For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to zagato blackfist's Nightshade - Part 1: The Claws Of Sutekh (NES) maps.
The villainous Sutekh seeks to dominate and control Metro City through crime and terror. But a crimefighter named Nightshade might thwart Sutekh's plans. Playing as Nightshade, you will patrol the dark corners of the city to find clues and items, solve puzzles, gain "Popularity", and confront five crime kings, including Sutekh himself.
This game has a unique atmosphere and play style, absolutely unlike anything else seen on the NES. It's mostly point-and-click action, but sprinkled in are some 1v1 and 1v2 fighting sequences. There's even a brief fire rescue sequence that almost feels like a Donkey Kong level! Popularity is required to progress at a couple of points, and you can build that up by winning fights and doing good deeds for Metro City's civilians.
Metro City (not to be confused with the Metro City in Final Fight, Captain Commando, or the Megamind movies) is a dark place, but zagato blackfist has mapped all 108 screens to give Nightshade a fighting chance, including the five traps that Nightshade finds himself in if he's defeated, four of which can be escaped with puzzle-solving skills (or zagato blackfist's provided solutions). It's a neat twist on the concept of having a number of lives, and one of the things this game is known for, but if it were to have a Popularity meter, it's still on the low side and could use a boost.
So to recognize the effort put into recognizing this hidden gem, zagato blackfist's Nightshade - Part 1: The Claws Of Sutekh (NES) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for January 2026.
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