Shadow Gangs, developed by Isle of Wight-based JKM Corp, and published by the increasingly prolific WAVE Game Studios, has long been anticipated by those in the know. Since the first hints of a potential Dreamcast port surfaced in 2016, the community has been regularly updated on progress by the game’s lead developer Ali Jakamy via the Dreamcast-Talk forums. It has not been smooth sailing from there on out though - an initial Kickstarter campaign launched in 2021 failed, most likely due to the setting of an overambitious six-figure funding target. To their credit, JKM Corp dusted themselves off and returned with a realistic funding goal of £25,000 which was met in March 2022. The fact that the developers have persevered through to the point of delivering the game into the hands of Dreamcast owners - and have done so within the space of three months since the close of the successful Kickstarter campaign - is no mean feat and is worthy of our kudos.
All this backstory is a little tangential to the main issue at hand though; what can Dreamcast enthusiasts expect from the game itself? Shadow Gangs is essentially a side-scrolling beat em’ up with platforming elements. You take up the role of ‘Master Dan’, one of a cohort of international agents whose purpose is to operate in the shadows, maintaining the global balance of power, and thereby ensuring peace. With world peace secure, Dan gets his P45 in the post, leaving you to direct him around his house as he traverses the punishing job market and mooches on the couch eating Pop Tarts...
Alas, that probably wouldn’t be much fun, would it? Of course, the fragile global order maintained by Dan and his comrades is under threat from the dastardly ‘Shadow Gangs’; groups of rogue ninjas who have destructive aims. It’s your age old good vs. bad, save the world scenario, where righteous protagonists have an excuse to beat seven bells out of hordes of despicable enemies.
Shadow Gangs takes a mammoth dose of inspiration from the iconic Shinobi, and this shows in the fundamental gameplay mechanics. The player directs Dan across 10 more-or-less linear levels, making liberal use of ranged and melee attacks (get ready for sore thumbs) to vanquish his opponents, and precise use of the ducking and jumping functions to avoid incoming fire and hits.
Your arsenal is spiced-up by the inclusion of powerful but sparsely numbered landmines and ‘ninja magic’ attacks (imagine the screen-clearing special attacks from the Streets of Rage series), as well as occasional power-ups that switch out Master Dan’s shuriken for a much heftier combo of samurai sword plus sub-machine gun. Six boss fights are interspersed throughout the regular levels, as well as shooting-range style bonus stages, providing a decent amount of content in all.
Although I lack the technical know-how to test it, I have no reason to doubt the publisher’s claim that Shadow Gangs runs at 60 frames-per-second on the Dreamcast. The silky-smooth performance certainly seems to bear this out, and the customisable controls feel tight, responsive and map nicely to the standard Dreamcast controller. The large, detailed sprites and varied backgrounds, with colour schemes that pop without becoming too garish, look gorgeous outputted over VGA. Shadow Gangs is well polished when it comes to its audio features too.
The music is well composed, catchy and suits the character of the game down to a tee, and although the voiceover (which sounds like it was recorded by a stereotypical classically trained British actor) is undeniably cheesy, it brought a smile to my face which can only be a good thing. A word of warning though: avoid taking a big slurp of tea just before ‘COLLIN!’ is blurted out of your speakers, unless you intend on redecorating in the near future. In sum, the porting of Shadow Gangs from the PC to the Dreamcast has been executed extremely well—something which is perhaps not too surprising considering the who’s who of experienced Dreamcast programmers that are thanked in the game’s credits. The care and attention that has been afforded is evident throughout, from the VMU icons and rumble pack compatibility, through to the four language options.