1990s Critics Review Shadow Man & Turok 2: Seeds of Evil on Nintendo (Nintendo Switch Online)

[@aquelescaraaaaaaaaaa]

I played Shadow Man for the first time on N64 in 2022 after pretty much an entire lifetime of never knowing what it is, only that a gaming magazine I read as a kid rated the game one of the top 25 N64 games ever made, and BOY I was in for a ride when I decided to go in blind. It's honestly one of the best games ever made, the platforming, the puzzles, the exploration and the envoirements are expertly designed, I'd just get lost for hours and hours, exploring every nook and crany, and always get rewarded, I'd try something new with a new item I'd get, and It's open new paths to new items and stuff to collect, I was hooked. It's funny that the EDGE review said it didn't have a whole lot of innovation to offer, because the game's overworld/level structure design is honestly unmatched to this day, They figured stuff out in 1999 that to this day devs struggle with. One for the ages truly.

[@CarlosGalIops]

Shadowman is such a underrated game. The atmosphere to that game is incredible at the time.

[@steelcurtain187]

I was so excited for Turok 2 when it came out. Great weapons and graphics at the time.

[@TheSocialGamer]

It's always a good time when you upload. I appreciate you! I played these games back when they launched, and I was glad to have Shadow Man since it was on PC. Cheers!

[@christopherbardier770]

The Nightdive’s remaster of Shadowman is a must play. Updated graphics, new areas, new mechanics, QOL updates.

[@JTSuter]

Shadow Man is a N64 hidden gem for sure.

[@Swordslinger-hb1ns]

Play the Nightdive remasters of Shadow Man and Turok 2. The remaster of Shadow Man in particular has all of the restored content that Acclaim/Iguana Entertainment had to cut due to the limitation of an N64 cartridge, a ps1 cd-rom and even a Dreamcast gd-rom.

[@HybridAngelZero]

Not really sure which game I'll try to do for Halloween. I have my Xbox 360 loaded up with Resident Evil games (they all went on sale for like $3 a piece right before the store shut down), but I've actually been thinking of finally giving Parasite Eve a full playthrough, as it's one of the few Square games I didn't really play as a kid

[@gamesthatiplay9083]

"Is the same word-for-word," I think it was GameSpot's Skyward Sword review that pointed out all the other reviews for the game included the marketing phrases sent by the publisher.

[@kevincullen13]

My annual Halloween tradition is to replay the 2 MediEvil games on PS1.

[@LuigiMario-ni3rj]

I'm going to check out Shadow Man, but I'll be playing SOMA and Banjo-Tooie.

[@Mer.Saloon]

They may have better remasters out there, but they make good demos for anyone on the fence.

[@DefunctGames]

That's a really good way to look at it.

[@jwrfb26]

I missed out on these games on the N64, but am willing to check out the remasters at some point. As for what I'm playing this Halloween: all month long I have been working on Luigi's Mansion on the 3DS, trying to earn every single Mansion for my gallery, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (yes, after all my complaints on the other video), trying to earn everything. It's a real grindfest, honestly.

[@Wallace007-q1x]

I love Turok 2! It's like Zelda meets Doom/Quake/GoldenEye 😎

[@ReydelSans]

Shadow man was solid Needa get used to Turoks control scheme. I even have the original N64 NSO controller but even that is hard to play wit. Other M Rated N64 games I love to see come to NSO are Conkers Bad Fur Day, Turok Rage Wars/War Gods, Mortal Kombat 4/Trilogy, Hexen, Forsaken 64, Doom 64, Duke Nukem 64, Quake 1/2, South Park (Maybe), Daikatana, Bio Freaks, Hybrid Heaven & Resident Evil 2

[@JenMistress]

Well, if wasn't written by the same person, someone did copy another's homework it would seem. 😉 Very late, I know, late getting to KZbin today, plus being October, wanted to have time to watch at least 1 horror movie before aiming to start tonight's gaming session, so today's watchlist was turned into tonight's background for my gaming session. Then started thinking, this video was the only one I knew for sure will be commenting in, so waited for this one to end first. As for the question, I'll of course be doing my normal Games to Play List from F95 Zone, but along with that, the last 3 chapters of the new Life is Strange game did drop, so I'll be playing that as well.

