Night Dive Studios is something special. In the past decade, the developer is responsible for bringing back the wealth of Humongous Entertainment titles (Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, etc.), the Turok titles, and tons more abandonware in tip-top shape for gamers, reviving thousands of childhood memories in the process. So when I heard they took the initiative to remaster Shadow Man, a relic from the fifth generation of consoles, I was excited to see how it’d play out.

While I didn’t grow up with Shadow Man myself, I’ve seen bits and pieces from Let’s Plays in the past. I always noticed how shoddy the graphics were, as Acclaim (the original devs) had high aspirations for this title that couldn’t be fully realized with the technology at the time. Enter Night Dive Studios, the masters of remasters, and Shadow Man Remastered looks fantastically optimized more than two decades after its initial release.

It’s odd, yet satisfying, how Night Dive managed to upscale all of the graphics, add effects in, etc., and still make it appear like a Nintendo 64/PlayStation game. Where other remasters modernize the graphics, Shadow Man Remastered tends to recapture them and make them significantly more presentable. On top of the graphics, full mouse/keyboard and controller support are available, a big help over the previous tank controls the player was stuck with.

Load times are brief and even the cutscenes got a new coat of paint. The sound design in the game is also much more high-res, ensuring all the bases are covered in Shadow Man Remastered. If there’s one part of the game I wish could get touched up, it’s the platforming. A staple of the time, there is some precision platforming in some sections that are a real headache to get past due to Shadow Man’s finicky jumps. I lost several minutes of gameplay from these pixel-perfect leaps.

Combat in Shadow Man Remastered is a pretty standard affair, but it ramps up as you keep progressing through the game. Start out small with a meager pistol, and eventually, you’ll load up with a shotgun and demonic powers that will devastate your opposition with ease. I found myself counting the shots it took to eliminate a foe and breezed through sections thanks to it. With imaginative level design encouraging the player to explore, Shadow Man Remastered makes for a great time for its target audience.

I continue to be impressed with what Night Dive Studios is capable of and that rings true with Shadow Man Remastered. While it wasn’t at the top of my list of nostalgic games to get a remaster, the work done on this title is undoubtedly impressive and should usher in even more old-school remasters from the developer. It’s sitting pretty with a 93% approval rating on Steam at the time of writing and could well push into “overwhelmingly positive” territory in no time. When I was playing, I had a friend message me, “Yo… Why didn’t you tell me they remastered Shadow Man?” and then proceeded to buy it on the spot. That should tell you of the legacy of Shadow Man.

A PC review copy of Shadow Man Remastered was provided by Night Dive Studios for this review.

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Shadow Man Remastered

$19.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Touched-Up to Perfection
• Extra Content With Nice Price Tag
• Returning Fans Will Adore It

Cons

• Abysmal Platforming
• Combat Still Shows Its Age