Every Shadowrun video game, and why they are not all the same game

Every Shadowrun video game, and why they are not all the same game I want to go through the Shadowrun games before I start getting into the individual guides, because there is a lot more here than three games with the same name. Even the two old ones I keep talking about, the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games, are completely different experiences. Those two are the cornerstone of the series for me. But if I'm going to talk about the video games, I want to include the other ones too. That includes the obscure one that only came out in Japan and the shooter that took the name in a very different direction. Shadowrun on Super Nintendo, 1993 This was the one that introduced me to Shadowrun. Beam Software developed it, and the story follows Jake Armitage, who wakes up in a morgue with no memory and a whole lot of people who would rather he stay dead. You explore Seattle from an isometric view, fight in real time, improve Jake with Karma, buy equipment and hire other runners. Conversations use keywords. Learning a name or a subject can give you something new to ask someone else about, which means paying attention to what people say is part of figuring out where to go. When I call it more linear than the Genesis game, I mean the story leads you through a much more defined sequence. There is still exploring and investigating to do. It just doesn't have that same ongoing job system that let me disappear into the Sega game for so long. The story and atmosphere are what pulled me in. I still love this game. Game history and mechanics: https://t.co/CKYp93DL8o. Shadowrun on Sega Genesis, 1994 BlueSky Software made this one for Sega. You play Joshua, who comes to Seattle to investigate what happened to his brother, Michael. You choose a starting archetype, then build Joshua through skills, equipment, cyberware and the work you take on. This is the one I have beaten the hell out of. The contacts, the Matrix, the different kinds of runs, the way you could keep working and improving your character. I could spend an absurd amount of time in it without feeling like I was just following the next story marker. The main investigation is still there, but repeatable jobs give you another reason to stay in the world. You can take work, earn money, improve your equipment and come back better prepared. The Matrix is also a substantial part of the game rather than just a conversation option that says you hacked something. The job providers are generally called Mr. Johnsons. I'll get into the individual employers, job types and randomization in their own guide, because that system deserves more than a paragraph. Original Genesis manual: https://t.co/h8QT4DVZUG. Shadowrun on Mega-CD, February 23, 1996 There is also a third 1990s Shadowrun game. This one came out in Japan for the Mega-CD, with Compile and Group SNE involved. It is not the Genesis game put on a disc. It moves the setting to Tokyo and mixes text-heavy adventure scenes with turn-based party combat. The presentation is much closer to a Japanese adventure/RPG than either of the other two games. Dice are part of the way combat is represented, too. I'm including it because it belongs in a complete look at the series. I don't want to leave people thinking the SNES and Genesis releases were the only older games. Its original Japanese release and different format also mean it needs to be discussed on its own terms rather than treated as another edition of Joshua's story. Mega-CD history: https://t.co/fRnARSVgt6 and release record: https://t.co/Vbls4wPnmb. Shadowrun on Xbox 360 and Windows, May 29, 2007 This is where the name can really confuse someone looking for another RPG. FASA Studio's 2007 Shadowrun is a team-based first-person shooter. It combines guns, magic and technology in competitive matches, with different playable races and abilities changing how a team fights. It also supported play between Xbox 360 and Windows Vista players, which was a major part of how Microsoft presented it. It isn't another Jake or Joshua adventure, and it isn't a story campaign like the Harebrained games. If you go into it expecting that, you are looking for a completely different kind of game. It belongs in the history, but I would keep its multiplayer systems separate from the RPG guides. Before buying it now, check the current multiplayer situation and compatibility for your system. A launch announcement from 2007 won't tell you whether you can find a match today. Microsoft's launch announcement, reproduced at the time: https://t.co/eUWxLTrX4c. Shadowrun Returns, July 25, 2013 This was the start of the Harebrained Schemes run that I was so excited about. Returns brings Shadowrun back to a story-driven RPG, with a custom