Shadow Blasters

Shadow Blasters is a side-scrolling action game for the Sega Genesis. Its narrative premise involves a divine withdrawal, as the gods abandon humanity for its moral failings. This leaves Earth open to invasion by Ashura, an alien king from the Evil World. A single benevolent deity, Hyperion, intervenes by empowering four human warriors to serve as the planet's defenders.

The player directly controls this team of four, consisting of a fencer named Leo, a monk called Marco, and two ninjas, Horatio and Tiffany. A core mechanic allows the player to switch between these characters at any point during a stage. Each warrior possesses a unique primary weapon that can be charged for a more powerful shot. Individual attributes for jumping and movement speed can also be enhanced through power-ups collected during play.

Progression through the game's nine stages is partially non-linear. The first six environments, which include a mountain, harbor, street, future setting, glen, and forest, can be tackled in any sequence the player chooses. Every stage concludes with a boss encounter that must be defeated to advance. Each character also has access to a single-use special attack per stage that eliminates all on-screen enemies.