The Shadow Electronic Video Game

I wasn't aware there was a hand-held video game made for the 1994 Shadow movie until recently while I was doing some research on the movie.  I found a few pictures of the game, but couldn't find much else about it.  Finally I was able to track down one of the games still in the package and got it in the mail this past weekend.  Boy, was I excited to open it up and start playing!

Obviously the game was a tie-in for the movie and was made by Tiger Electronics.  Remember, this was in the early 90's before PlayStations and X Boxes were around.  (There was a SNES Shadow game though!)  Here are some pictures of the packaging.

When you play the game, you always play as The Shadow!  On the right hand side of the game you have a punch and kick button to fight the villains with, and you also have a Shadow button that allows you to become invisible to the bad guys.  It's pretty cool because just like in the movie, if the villain has a flashlight, you can be seen!  (Using the Shadow button also drains your energy supply, so use it wisely!)  On the left hand side is your directional buttons so you can move The Shadow to the left and right and jump up in the air.

There are 5 stages to the game.  You are always fighting either Farley Claymore or Shiwan Khan's Mongol villains.  They are armed with guns, knives, flashlights and crossbows.  In levels 4 and 5, you can have help from the lovely Margo Lane!  The game instructions say, "Your powers of telepathy are also felt by her.  When you move over to the far left or far right of the screen, you are able to touch hands with her, which restores your energy level to full."  Also in levels 4 and 5 you face the deadly phurba - the knife Shiwan Khan has power over to make it attack you.

In the final level, you face the invincible Shiwan Khan.  There is a timer counting down to the detonation of an atomic bomb so you must beat Khan before time runs out!  To defeat Shiwan Khan, you must dodge the deadly phurba 10 times.  The game instructions tell us, "If you are able to dodge the phurba 10 times, the phurba will turn on Khan instead of you!  It will plunge itself into Khan and you will WIN the game!"

For such a simple hand-held game it incorporated a lot of the movie into the game play and plot!  I really like the inclusion of Margo Lane and how she can help restore your energy level.  I could imagine a kid loving this game after watching the movie!  I've been having lots of fun playing the game.  I'm not that great at video games, but I finally beat Shiwan Khan - twice!  

Besides the action figure movie tie-ins, there was also this little handheld game.  I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at it!