James MiiThis review was written by PN contributor, James Colozzi.

I’m trying to figure out if Shadow Archer is an appropriate name for this release. Maybe spider slayer! You are an archer that oddly looks like Link from The Legend of Zelda games, and you shoot arrows. I know this sounds like a really simple ancient Famicom game, and to be honest it could be.

Apparently the world is being overrun by Master Manny and his hoards of evil, dark monsters … sounds scary! You are Shadow, an almost perfect copy of Link (I hope they don’t get sued!). Your job is to lay to rest the lost souls, however there are a lot of them. To help, you get a lot of arrows and a few cool items like the triple shot that fires three arrows in a wide pattern. Shadow arrows will penetrate multiple enemies, and the Crimson arrows do a lot more damage and cost two arrows for every one arrow shot.

This is a challenging shmup that will keep you on your toes. If Shadow Archer was released in 1986 I still doubt it would be released stateside, as it lacks content other than shooting baddies, and you seem to be trapped in a field I’ve been unable to leave as of yet. As you lay these lost boys to rest they increase in number and speed, and they also change color and become harder to kill. Then floating heads start chasing you that you can’t kill … It’s so first-gen NES that it kills me! You try to fight your way through only to get to the end of the game and it just says ” The End!” And you go Whhhhaatttttttt!

So I’d give this game a 5 out of 10  for the smooth and challenging gameplay. The controls are responsive, and the collision engine seems well done. The music in this game is very well composed and catchy. It brought me back to the days of my old NES grey box. I did enjoy playing Shadow Archer, and I hope the developer (Ultra Dolphin Revolution) continues their hard work.shadow-archer-banner