[@gligarguy4010]

What M rated N64 games would they even put in now? Conker? RE2?

[@DefunctGames]

Conker, definitely. I doubt we'll see Resident Evil 2, despite it being one of the most requested games.

[@gligarguy4010]

​@@DefunctGames Would not be shocked if they just put in Doom 64 next, another 64 game already on the eShop.

[@pattersong6637]

The other two Turok games are a shoo-in, as is Forsaken, given Nightdive is playing ball with Nintendo. Decent chance of Doom 64, Hexen, Quake, and Quake 2 for the same reason you mention Conker: Microsoft is playing ball. Beyond that it gets a lot harder. Maybe Nightmare Creatures? It was published by Activision back then but I don't know if they and by extension Microsoft still hold the rights. Daikatana is a fun one because I have no idea if Embracer Group got it when it bought all the related Eidos properties like Deus Ex or just left it with Square Enix. Either way, Daikatana 64 is the worst version of a terrible game and would only have novelty value.

[@DefunctGames]

I think Conker is more likely than Doom 64, as 2024 has been the Year of Rare on the NSO. It makes sense that it would eventually get a release, whereas Id hasn't release anything on NSO. Worth mentioning that Switch owners can pick up Turok 2 Remaster for just $5.99. That's the way to go.

[@LuigiMario-ni3rj]

Hopefully they never add Forsaken, but considering we are getting all these Acclaim games, it's inevitable. 👎🏻

[@steammachine3061]

N64 magazine gave pretty favourable reviews to shadowman. I recall them comparing it to zeldas evil twin. And considering how it plays where other areas open up on discovery of new abilities or items I can understand that comparison. I personally thought it wasn't a game I thought was particularly great. Although there was some enjoyment to be had. From what iv been lead to believe the ps1 port is even worse

[@robertkenny1201]

I wish they'd make an actual new Tyrok game.

[@yuncelluz8709]

Thank you 💯

[@thaneros]

Turok 2 goated

[@goranisacson2502]

This release was a really surprising one on my behalf. I thought Banjo-Tooie was gonne be the October drop, but nope! Horror be upon ye! I guess that's more "thematically" appropriate for the month, but three N64 games in a month is pretty... Rare :) Seriously though- whatever made them decide to have all three in one month, I'm not complaining about it. Maybe if it turns out these are all the N64 titles we'll get for the rest of the year, but I'm liking it for now. I'm more surprised they go for these games which already exist as their own separate releases on the store. I guess Nightdive, or whoever holds the old Acclaim-game copyrights or trademarks, are happy to get any check they can and don't fear the possibility that people will just go "why buy them separately when I can play them for 'free' on NSO?", which is probably what'll prevent us from getting Resident Evil 2, or Mischief Makers, or Mystical Ninja etc etc. Microsoft will probably never release that Rare Replay game-pack outside its own console so they don't see the Rare games on NSO as a threat to their business. Anyway- probably a regular NES / SNES / GB drop next month if any, as those have been pretty frequent this year, and at this rate I have no idea what they might be besides possibly some kind of Rare-related release... but if there's another N64 double-batch, I guess Forsaken and Turok 3 could be it. Not sure how many Acclaim games we even have left at this point, whereas Rare's got quite a few that Nintendo might want to stretch out the release for into Switch's last year before The Successor. And as for Halloween? I'm hoping to get started on Echoes of Wisdom. Finally getting started on it after I got through Visions of Mana, so not a very spooky time for me.

[@DefunctGames]

I think the biggest surprise has to be the lack of Vanilla NSO games. The last three updates have required the Expansion Pack -- F-Zero GBA, Banjo-Tooie and now these two N64 games. You're right, the next has to be something for the NES, SNES or Game Boy. Given that the Tetris Forever compilation is just two weeks away, I have to imagine that the next NSO drop will include the Tetris NES game they promised a few months ago. In fact, a smart person might want to write that week's Review Crew now, just to be ready. Will I be smart? (Probably not.)

