
Six special weapons can be unlocked in Story mode. Even melee weapons such as swords have ammunition points, which may represent their durability. Only one weapon can be held at a time, and when Shadow runs out of ammunition for his weapon, he will toss it aside and it disappears. When a weapon is first picked up, Shadow receives some initial of ammunition for that weapon more ammunition can be gathered by picking up more copies of the weapon. Weapons are commonly found in boxes and dropped from enemies. Ranging from pistols and machine guns to close combat weapons, Gatling guns, bazookas, and even laser rifles. Shadow can use a variety of weapons found throughout each stage. He is able to use Chaos Spear, but only when you unlock the last story and turn into Super Shadow. Shadow also keeps his ability to wall run from Sonic Heroes. He also has the ability to use weapons (including guns, swords, rocket launchers, etc.) and drive vehicles that he finds or commandeers.

He can jump and jump dash/homing attack, as well as spin dash, light dash, and slide to attack while running, and can perform a punch-punch-kick combo.

Shadow's abilities in Shadow the Hedgehog are similar to those from Sonic Adventure 2. The dark nature of this game received large negativity, and the dark edge was toned down in later installments and removed in more recent Sonic games. It's premise was dubbed as a possible April Fools, but it eventually was released in 2005. The game was released alongside Sonic Rush.
