There are two scenes in this game that I think fully articulate how profoundly absurd Shadow the Hedgehog is as a piece of Sonic fiction, and also why I absolutely adore it.

The first is a scene where the GUN Commander, no doubt imagining himself the hero of an 80's action movie, cocks a pistol before exclaiming "Shadow, damn you! It's been 50 years...justice will finally be served!"

The second is where the President of the United States Federation defiantly proclaims his country will "never surrender to terrorists" before gazing down and giving a longing look toward a framed photograph on his desk. A photograph of Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog.

People used to claim this period of Sonic games was the worst. The dark ages, they called it. As someone that spent far too much time during the mid-2000s on a Sonic the Hedgehog message board, I remember it all too well. But I genuinely, sincerely miss it, because for all their faults these games back then were so uniquely different from one to the next. Even if they were memorable for all the wrong reasons, at least they were memorable. Shadow the Hedgehog may be a 2 1/2 star game in my head but it's a 5 star game in my heart.