I missed out on a lot of great games, growing up. Either because I didn’t have the right console or because I was a stupid kid and was way more interested in miscellaneous crap. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of excellent games that I have never even touched – - I don’t think I’m alone in this, either.

I’d wager that a disturbing number of World of Warcraft players have never touched Baldur’s Gate. Not to mention all the kids playing Halo that never played Quake. It’s not about older being necessarily better; it’s just about noticing the wonderful opportunities we have to discover with those buried gems.

In that spirit, I am trying real hard to play the games I should’ve played years ago. Maybe it’s better that I’m doing it now, because now, I’m a grown ass man, and I won’t sit and struggle through a garbage game. I’ll just cuss and complain, and move onto something else.

BlueSky Software’s Shadowrun for the Sega Genesis is one of those games I’d never heard of. It takes place in Seattle, in some wacky dystopian cyberpunk future where elves and orks run around jacking your cash. It’s a frustrating setting where nothing is fair, and you’ve just got to get a better gun and get over it.

The game is fairly open-ended in that the story could be finished in a few hours.  You spend most of your time doing odd jobs for corporations, building up your nuyen (the game’s currency), and karma, Shadowrun‘s version of experience.  You do about six different types of jobs over and over for hours so you can get a little bit stronger and do those six different types of jobs a little bit better next time.

I know it sounds awful, and I’m just getting started. The sound in this game is the most terrible, abrasive noise I’ve ever heard.  I listen to screeching beeps and clicks for fun, but Shadowrun is a painful thing to listen to. Whether you’re casting a healing spell or breaking through a computer’s security, every sound effect is designed to make you put down the controller and rethink your choice in hobbies.

The graphics aren’t anything to write home about. In the appearance department, Shadowrun is a little boring. There are only about ten sprites in the whole game, so it’s sometimes hard to tell whether you’re dealing with a typical cop or a hardcore corporate strike team. Most of the urban areas look about the same. Buildings typically assume the same vaguely corporate appearance, and if not for a few landmark areas in each part of the city, it would be fairly easy to get lost. Again, since every so often someone shows up to smoke you, being lost is an annoying experience.

There’s also a steep learning curve. You can play this game in a lot of different ways, and most of them are wrong. Sooner or later you figure out that the game is kicking your ass for a reason, and you rethink your strategy, but until then, you are suffering.

But in a way, there’s something rewarding about that experience. Shadowrun puts you in a cruel world and forces you to survive in it. You don’t get any help, and everyone is out to kill you or take your money. Any time you’re walking around, minding your own business, you have a chance of a random encounter. There’s often no right way to handle the encounters but to cross your finger and hope the cop or vampire or whatever the hell else is acosting you that moment doesn’t send you back to the hospital.

But there are nice surprises in the game. For example, there’s an item you can buy that gives you free cab rides, and another that lets you run around office buildings mostly unmolested. The game doesn’t do anything to tell you about these perks. You have to seek them out and usually drop a fat dime to access them, but you find yourself suddenly relieved when you stumble upon a Yakuza contact that sells heavy combat armor.

Shadowrun is definitely worth playing if you’re into pen and paper RPGs. If you’ve faced up against a malevolent GM, you’re used to the masochistic march to the next meaningless power tier. Shadowrun has its roots in that sort of gaming, and unlike most adaptations, it keeps the connection. Experience in the pen and paper system is extremely useful. Shadowrun has fairly complex combat mechanics, and understanding them keeps the game playable.

All things considered, after all the fuming and yelling I did every time I got screwed over by Shadowrun, I’d still recommend the game if for nothing else than its unique setting and brutal indifference. But hell, I’d recommend just about any RPG with guns.