Shadow of the Ninja Analysis

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn steps out of the shadows to surprise with a splendid remake that will please veterans and newcomers alike.

Some may know him as Shadow of the Ninja, others as KAGE, and still others may know him as Blue Shadow. Either way, In 1990 we had a title on our brand new NES that captured the essence of the challenging Ninja Gaiden, but something more affordable and designed for all types of audiences. A direct, playful and cooperative proposal that we can relive thanks to the remake that it offers us Natsume Atari. Unless you like titles with a retro feel, some arcade touches and a co-op component, it will take you a while to play as ninjas Hayate and Kaede. Ready to take action?

Back to the good arcades

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is clearly a remake. Not only does the visual style change radically from the original delivery, but there is a changing scenarios, secondary weapons, enemy attack pattern and much more. A reinvention that will please those who lived through the arcade boom of the 90s. For example, in terms of aesthetics, it reminded me a lot of Midnight Wanderers, an arcade that marked my childhood and in which I invested many five-dollar coins. This plague of nostalgia that it causes surely takes more than one back to their adolescence, leaving their money in the arcades, and says a lot about the care that the studio has taken in the facelift it has carried out.

Some well-equipped ninjas

Even though we are in a dystopian future, the katana will continue to be our best weapon to face the waves of enemies that each phase shelters. We will choose one of the two ninjas to undertake an adventure that will lead us to rediscover the five original phases plus one entirely designed for the occasion. And even if they may seem few in number, the difficulty and replayability will be there to extend the useful life of the game.

As in another great classic like Strider, our katana can get an advantage in power if we take the appropriate amplifier. With this, we will be able to (almost) succeed in Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn, although we will have other types of help … some better than others. Among the positive points, there are the hookwith which we will not be able to cling to the ledges, but it will be very useful if we want to shoot down rivals out of our reach or in the sky. It’s not bad at all either special attack which will affect everything on the screen, although it will take away some of our health. Where I’m not so convinced is with the rest of the secondary objects that we will collect by opening the chests…

Agility issues

The reflexes and skill of our character are one of the factors that define the strategy to follow. Well, as good ninjas, I assure you that We will do without the alternative weapons that the game offers us.

Basically for two reasons: they do similar damage to our katana, and because they are slower to use, leaving us sold in front of the opponent. We will have shurikens, shotguns, machine guns, sabers, ball cannons… the variety is huge. But they will only be useful in those precise moments that must be known in advance.

And for the ninjas, Hayate and Kaede experience failures from the first year of their professional training. The jumps are not well executed. Sometimes they stick to the walls, sometimes they don’t. The jumping physics are sometimes erratic, with times where you reach the next platform and other times where you fail. I don’t feel safe when jumping, and that, along with the secondary weapons, means I don’t feel as immersed in the action as I should.

90s Show

Anything negative is offset by the visual spectacle we will experience on screen. It’s wonderful to be part of the action at every stage, with many elements on stage and various locations, each more beautiful. This is without counting the final bosses that await us in the last section of the level. A good example of know-how, where you will have to know each other’s weaknesses by repeating and repeating.

If we accompany the graphic spectacle with a sound aspect that goes hand in hand, we are dealing with a product of very good quality. Behind his songs hides Iku Mizutani, responsible for many songs during the glory days of the NES.

Even though it is not an easy game, we can reach the end of Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn in an hour and a half if we master our ninja skills. Of course, there is a hard mode which is not just about having more enemies, but implements new attacks on the final bosses and a greater frenzy of bullets on the screen. This challenge is worth taking on if you have already completed the game on normal difficulty.

Shadow of the Ninja Conclusion – Reborn

Arcade game fans will surely appreciate the arrival of this title. NatsumeAtari has done a spectacular job with a remake that surpasses the original in every way. Its visual aspect, its sound, the good implementation of the (local) cooperative… keep us absorbed by the screen all the time. What I take the worst are the changes on the secondary weapons, very crude if we see the agile and frenetic character of Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn itself. That and some jumps that sometimes scare us. Despite the negative aspects, all remakes could come out with such quality. I would have just needed them to add the original version of 1990 to teleport me to that (distant) youth.