Shadowman is the final boss of backtracking. There are over a dozen "stages", but these are chopped up into a few types of stages. These feel connected only by the tissue of your own memory because the game's winding and confusing labyrinthine structure sets you up to distrust that memory. You will feel constantly stressed that you have forgotten something, discovered something too early, or are not interacting with something correctly. It's pretty brilliant.

Oppressive exploration in 3D spaces was big around this time I guess. DOOM kicked it off and Shadowman would not have been out of place as a doom clone, but being on consoles in 1999 it also embraced the console zeitgeist, the collectible platformer. It's a really adept mix of both.

The key to this feeling of oppressive exploration is that it is mostly smoke and mirrors. Shadowman is not as punishing as it appears. Enemies dont respawn unless you fast travel, you can even be killed by a boss and retain the damage you've done to it. Levels can b confusing but are never overlong, and Shadowman himself reacts to the buttons you're pressing (not a feat every game of this era accomplished) so platforming is rarely frustrating. Most importantly, not every collectible needs to be collected to complete the game's story.

How's that story by the way? It's pretty cool. The VA work is surprisingly good for 1999 and there's lots of corny gothic-themed dialogue . Shadowman's main villains are a gaggle of serial killers, whom you track down to their themed lairs (which gives a fun excuse to put hell's vengeance into a suite of goofy or creepy locales). The vibes in this game are top notch.

Really, Night Dive can keep making N64 remasters if there's still gems like Shadowman out there.