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Cover art of Shadowrun

4.5 / 5

18 votes

Platform
Sega Genesis
Genres
Role-Playing · Beat 'em Up · Adventure
Player Perspective
Top-down
Developers
BlueSky Software
Publishers
Sega · Tec Toy
Release date
March 25, 1993

Summary

Shadowrun on the Sega Genesis feels like stepping into a neon‑slick tabletop session that’s been digitized for a cartridge. The game drops you into the 2050s, a world where the Matrix hums beneath the streets of a reclaimed Seattle‑area called Salish‑Shidhe, and magic has surged back after the Awakening, turning ordinary people into elves, dwarves, orcs, and trolls. Mega‑corporations rule, but native shamans and street gangs keep the balance uneasy.

Play as Joshua, whose starting path—samurai, decker, or gator shaman—sets your initial stats and gear, but the real freedom comes from the Karma system. Earn Karma by completing shadowruns, then spend it on any attribute, skill, or cyber‑upgrade you fancy, shaping a truly custom runner. Real‑time, top‑down combat mixes gunplay, melee, and spellcasting, with ammo tracking and spell‑damage penalties that force you to think before you blast.

Travel across the sprawling city via taxis, visas, or even a helicopter, and take jobs from the shadowy Mr. Johnsons who post everything from gang raids to Matrix hacks. You can hire AI‑controlled shadowrunners for a single run or a lifetime, and later align with the Mafia or Yakuza for extra firepower.

The Matrix itself is a separate 3‑D hacking arena where you load utilities, dodge ICE, and loot data to sell for nuyen. Shops, contacts, and racial gang leaders pepper the map, offering weapons, cyberware, spells, and illegal goods, making every run feel like a living, breathing cyber‑punk sandbox.

Storyline

Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis is set in the mid‑2050s, a world where cyber‑technology and magic have both resurfaced. The Matrix is online, allowing runners to jack directly into cyberspace, while the Awakening has returned sorcery and caused humans to mutate into orcs, dwarves, elves and trolls. Mega‑corporations dominate the polluted streets of Seattle, but native shamans and reclaimed Amerindian‑Elven lands—known as Salish‑Shidhe—stand in opposition.

The story opens on January 31, 2058, when a small shadowrunner team is ambushed in the Salish‑Shidhe wilderness and the incident is broadcast via a survivor’s cybereyes. Joshua, the brother of the fallen runner Michael, flies to Seattle, follows Michael’s last cred‑stick transaction to Stoker’s Coffin Motel in the Redmond Barrens, and begins taking low‑level jobs for a Mr. Johnson named Gunderson to pay off his brother’s debts. In Michael’s belongings Joshua discovers three holopix—Tabatha Shale, David Owlfeather, and Dr. Heaversheen—plus a low‑grade cyberdeck and 500 nuyen.

The plot then branches into a deeper mystery: centuries‑old elf Ellisia founded the Sinsearach council to protect the wilderness, and his sealed tomb holds magical artifacts. A free‑spirit entity called Thon seeks those artifacts to become physical, using corporate agents Vigore, Jarl and Renraku’s Project THON. The Sinsearach’s Harlequin tasks apprentice Frosty with hiring Caleb Brightmore to assemble a team—including Michael—to infiltrate Ellisia’s tomb and destroy Thon’s source.

Renraku’s strike team, led by Ito Ogami, attacks Michael’s group, but Joshua eventually tracks down Harlequin, completes the side missions, and reaches Ellisia’s tomb for the final showdown with Thon.

Edited by Maya Carter

Game Screenshots

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Multiplayer

Game modes
Single