In a dumb but effective plot that sounds like it came straight out of an 80s B-action movie, you play a cyber ninja named Shadow, who is in very bad shape. Much like “Shovel Knight,” “Cyber Shadow” is an 8-bit 2D platformer that’s fined tuned to a T. But dig a bit deeper, and you’ll find that “Cyber Shadow” didn’t merely channel NES nostalgia but took all of that era’s best parts to concoct a surprisingly modern game.
In fact, between the muted color palette, chiptune music and tough gameplay, it may all seem like familiar territory to any retro game enthusiast. Yacht Club Games’ “Cyber Shadow” is one such game that lends itself to this style, favoring 8-bit art direction and simple game mechanics over ultra-realistic graphics and complicated control schemes. These days, however, 8-bit graphics are best thought of as video gaming’s most characteristic visual style, one that is inextricably linked to it. īack in the 80s, pixel art (commonly known as 8-bit graphics) was essential because of the low-powered hardware at the time, which is why it saw an immediate decline with the introduction of 3D-capable consoles, like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. You start the game in a pod of some kind, with only your robot L-gion by your side.
