Shadow of the Beast

I saved my money in the summer of 1992 to buy a used Sega Genesis cartridge from Video Junction. It was Psygnosis' "Shadow of the Beast" (John wonders why they didn't just name it "Beastshadow"). I'm not sure what made me pick this particular game, the artwork made me gag and nearly spit up my Sour Patch Kids (much later I learned that the artwork was by a man named Roger Dean, an artist famous for designing Yes album covers - fucking prog rock album covers, don't get me started). I like to think that it was something akin to the way Frodo felt at the sign of the Prancing Pony; some unseen and terrible force urging him to do the very thing he didn't want to do in front of a room full of big people and little people. Frodo resisted the temptation and sang a song instead. I, however, could not resist, reached for the game, and subsequently spent the rest of the summer getting raped by what is widely considered to be the hardest game ever produced.

I didn't know it then, but this game had a history on another system and received pretty good reviews. Looking back, I have to at least admit that the graphics weren't all that bad. There is something there, its odd art and new age style, maybe, that is appealing. It was the Genesis version in particular, though, that was deemed 'the most difficult game ever' by players. I wonder why? Thanks to Wiki, I found that it was mainly due to a bad port. The game, for some odd reason having to do with processing and frame rate, ran around %20 faster on the Genesis, making enemies harder to dodge or kill and obstacles harder to avoid (not to mention the Castlevania style jumping scheme; once you jump, you jump, bitch - no changing direction or speed in mid-air). Not only did the conversion suffer, but for another odd reason the developers omitted the 'continue' feature. Great choice. If I had wanted this type of punishment I would have played Donkey Kong.



It was a feeling of love/hate that ruled when I played this game way back when. I was no slouch at 12, I'd broasted Sonic the Hedgehogs 1 and 2, Quack Shot (Quack Shot, for fuck's sake - not easy), El Viento (a lesser known Japanese platformer that was also fairly difficult), but even after continuously getting my tiny little muffin ass handed to me I never became discouraged as I would today. Something kept me coming back despite the feeling of dread that would well up upon seeing that sexy owl at startup. Looking back, I'm happy to have experienced it, and I think that's the best we can ask for from the nostalgiac niche that is 16-bit gaming. Fucking fuck you, Psygnosis, and I love you.

I give this game a "Cock" out of "Butt".