Update: Jim Valentino has since gotten in touch to clarify that he did not give permission for the game to be reproduced:
Please be advised that Rose Colored Games did not have my blessing to make this game and I filed a suit against them over it.
Original story: Jim Valentino's ShadowHawk was one of many super heroes birthed during the boom of the early '90s - one that fits snugly into the class of anti-hero (he was a lawyer, after all) that transitions from upholder of the law to blood-lust driven vigilante. Hey, we all have days like that.
At the time any comic book superhero's ultimate goal was to star in his or her own video game, and the console market was flooded with plenty of choice, either from Marvel and DC's finest to the more obscure, niche examples.
Shadowhawk was no different. Valentino financed a SNES game personally and it got quite far in development but failed to secure a publisher.
Fast forward to 2003 and a prototype cartridge surfaced online containing an almost complete version of the game. It eventually found its way into the arms of Rose Colored Gaming, who announced a single run of 100 black Shadowhawk cartridges with the apparent blessing of Valentino himself. Except the blessing quickly turned into lawsuit as Valentino set in motion legal action against Rose Colored Gaming, stopping the distribution of the reproduction cartridge - but not before at least thirty-six were shipped, meaning that is likely that the prototype that has recently surfaced online is a dump from one of those copies.
SNES Central got the whole scoop and upon being sent a dump of the original prototype ROM found out that the reproduction run had some alterations, mainly to make the game more playable with the player taking less damage and the knock-back from enemy damage severely reduced.
Shadowhawk plays a lot like Capcom's classic Bionic Commando but you can also jump if you so fancy. Besides the regular platforming antics, end of level boss fights turn it into a Street Fighter II-style one-on-one affair. It's an interesting game, and is paired with Valentino's own comic strips for presentation and mid level plot development. We are left wondering if a few more months of work would have made this an acceptable product for publisher at the time.
It took decades, but Valentino's anti-hero now has his own game preserved for retro gaming enthusiasts to enjoy. Feel free to leave something in the comment section below if you happen to have been a fan of Shadowhawk's delightfully dark adventures back in 1992.
[source snescentral.com]
Comments 22
I only knew this character because it was included with the Spawn McFarlane toy line and my parents gave it to me on christmas. It was an amazing figure, I loved it despite not knowing who he was, in fact at the time I thought he was like another Spawn version from the future or a different reality".
http://images.comiccollectorlive.com/covers/d07/d07744bf-64f9-48b7-9731-1af02a95dd1c.jpg
@Damo I forgot to write "comic book" in "birthed during the >here< boom of the 90's"
I remember hearing about it when that legal kerfuffle came up a while back with the repros... so is Valentino okay with it now being out there for free?
I mean, I think video game preservation is a necessity, and I'll definitely be booting this up on my PowerPak when I get home. I just feel like with one phone call, this rom could go down like so many Nintendo fangames.
This guy looks like half Batman, half Wolverine, wait--
I happen to know about a lot of niche superheroes, but this is my first time ever hearing about Shadowhawk.
Loved Shadowhawk and I was also into Darkhawk at the time. I'd love to have this game.
Say what you will about the character, he had some AWESOME 90's Comic book covers
I used to read this comic back when it first came out. I will probably check it out.
Also, the guy who runs Rose Colored Gaming has gotten himself in trouble before by selling exorbitantly priced unauthorized cartridges featuring ROMs he doesn't own the rights too. I hope he gets nailed.
@audiobrainiac I was just thinking about Darkhawk myself, actually.
I remember hearing that this game was in development in a preview section of GamePro. I thought it looked really good at the time. Had a Genesis/Mega Drive in those days, so I always thought this game HAD released. Same with SOCKS THE CAT.....
Okay... this game looks awesome.
I've never heard of Shadowhawk before, was confused as I thought maybe the author meant Darkhawk lol
Shadowhawk was an interesting character. His identity was hidden from the reader for the first seven issues or so. Instead, the comic was written in second person, as shown in the one cut scene from the game. Once the character was revealed, his origin was fairly unusual as well. While working as a DA, he was injected with HIV by someone who he was prosecuting, which is what drove him to become Shadowhawk. He also paralyzed the criminals he fought. He came to regret doing that on his death bed before he died of AIDS. Alan Moore wrote an interesting story about Shadowhawks from various eras, and the Shadowhawk Special from 1994 had one of the better Silver Age Batman parodies I've ever read.
I forgot to mention: The prototype only outputs mono sound from the left speaker. In case anyone watching the video believes their phones or speakers being busted.
@bstie1198 I kept that whole origins stuff from the article because it is way too dark and moody for NL.
Meh looks like a LJN game at best.
Oh man, doesn't everyone just miss how high quality comics were in the 90s? Everyone was shiny, brooding, ripped, had no feet, covered in pouches, and had huge guns. Notice me, based Liefeld!!!
@Captain_Gonru
I'm sure they were. I mean, come on, Dark Claw is "crazy awesome" incarnate.
Too bad I have yet to find a reprint of the Italian Marvel/DC crossovers.
And i'm still wondering...When we'll see the dump of SNES Green Lantern and it's AMAZING soundtrack?
A co-worker quickly pointed out that this game looks very much like Spiderman & X-Men in Arcade's Revenge. Looks like the same engine.
Cool, only 36 copies were shipped out?
I wonder which number mine is...
@SolarJetman It plays very similarly to Spider-Man for the SNES. Especially the swinging mechanics.
Ah Shadowhawk. I was a fan as a kid, and still have some issues. He was like Batman crossed with Punisher (very 90s lol). I remember at one point him running into Spawn while both where looking for an arsonist. His villains where usually interesting, though they tended not to last long because Shadowhawk went for the jugular lol. I'll definitely try to track this down.
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