This game is another entry in the "under the radar" series. The game is also another childhood gem of mine as I got into this game because I love the Martial Arts genre and Ninjas as both were big in the 80's, so it makes sense a game like this would be made.
This game is from one of my favorite and most underrated video game companies "Natsume" whom have been know to have a library of quality cult gems over the years; this game was one of their first entries and good ones. Yeah, it's true that this game takes it's cues from "Ninja Gaiden" making this another wheel greaser game but I don't mind as long as the game is fun which this is.
I really like the setting of the game which is different, the game of course takes place in the far future which is in 2029; funny playing it now were now getting closer to that year and also tells you how old this game truly is. But anyway there is an alien invasion that occurs and there are these male and female ninjas Hayate and Kayate both friends or husband and wife depending on which you prefer, whom are the only ones to stop them and liberate our planet. Yeah, simple alien invasion premise we seen so many times before but what makes it's different is in its execution which is having ninjas in the sci-fi genre. This I think is an awesome idea and something I don't see much except in the Super Sentai shows which despite martial arts elements almost but don't quite count, it's just a cool idea because it's a beautiful mix of both the martial arts and sci-fi genre show that you can do more with both genres.
The animation is well detailed and solid, each of the levels are designed differently and memorable. My favorite level is the Statue of Liberty, it's just cool being able to fight on a national landmark and of course Lady Liberty has been used on other games from "Shadow Dancer" (Shinobi sequel both Arcade and Genesis versions) and "Atomic Runner"; of course also that intro to "G. I. Joe the Movie". Even like the music which is also memorable, there are plenty of tunes that just sing out ninja action.
You have a good variety and assortment of enemies which include the typical evil ninjas, evil trained monkeys whom are another of the annoyance enemies much like those damn birds in "Ninja Gaiden", but what I really like are some of the robots you destroy which is always cool, there is always something gratifying about seeing Ninja's destroy and undermine high technological threats. Also, the bosses and minibosses are in good variety like some one eyes robot armed with gun muzzle quills and a robot tank boss that looks like the robot tanks from the "Terminator" films, obviously the films were an inspiration for that boss.
But most importantly the gameplay is spot on, really like the two-player function which is cool which means double the ninja action but most of all that you get to work as a team. You have a decent assortment of weapons from your regular sword which has power but not a lot of range. A rope dagger which is cool as it has long range attack but not a lot of power. And the shuriken/throwing daggers which have a good balance of power and distance but are of limited supply so make your throws count.
Two of the things that make the gameplay stand out are when you collect enough of the same weapon, from the sword if you collect a second and third sword your sword shoots out blade waves almost like the ones in the "Strider" game. It's cool because this blade wave is a good balance of both distance and power. Or if you collect enough Shurikens/Daggers, not just will you gain more ammo but they perform a different function which are homing shurkens.
Another of the unique features of the game are how your character not just latches and scales horizontally on the bars/platforms but that he/she can flip up to ascend to the top of that platform. I just though that was really cool which added something new to the platform action dynamic; this bar scale and flip function was in three "Ninja Gaiden" games (Gameboy, Sega Master System and final Third game) but only years later as this game came out years before both those games.
"Shadow of the Ninja is a gem in the shadows worth finding and trying."
Rating: 3 stars.
This game is from one of my favorite and most underrated video game companies "Natsume" whom have been know to have a library of quality cult gems over the years; this game was one of their first entries and good ones. Yeah, it's true that this game takes it's cues from "Ninja Gaiden" making this another wheel greaser game but I don't mind as long as the game is fun which this is.
I really like the setting of the game which is different, the game of course takes place in the far future which is in 2029; funny playing it now were now getting closer to that year and also tells you how old this game truly is. But anyway there is an alien invasion that occurs and there are these male and female ninjas Hayate and Kayate both friends or husband and wife depending on which you prefer, whom are the only ones to stop them and liberate our planet. Yeah, simple alien invasion premise we seen so many times before but what makes it's different is in its execution which is having ninjas in the sci-fi genre. This I think is an awesome idea and something I don't see much except in the Super Sentai shows which despite martial arts elements almost but don't quite count, it's just a cool idea because it's a beautiful mix of both the martial arts and sci-fi genre show that you can do more with both genres.
The animation is well detailed and solid, each of the levels are designed differently and memorable. My favorite level is the Statue of Liberty, it's just cool being able to fight on a national landmark and of course Lady Liberty has been used on other games from "Shadow Dancer" (Shinobi sequel both Arcade and Genesis versions) and "Atomic Runner"; of course also that intro to "G. I. Joe the Movie". Even like the music which is also memorable, there are plenty of tunes that just sing out ninja action.
You have a good variety and assortment of enemies which include the typical evil ninjas, evil trained monkeys whom are another of the annoyance enemies much like those damn birds in "Ninja Gaiden", but what I really like are some of the robots you destroy which is always cool, there is always something gratifying about seeing Ninja's destroy and undermine high technological threats. Also, the bosses and minibosses are in good variety like some one eyes robot armed with gun muzzle quills and a robot tank boss that looks like the robot tanks from the "Terminator" films, obviously the films were an inspiration for that boss.
But most importantly the gameplay is spot on, really like the two-player function which is cool which means double the ninja action but most of all that you get to work as a team. You have a decent assortment of weapons from your regular sword which has power but not a lot of range. A rope dagger which is cool as it has long range attack but not a lot of power. And the shuriken/throwing daggers which have a good balance of power and distance but are of limited supply so make your throws count.
Two of the things that make the gameplay stand out are when you collect enough of the same weapon, from the sword if you collect a second and third sword your sword shoots out blade waves almost like the ones in the "Strider" game. It's cool because this blade wave is a good balance of both distance and power. Or if you collect enough Shurikens/Daggers, not just will you gain more ammo but they perform a different function which are homing shurkens.
Another of the unique features of the game are how your character not just latches and scales horizontally on the bars/platforms but that he/she can flip up to ascend to the top of that platform. I just though that was really cool which added something new to the platform action dynamic; this bar scale and flip function was in three "Ninja Gaiden" games (Gameboy, Sega Master System and final Third game) but only years later as this game came out years before both those games.
"Shadow of the Ninja is a gem in the shadows worth finding and trying."
Rating: 3 stars.