[@goranisacson2502]

​@@DefunctGames I had forgotten about the Tetris drop! Now I'm just curious if they'll have Tetris and nothing but Tetris, or if we'll get a batch of other NES games to go with it... maybe some Rare games? Are there any Rare NES games left at this rate that aren't tangled up in other developers trademarks? I think Wizards and Warriors are also under Acclaim / whoever owns the rights now, right?

[@DefunctGames]

I have to imagine that we'll eventually get both the Battletoads game on the NES and the prequel on the Game Boy. That seems like a year-end sort of thing, since it's one of their heavy hitters. It wouldn't surprise me to also see Killer Instinct Gold and Conker show up in the next few months. I doubt Tetris will drop solo. Nintendo likes having 3 - 5 NES and Game Boy releases at a time.

[@goranisacson2502]

@@DefunctGames And now I see before me the true, golden future as only Nintendo can envision it. Killer Instinct Gold? Too obvious, we'll see that coming. Killer Instinct for the Game Boy? Now THAT'S how you subvert expectations!

[@kaneda010]

I've always wanted to love Turok 2, but its pacing is truly lamentable, and the frame rate gets pushed too far at times. I much prefer the simplicity of Turok 1's levels and it's a more stable experience. That's really amusing how Next Generation "borrowed" the Edge review copy. It's of course not unusual to find content used across both these mags, since even the design software was likely being shared with the US sister publication. But, I wonder in this instance if, being a US-originated game after all (Iguana Entertainment were in Texas), that the review exclusive was first obtained by Next Gen, and it was Edge who re-used it for their interpretation?

[@DefunctGames]

What makes it frustrating is that Next Generation didn't credit their critics until the last year or so. This means that it's basically impossible to know who wrote what from issue to issue. I read the rest of the two reviews, and they aren't other examples of word-for-word copying. If it's the same person writing the review in both magazines, then they ended up having to write two different reviews. My guess (and something that has been pointed out by other commenters) is that this wording might have been used specifically in the marketing or review guide, and both magazines used it. Or perhaps one critic read the other and that bit just stuck. It's hard to know for sure.

[@kaneda010]

@@DefunctGames That's a good educated guess, I think you might be near the mark there.

[@Openreality]

Can't play Shadow Man because of the controls not translated to the Nintendo switch online....... I'm not going to spend $80 on a remastered game. I did like Turok 1and 2 remastered, however it turned into a 'where do you go' classic so i couldn't continue. I'll just play other games. Probably going to be playing pvz neighborhood ville or retro realms

[@DefunctGames]

Wait ... $80 for Shadow Man Remastered? I just checked, and the Switch version is on sale for $8. That's a steal.

[@danfortuna1984]

i find going back to play the N64 isn't much fun. I think most of the games have not aged well compared to other classic consoles

[@carlitosdinkler5213]

The original Turok 2 is a much better experience than the remaster. Its an actual journey and a struggle for sure but an experience you will never forget. The graphics, sound effects and level designs are fare superior to the 'remaster'

[@robertkenny1201]

They'd didn't change the Sound effects or the level designs in the Remaster.

[@carlitosdinkler5213]

@@robertkenny1201 Yes they literally did. Have you even played it? The N64 version had way superior sound effects compared to the PC version that was used as the basis for the remake. And they straight up broke and didn't bother fixing certain animations, the flare for example used to have a strong impactful firing sound and used to actually be useful with how dark and creepy the original game is. The nuke weapon is definitely the best example, they straight up butchered it in the remake, they removed the white screen blinding effect when firing it and the animation where it clenched itself shut to stop the charge if you didn't have it ready to fire. Tons of small cool details like that were just taken out for no reason. And the entire atmosphere of the game was destroyed. The level differences are incredibly noticeable and they simplified them a ton, the lair of the blind ones and hive of the mantids are the most noticeable changes.

[@NotLink182]

Who cares what they said!? I loved these games. Cant wait to get revenge and finally beat them 😂

[@DefunctGames]

This is a show where we look at old reviews. If you don't care about old reviews, then why did you click the link in the first place?? Clearly this is meant for people who are interested in what critics said back in the day.