this spin-off franchise, as a Speed Type character. Therefore, he excels at any running event in the Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo Summer Games. In the Vancouver and Sochi Winter Games, he’s a good choice for an event like Speed Skating. Shadow is known to be Sonic’s rival, equaling him in almost every ability; in most Olympics titles, Sonic has max speed, but Shadow has higher acceleration.

2 Sonic Riders Series

Shadow Joins The World Grand Prix

The trilogy of games that form the Sonic Riders series all feature Shadow as a playable character. Of course, he is a Speed-type character, with the ability to slide on railings in the races. In the series’ first two games, Shadow is limited to an unlockable character and isn’t part of the main story. In the original Sonic Riders, Shadow didn’t have his own Extreme Gear, unlike the other players.

The final game in this spin-off series, Sonic Free Riders, is the only one to feature Shadow in Story mode. Along with Rouge and E-10000B, secretly Metal Sonic, they compete in the Grand Prix against their rivals: Team Heroes, Team Rose, and Team Babylon. Shadow has his own Extreme Gear named “Black Shot,” first seen in Zero Gravity.

3 Sonic Racing Series

Shadow Features As One Of Many Racers

The Sonic and Sega All-Stars games see Shadow race through many colorful and iconic locations from across various Sega franchises. Having been part of the Sonic roster in both games, Shadow races against his familiar rivals from the Sonic universe and meets new ones in the form of other Sega characters.

In Team Sonic Racing, Shadow allies with his familiar group, consisting of Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega. Retaining the name “Team Dark” as in previous games, each member is a certain character type. With Shadow providing the team’s speed, he can lead them blisteringly fast through the courses. However, Speed Types come with the worst handling, thereby requiring Rouge’s Technique abilities and Omega’s Power to steer them swiftly through the races.

4 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

Shadow Joins The Fight Against The Marauders

This unique RPG title sees Sonic and Co. face a new and powerful foe: the Marauders, who kidnap both Knuckles and the Master Emerald. Shadow first appears in Chapter 4: “A Wolf In The Shadows” and clashes with Sonic. However, once the Marauders and their intentions are revealed, Shadow joins Sonic and becomes a playable character.

Shadow serves as a Power-type character, meaning he can deal strong attacks but takes longer to recover than Shifter and Support characters. Shadow has greater defense than Sonic, and though he has slightly less HP, he can teleport.

5 Sonic Rivals Series

Shadow Vs. His Counterparts

This duology was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The first title centers around the mysterious Eggman Nega, who returns from the future. Disguised as Dr. Eggman, he transforms others, even the legendary Master Emerald, into cards. The game follows Shadow, Sonic, Knuckles, and Silver, each with their own goals surrounding the mystery.

In Sonic Rivals 2, more playable characters are introduced, bringing the total to eight. The game features Eggman Nega again as the primary villain, who has kidnapped the Chao. Each character has a unique attack; in Shadow’s case, it’s Chaos Control, which slows any opponent down massively.

6 Sonic Battle

A Sonic Fighting Game That Finally Includes Shadow

This exclusive title for the Game Boy Advance is the Sonic series’ second fighting game after the arcade release, Sonic the Fighters. Sonic Battle allows players to roam around the hub maps to get to the next battle location. Players can choose one of three different Special Attacks before entering the next battle. These are either laying an explosive Trap, a strong Power attack, or a long-range Shot attack.

Sonic Battle places a huge emphasis on story, with 10 playable characters following their own storylines that crossover. Central to the plot is the battle droid Emerl, a robot of incredible power. Shadow has his storyline and can utilize Chaos Control to teleport from place to place, making for a difficult opponent.

7 Sonic Forces

Shadow’s DLC: Episode Shadow

Shadow is a playable character in this title and has his very own DLC, “Episode Shadow.” This is a 3-level campaign acting as a prequel to Sonic Forces’ main story. This short prequel delves into important themes from the game, such as exploring Infinite’s origins. The level themes are remixes of some of Shadow’s level themes from Sonic Adventure 2, which is a nice reference to the first game he was ever in.

The DLC also includes Shadow as playable in the main game. After beating the DLC’s levels, Shadow can play through Modern Sonic’s levels in the main story. Though the levels are short, this title is notable as it marked Shadow’s first mainline appearance in years.

8 Sonic & The Black Knight

Shadow Appears As A Knight Of The Round Table

• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Release Date: March 3, 2009
• Developer: Sonic Team
• Genre(s): Platformer, Hack and Slash, Action Adventure

After being taken into the story of King Arthur, Sonic must seek to defeat the king. That is until his ally Merlina reveals her true intentions, forcing him to rally the Knights of the Round Table against her. Shadow, though technically a doppelganger, appears as Sir Lancelot. After players complete the level ‘Faraway Avalon,’ Shadow/Lancelot becomes playable and must journey through the Shrouded Forest to find a Barrier Stone. He sports his unique playstyle, too.

