Shadow of the Ninja
System: NES
Release Date: December 1990
Developer: Natsume
Publisher: Natsume
Genre: Action
Stop a madman from taking over the world in Shadow of the Ninja! The Emperor Garuda has taken over the biggest city in America and wants to expand, but he’s going to have a heck of a time pulling it off. His fortress has been infiltrated by Hayate and Kaede, two ninjas of the Iga Clan. Now you’ll have to lead the ninja through five areas to meet up with the evil emperor and put an end to his reign.
From the get go, you choose to play as Hayate or Kaede. They play exactly the same, so it’s just if you prefer to be blue or orange. Though I didn’t have anyone to play with, the 2 player mode is simultaneous, so that is a big positive the game has going for it. You get typical platforming fare having to jump and climb your way into good positions to defeat enemies. They can definitely be difficult to avoid taking damage from. Regular enemies can take a ton of hits to defeat. This requires you to learn hit and run tactics in order to be successful.
You have two main weapons to fight with, the katana and the kusarigama. I stuck with the kusarigama through my attempts because of the range benefits. I didn’t find out until the last couple levels that the katana levels up and gets stronger and longer as you collect more katana symbols. That probably would have been good to realize. There are also limited use throwing stars and bombs that can be picked up from some item containers.
The five areas are split into different stages with the occasional boss. I found most of the bosses took a couple tries to figure out their patterns, and some of them had health bars that took awhile to begin to drain. Losing your total health bar costs you one of your five continues and starts you at the beginning of the stage. Avoiding getting hit in the levels can be incredibly difficult. I found myself praying for potions to replenish some of my health a lot. (16:50) If you lose all of your continues, it’s game over and back to the beginning of the game. Luckily, the game is fun overall and not that long, so you don’t feel too punished.
Graphics: 2.5
Everything looks fine, but the detail isn’t up to the level of what I felt it should be.
Sound: 3.0
Music is pretty rocking and sound effects aren’t a distraction.
Gameplay: 3.0
Controls work pretty well, giving you a lot of ways to move through each level and defeat the baddies.
Difficulty: 3.0
Levels take some concentration to get through, especially learning enemies and their weak points.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I was pretty satisfied playing through, even though it took me a couple attempts to make it to the end.
Overall Rating: 2.9
Shadow of the Ninja earns a B. This is a solid showing from Natsume and with the ability to have a second player, it would be hard to recommend against.