I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the best sonic games ever made.

The graphics stood strong next to many games that were released in the next two years on new consoles, and the cutscenes were just as good as the ones in the Sonic '06 reboot (which, problems aside were pretty nice to look at). The character models were pretty good, and the animations were solid for a 2005 title.

I'm not sure where the hate comes from, but the vocal tracks are some of the best in the series. The entire soundtrack was good despite mostly being unmemorable, but the vocal tracks really stood above the others. Who could say that "All Hail Shadow," "I Am... All of me, or "Waking Up" are not fantastic?

The story is frustrating in parts, but really can be worth having to play through levels like Hang Castle multiple times. It makes for interesting use with one of the franchises most popular characters.

Lastly, the gameplay. Call it slippery or buggy, but I think it has a comfortable curve. At least on the Gamecube version, the wack acceleration feels right on and fits with the canon for Shadow's speed. The gunplay works out to be a fitting mechanic, and the aiming isn't broken which is what really matters. Melee fights could be more interesting, but the good camera and controls really bring up the loose slack. Boss battles are hit and miss as with any sonic game, while it has some flaws the gameplay overall is superb for what you could expect.

Agree or disagree, it's obvious that Shadow is a poorly designed character from a beginning standpoint. He's basically dark sonic with more angst. Somehow he manages to be one of the better liked characters in the entire series and got a game which fit that. Sure it's pretty focused on being dark and serious, but it never really pushes the envelope as much as people say it does. What sounds like an awful and over the top edgy game actually comes off as a pretty impressive addition to the series which is highlighted by a pretty powerful game which was able to stand off as cutting edge, even along side the impressive new consoles.