to Kidd, "we made improvements and changes, but the basic concepts were pretty much the same [as in Nightshade]." The ROM image of the first version of Shadowrun contains a much more crude script, with more sexual suggestive and violent phrases. For example, one line is changed from "morgue guys" to "chop shop guys". The game's distributor favored the less serious version for retail release, sparking indignation and conflict among Kidd and other members of Beam's staff. Kidd recalled: "Beam Software was a madhouse, a cesspit of bad karma and evil vibes. The war was reaching shooting level; old school creators who just wanted to make good games were being crushed down by a wave of managerial bull. It was no longer a 'creative partnership' in any way; it was 'us' and 'them'. People were feeling creatively and emotionally divorced from their projects." Shadowrun was ultimately completed by its deadline. Kidd credits this to the staffers abstaining from company meetings and workshops, and continually keeping management away from the designers. Shadowrun was released in North America and Japan by Data East. In PAL regions, it was self-published by Beam Software as Laser Beam Entertainment. The 1994 Japanese version has a significantly longer introduction sequence than the English version of the game and also has a vertically uncompressed Shadowrun logo on the title screen. Other than that, it uses the same script as the North American and PAL editions, just with Japanese subtitles. Reception The game was met with a positive critical reception and good reviews. Shadowrun was given a number of awards from various publications, including the title of the Best RPG of the Year by VideoGames, Electronic Games, and Game Informer, and was a runner-up for it in GamePro (behind Secret of Mana). The game was given the second place Nintendo Power Award in the category "Most Innovative (Super NES)" (it was also nominated in the category "For Challenge"), Nintendo Power describing it as "one of the best sci-fi games ever". However, the game sold poorly, partly because of low shipping numbers. Shadowrun has been positively recounted in many retrospective lists and articles. It was listed it as the 34th best Super NES game by Super Play in 1996, as well as the 48th best game on any Nintendo platform by Nintendo Power in 1997. Ranking it as the 77th top Super NES game in 2011, IGN commented that