Shadow: War of Succession was developed by Tribeca Digital Studios (not to be confused with Tribeca Interactive) and released in 1994 for the 3DO. It was one of the many Fighting Games that tried to copy Mortal Kombat.
The leader of S.H.A.D.O.W. has died, and seven of the Shadow King's lieutenants fight each other to the death to become the next mob boss.
This work contains examples of:
- Art Shift: Both the final boss and the background for the fight are hand-drawn while your character is still a digitized actor.
- Bar Brawl: Riggs' Home Stage is in a bar. Glass breaking can even be heard in the background music for that level.
- Badass Longcoat: Carlos is of the sunglasses, trenchcoat, and shotgun type.
- Clear My Name: Gabriella's alleged goal. Perhaps she was framed for the assassination of the mob boss?
- Continuity Snarl: A lot of what the characters say doesn't correlate with their stories. Erika Storm was the one that tried to kill her father, not all the characters she challenges, as one example.
- Deal with the Devil: The manual explains that this is the source of Riggs's powers. He made the deal after being killed by Carlos in exchange for the souls of the other combatants.
- Digitized Sprites: In keeping with being a Mortal Kombat knockoff.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: Of sorts. The final boss can't be fought on Beginner difficulty. Instead, it shows a portrait of said boss, with text hinting at the boss itself, then boots back to the main menu. Considering text dumps featuring said boss tend to use different portraits depending on which version is being played, it's likely the freeze issue only affects certain locations.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: The helicopter in the opening flies by the Statue of Liberty.
- Evil Power Vacuum: The plot: Kincaid Storm, mob boss, is assassinated (with an attack helicopter), and thus all of the local underworld enforcers fight for his vacated position.
- FBI Agent: Carlos Cortez is working undercover for the F.B.I.
- Finishing Move: Averted. There is a moment to "finish" your enemy, but they didn't actually program any fatalities.
- Fun with Acronyms: S.H.A.D.O.W. stands for Syndicate of Hate, Anarchy, Destruction, and Organized Warfare.
- Hell on Earth: In Riggs's ending, S.H.A.D.O.W. becomes Satan's army and conquers the world.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Riggs's (very spammable) "Hellfire" attack sends flaming clawed hands at his opponent.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Erika gets to wield a katana for some reason.
- Mysterious Stranger: Viper, who wears a ski mask, wants to put a stop to S.H.A.D.O.W. for some unexplained reason. Nothing else is known about him; even his ending explains nothing.
- Nebulous Evil Organisation: S.H.A.D.O.W.
- Perfect Play A.I.: The AI opponents are more susceptible to fireballs than the usual examples of this trope, but let them get in close and they'll annihilate you in seconds.
- The Rival: Except for Viper or the Shadow King, each character has their own rival.
- Carlos and Riggs are rivals because Carlos executed Riggs, but Riggs was spared his life by the Devil and seeks a revenge.
- Erica and Gabriella are also rivals. Gabriella partially blamed for the murder of the Shadow King, as it occurred while she was off-shift from being his bodyguard, even though it was Erica who killed the Shadow King.
- Lastly, Sasha and Anvil apparently form a rivalry due to unique quotes form these characters when fighting. Though such a rivalry would only exists as an America vs Russia dynamic, as Anvil is a Navy SEAL and Sasha is a former Russian agent.
- Secret Character: It is possible to play as the Shadow King upon beating the game by pressing start on the Player 2 controller when the final boss fight begins.
- Shout-Out:
- Riggs introduces himself to Carlos with "You killed me once, but now I'm more powerful than you can ever imagine!"
- "My name is Erika Storm! You killed my father! Prepare to Die!" Ironically, she attempted to kill her father, according to her ending.
- Wanted a Son Instead: Mentioned by Gabriella when fighting Erica. "Your father always said that his greatest disappoint was not having a son".
- We Can Rebuild Him: The mob boss was rebuilt into a cyborg that serves as the final boss.
- You Killed My Brother: The reason Anvil is fighting is to avenge his brother. In his ending, he loots S.H.A.D.O.W.'s files and discovers his brother is still alive in a South American prison. He gathers a group of mercs and raids the place, saving him.
