Hoshino worked as art director on both projects.
“I wanted to create a deep, mature story suited to backstory.
Shadow therefore achieves speed through skating rather than running, as well as his iconic Chaos Control ability.
“So in his earlier design, we were trying to give him a more evil appearance.
And at that time, I personally called him Terios the Prisoner.”
Famously, in his standalone game Shadow doesn’t just run fast - he wields guns too.
This was unique to this particular game and hasn’t been explored since.
This led to some interesting gun concept designs, as well as poses of Shadow with the weapons.
“Shadow’s selling point is his speed-skating inspired action,” says Hoshino.
That’s certainly apparent from these sketches.
Of course every hero needs a villain, even anti-heroes.
Hoshino reveals an intriguing parallel with another character.
“Professor Gerald’s research has shown that Black Doom is genetically related to Shadow.
He is a lot like a character called Wizeman, who I designed many years ago for NiGHTS.
I was aiming for a mysterious appearance, like some kind of object of religious worship.”
Sega dubbed2024 the Year of Shadowwith a whole host of features.
So what is it about Shadow’s character and design that’s proven so enduring?
“I think the most appealing thing about Shadow is his deep backstory,” suggests Hoshino.
What’s more, his design (unlike Sonic’s) hasn’t really been altered since he debuted.
Still, Shadow has only appeared in 3D games rather than the pixel art of the original Sonic games.
Is that something we could see in future?
“Pixel art or 3DCG are nothing more than single means of expression,” says Hoshino.
“I will not rule out Shadow appearing in any format in the future.