A fun Easter egg for fans includes Shadow/Lancelot commenting that a certain red dragon Sonic fights looks familiar. This is because it bears resemblance to the Biolizard from Shadow’s debut title, Sonic Adventure 2, in which he must face down the beast in an attempt to buy time for Sonic and Knuckles.

9 Sonic Heroes

Shadow’s Party Is A Fourth Of The Campaign

This game takes place after Shadow was resurrected, quite literally, by Sega, who acted on his rapidly gained popularity among fans. Found in a stasis capsule by Rouge, he is released but attacked by E-123 Omega. Intervening, Rouge gets them to form Team Dark, and they hunt down Eggman together.

Though Rouge acts as the team’s leader, Shadow is crucial to the story. He wants to seek out Eggman and get answers since he was released from stasis with amnesia. Shadow acts as the Speed Type character for his team. Rouge and Omega rally around Shadow, a legacy that continues to this day as neither of them appears in any other title that Shadow isn’t in himself.

10 Sonic The Hedgehog (2006)

Shadow Helps To Save The World

Shadow is one of three main playable characters and has a major role in this fifteenth-anniversary release. Whilst Sonic primarily deals with rescuing Princess Elise from Dr. Eggman, Silver the Hedgehog takes on the fiery Iblis. This leaves Shadow to deal with the cunning and manipulative Mephiles, who tries to tempt Shadow into working with him and aiding his evil plot.

Shadow’s playstyle is akin to that of Sonic’s but focuses more on using GUN vehicles and combat. Shadow can utilize various Chaos Powers to severely damage his opponents. Together with Silver, he time-travels ten years into the past, witnessing the tragedy that befell the Duke of Soleanna and discovering the truth about Mephiles. Along with Team Dark, Shadow follows Mephiles’ trail, finally engaging him in battle. After transforming into Super Shadow, he aids Sonic and Silver in defeating Solaris, the ancient being of which Iblis and Mephiles are two halves.

11 Shadow the Hedgehog

Shadow’s First Solo Adventure

A testament to Shadow’s popularity is how a game was developed with him as the main playable character only four years after his debut. Though this game received heavy criticism, especially for the use of guns, for fans of Shadow, this is an essential game to play. Shadow’s quest is one of learning about his past, as he unfortunately grapples with amnesia.

It’s a unique title, obviously, as the game centers around someone other than Sonic, but it also gives players the choice of which pathway they wish to take. This non-linear structure relies on a Morality System. Depending on their actions, players will reach different levels in a different order. There are multiple endings, and reaching them all unlocks the Final True ending. Shadow’s character is explored in great detail in this title, making for a definitive experience of Sonic’s legendary rival.

12 Sonic Adventure 2

Shadow’s Debut Game

One of the most upheld games of the franchise, this is the title where Shadow made his first-ever appearance. It went down brilliantly with fans, despite some being disappointed with his death at the game’s ending. The game’s campaign is split into the “Hero” and “Dark” storylines. Whilst Sonic and his pals attempt to thwart the villainous deeds of Eggman in the Hero story, the Dark story centers around Shadow and his quest for what he thinks is revenge.

Working with Eggman and Rouge the Bat, the trio collects the Chaos Emeralds to fulfill Shadow’s plan. The game sees the grim hedgehog go up against Sonic but eventually works with him once he realizes his true purpose. For any fan of Shadow, his debut title is a must-play. It offers a thrilling ride into the mysterious yet lovable character of Shadow the Hedgehog.

13 Sonic X Shadow Generations

Perfect For Old And New Fans Of Shadow The Hedgehog

The long-awaited remaster of Sonic Generations includes a brand-new campaign for Shadow alone. Including many exciting new features, such as Doom Powers and an open-zone “White Space,” Shadow Generations is the perfect choice for both new fans and long-time fans who grew up with the older 3D games. There are plenty of nods to Shadow’s earlier game appearances, including the appearance of the fake Chaos Emerald Tails invented in Sonic Adventure 2. Each of Shadow’s stages is set in iconic locations from preceding games, in glittering remastered form. Yet, the game feels refreshing and welcomes even the newest fans, including a short prologue detailing Shadow’s story and introducing Gerald and Maria Robotnik.

Shadow Generations offers modern-day gamers a brilliant experience playing as the mysterious hedgehog, with signature “Boost” gameplay and new moves and features while remaining true to the lore established in preceding titles. For those who bought the Digital Deluxe Edition, fans are treated to neat features including a Terios skin and mini soundtrack. These are nice additions for long-time fans, but also introduce new fans to the background behind Shadow’s character and the theme songs that define his story.