Play Shadow of the Beast (USA, Europe) Online

Game Overview

Shadow of the Beast is one of those games that looks amazing—moody, detailed backgrounds, weird creature designs—until you actually try to play it. The Sega Genesis port keeps the brutal difficulty from the Amiga original, where enemies come out of nowhere and jumps feel just slightly off. You’ll die a lot, mostly to stuff you couldn’t even see coming.

That said, the atmosphere is still kinda cool if you’re into dark fantasy. The music’s eerie, and the art has this grim, painterly style that sticks with you. Just don’t expect to get far without memorizing every pixel of the level layouts. It’s the kind of game you either love for its weird vibe or hate for how unfair it feels.