runner, conversations, investigation and turn-based tactical combat. Its main campaign is Dead Man's Switch, set in Seattle. A dead acquaintance pulls you into an investigation that becomes much bigger than the job first appears. Your skills affect both combat and some of your options outside it, and you bring other runners into missions with you. Returns also shipped with tools for players to make their own content on PC. That's important to me now, because I played these games on PlayStation. The user-created campaigns are a whole other side of them that I haven't played yet. It is the first game in this modern trio, not an updated version of the SNES or Genesis game. Official PC listing: https://t.co/Iv3axyAV05. Shadowrun: Dragonfall, 2014 Dragonfall originally arrived as an expansion for Returns on February 27, 2014. The standalone Director's Cut followed on September 18. That distinction matters: Director's Cut does not require you to buy Returns first. The setting moves to Berlin. You join a runner team, a job goes badly wrong, and the people around you become a much bigger part of the experience. There is a neighborhood to return to between runs, a crew to get to know and decisions about how you handle the work in front of you. Director's Cut expands the original release with additional missions and improvements, including changes to combat and team development. For the guides, this is the version I mean when I say Dragonfall unless I specifically say otherwise. I don't want somebody following advice for one edition and wondering why their game is different. Director's Cut listing: https://t.co/ufsPtt2gHV and original expansion history: https://t.co/ZQYQXkcdCv. Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown, April 28, 2015 This is a separate game from Cliffhanger Productions, originally known as Shadowrun Online. It used turn-based missions and cooperative play in a Boston outbreak storyline. The name change is worth knowing because Shadowrun Online and Boston Lockdown are not two different games you need to track down. There was also an INFECTED! expansion, and an INFECTED Director's Cut package that combined Boston Lockdown with that expansion. Those are part of this branch of the series, not extra Harebrained games. There is a major problem with recommending it now: the official servers closed on November 30, 2018. Its reliance on those servers means the original service is gone. I am including it as part of the history, not telling people to buy an old key and expect a working game. Don't assume an old store listing means the original service still works. Developer shutdown notice: https://t.co/6sIHFtxvQ3 and Director's Cut package description: https://t.co/nqPSDeubXA. Shadowrun: Hong Kong, August 20, 2015 Hong Kong is the third Harebrained game. It has its own runner, story and crew, with a new city and a different atmosphere from Seattle or Berlin. You still build your character through skills and Karma and take a team into tactical fights, but the people you meet, the work you take and the setting give it its own identity. The Matrix also gets a revised presentation and mechanics rather than simply repeating Returns unchanged. The Extended Edition update arrived on February 5, 2016. Its Shadows of Hong Kong bonus campaign continues beyond the main story. That is additional campaign content inside the Hong Kong release, not a fourth full Harebrained Shadowrun game. That bonus campaign is also explicitly included in the PlayStation listing (https://t.co/cTbYBIRmig) and Xbox listing (https://t.co/4X0epZw5Fb). The PC-only fan campaigns are a different thing. I'll keep the main story and its official continuation clearly labeled in the guides. Official PC listing: https://t.co/jNlsj9IcZw and Extended Edition release information: https://t.co/w4g2d21vHT. And then there is Shadowrun Trilogy Shadowrun Trilogy came to consoles on June 21, 2022. It brings together Returns, Dragonfall: Director's Cut and Hong Kong: Extended Edition. It is a collection of those three games, not another separate story after Hong Kong. The console releases cover PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Publisher announcement: https://t.co/MBIxjy5SFD. The PC games also have their own release history, and Returns and Dragonfall had mobile releases. A port or collection doesn't become a new campaign just because it is on another system. Likewise, the fan campaigns I'm going to cover are community work, not official sequels. That's the main videogame history: eight distinct games, with expansions, revised editions and ports around them. For me, the SNES and Genesis games are still the ones everything comes back to. But there is a lot here to talk about, and I want the guides to make it easier to get into whichever part of Shadowrun interests you.