 Shadowrun is an RPG of a different variety for two reasons. Number one, it's not your usual fantasy style fare, taking place in a cyberpunk themed world straight out of Blade Runner. And number two, it got released on a variety of platforms, something that wasn't too common for an RPG. What's weird though is that the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sega CD versions were all made by completely separate developers. So all three games are different interpretations of what was originally a pen and paper RPG. Now at full disclosure, I haven't played very much of the Genesis or Sega CD versions, so I'm concentrating on the Super Nintendo version, obviously. But based on what I've read, the Genesis version follows the rules of the original board game much closer, and it's much darker in tone, and that's not surprising considering that's pretty typical for the time, really. Anyway, if you're looking for an RPG, but you're burnt out on the typical Super Nintendo RPG experience, like the Final Fantasy games, the Dragon Quest series, or Lufia, then Shadowrun offers a totally different change of pace in terms of atmosphere and tone. I love the way this game looks, sounds, and feels. The story weighs zero time throwing you right in and getting you killed. Oh, well, at least some Fox thing comes along and casts a spell on your dead body so you can, you know, play the game. Shadowrun leaves it up to you, the player, to stumble around and figure out what the hell is going on. As a result, the game can be a little hard to get into at first, but after a while it's well worth it because the story has a clever way of revealing itself. Well, clever for a SNES game, anyway. Talking to random people gives you clues or keywords where you can go talk to other random people and use those keywords to find out even more information, and so on and so forth. I really like this approach because you can experience the story at your own pace instead of being bludgeoned with unskippable dialogue scenes that are nothing but exposition. The way the story is told forces the player to be independent. As for the gameplay, it's... unique. It's an interesting blend of the usual RPG-leveling-up system combined with a point-and-click mechanics from a PC game. With the isometric viewpoint, the game kind of reminds me of Diablo or the Ultima games, but it's always a little clumsy to operate a cursor with a controller. In fact, this would have made great use of the Super Nintendo mouse. It takes a bit to get used to, you always have to be right next to something and then summon the cursor and then click on it and then choose, examine or open or whatever. It's kind of annoying, but it's not a deal-breaker. Combat allows your cursor to be across here. A novel idea, but the action is kind of lacking at times, especially early on. Die. Come on. Die. Jesus. You level up by collecting karma. Hey, just like in real life, right, Reddit? When you sleep, you choose how you want to level up, whether it's firepower, health, magic skills, or computer hacking skills. You're gonna want to max firepower right away so you can level up quicker. In my experience, magic is just kind of there for the sake of being there. It's really not that useful, but it's nice that the game has it, I guess. It's nice to have a break from always shooting stuff. The computer hacking stuff, or decking, as it's called in the game, gives Shadowrun a bit more variety as the game switches to a top-down view as you move through cyberspace to recover more information. As good as this game is, it's evident why Shadowrun didn't take off back when it first came out because it's just so different than what you'd expect from a Super Nintendo RPG. Also, like I said earlier, the game is a bit difficult to get into at first and it reminds me of a robo-trek in that regard, where it really helps to at least read a walkthrough or watch a Let's Play video just to see what the hell you're supposed to do at first and get the momentum going. I'm not slagging on the game for not holding your hand, just the opposite. Really, I like that it's different, and I like that it makes the player be independent. Like a robo-trek, it's an acquired taste, and it's absolutely worth checking out to see if it's to your taste. Because if it is, you'll frickin' love this game. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Shadowrun revival game called Shadowrun Returns. I found that game pretty frustrating because of the limited save areas, so I didn't even really get that far into it. Finally, I'd rather play the Super Nintendo version.