If the Shadow in SA2 was the original, it would explain why he was able to survive the fall back to earth at the end of the game. At the end of Shadow the Hedgehog (game) Eggman admitted to Shadow that he is the original as well. Which at the very least means he’s the original from all of the ones we see in Heroes and Shadow’s own game.
It’s not unheard of for other characters with similar strength to survive falling from space to a planet either, with Sonic doing it multiple times in Sonic X and it happening around the end of Sonic Colors. Probably some other games too that I’m forgetting rn
How long do you think Shadow was on earth when Maria sent him down in the escape pod before GUN captured him? There’s so much stuff abt Maria getting shot but I don’t see much discussion abt the immediate aftermath.. Being alone on an unfamiliar planet gotta be scary as fuck. Do we even know where the pod landed? Could’ve ended up in the ocean for all I know. If that were the case it’d make sense that he couldn’t hide from them
so the timeline and details between shadow getting launched from the ark and his reawakening on Prison Island are pretty vague and leave a lot up to interpretation.
timeline wise, it's unlikely that he was on earth for long before being found by GUN - my main reasoning for this is that pretty much every event regarding shadow's backstory is described as happening "50 years ago." the black comet's first arrival, shadow's creation, the GUN raid, and gerald's execution all seem to take place within the span of this same year. my personal interpretation is that shadow's escape pod was probably on earth for no more than a month before it was found by GUN.
it also seems unlikely that shadow was conscious after he crashed to earth - at least, it's not a period of time he ever mentions or seems to remember (which doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't awake, but personally i always thought he would've been unconscious during this period of time. that, or there's something larger going on here).
this period of time in shadow's backstory is incredibly vague, but its ambiguity is something i would argue is deliberate. one of the biggest questions raised in sonic adventure 2 is whether or not shadow is the "original" shadow or even the true ultimate lifeform. this question is brought up by rouge, who identifies the biolizard as the original ultimate lifeform (though she's technically incorrect because the biolizard was just a prototype to the ultimate lifeform). even though rouge is wrong, this question is incredibly important to shadow's character and comes up a few more times over the course of SA2.
so there's a very, very real possibility that the shadow in SA2 is not the original shadow/ultimate lifeform created on the ark 50 years ago. it's possible that the original shadow died after being launched from the ark, and that SA2 shadow is a clone of the original. it's also possible that the original ultimate lifeform wasn't "shadow" at all, and literally every single one of shadow's memories about this time were entirely fabricated by gerald. there's also extremely compelling evidence that this original ultimate lifeform was actually sonic. the hedgehog. just a lil game theory for you to chew on there (gets shot)
anyway so. my answer is that shadow was either just taking a month long nap after he was launched from the ark or that he was fucking dead
There’s a certain thrill I get from playing Sonic games that, whenever I find it in other games, I immediately latch onto it. The more I think about it, the more I find it in my other hobbies and interests. I’m guessing it has to do with quick reaction times and rewards. Either way, here’s some things that make my ADHD brain go brrrrr in no particular order:
Speedy Sonic levels
Web swinging in Spider-Man games
Rhythm games
Fast paced music
Skateboarding (or what I imagine it would feel like when you’re actually good at it)
(Mountain)biking
Driving on the highway (still a lil scary tho)
Imagining the running parkour man outside of the car following you
Free running / parkour
Running on a trampoline
Tree climbing
Might add more later if I come up with more stuff