Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn officially released today on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Steam, and the Xbox Series of consoles, the latter of which this review is based off of. Here is the SuperPhillip Central verdict.
Without a shadow of a doubt, you will get schooled.
The original Shadow of the Ninja is an NES cult classic, known for its compelling combination of awesome action platforming and punishing but fair difficulty. It's currently available as a game to play as one of Nintendo Switch Online's offerings, specifically in the NES catalog. Now, decades later, the title is remade and reborn, getting a new lease on life with added features, a new level, and lots of polish with Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn. Keeping that aforementioned combination of action platforming and punishing but fair (for the most part) difficulty, Reborn is hardly a game for the timid, and that isn't always the player's fault, either.
Being a relic of the NES era, there isn't a massively deep narrative or plot to Shadow of the Ninja's remade incarnation. What you get is two ninjas--Hayate and Kaede--who are on a mission to take down a dictator who leads a dystopian country. That's pretty much it plot-wise, but it serves a serviceable enough purpose to get to slaying enemies and evading death traps of all shapes and sizes in the six level campaign.
Which ever ninja you choose to start out with is less of a choice of skill set--they both seem to play similarly for the most part (save for slightly different but discernible physics)--and more on aesthetics. Each start out with a ninja blade and a kusarigama--a spear that extends from a chain. The former is perfect for melee and honing in on close-by foes, while the latter is excellent for not only keeping space between enemies but also taking them out from afar before making a perilous jump, for example. The kusarigama can be fired in all compass directions when possible (i.e. there aren't walls or floors in the way), and both the blade and chain can be temporarily upgraded once for better utility.
Ninja gear discovered in levels in all sorts of locations makes for the bow that wraps your ninja's offensive package together. These come in the form of myriad weapons, abilities, and health-bestowing items to utilize in a pinch. From traditional shuriken and kunai to less typical ninja fare like shotguns and miniguns, your ninja can acquire quite the arsenal--though only a handful of ninja gear can be equipped at once before they're tossed away upon collecting a new one.
The ninja gear that you keep in your possession by the end of a level is put into the shop for permanent access, where at the beginning of a given playthrough you use the money you've earned from slaying enemies to purchase an assortment of ninja gear to start your next playthrough. The highest amount of money you've earned is the benchmark for future playthroughs, so there's never any worry about messing yourself over with a low budget to buy gear on a playthrough.
The six levels themselves are sometimes overwhelming affairs. Practically every few steps in a level sees your ninja encountering some kind of enemy, trap, or pit to deal with. Yes, in these levels death is less of a possibility--it's more of a certainty. Fortunately, levels are also split up between multiple sub-areas, which serve as checkpoints. Now, that doesn't mean that these sub-areas aren't lengthy endeavors onto themselves, meaning that I never died deep into a sub-area and had to redo tons of progress. Oh, I definitely and frustratingly did. But at the very least there's the option to continue that is available after the somewhat patronizing and overlong "Game Over" screen plasters itself on your screen--a screen that I got a little TOO used to.
With six levels, Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn might not seem like a lengthy endeavor of a game. Truth be told, if you have the skills to rush through every level like a master ninja, then Reborn won't give you too much longevity. Fortunately, most of us aren't equipped with that advanced skill set. Instead, you'll find yourself replaying levels, making slow but steady progress, earning new ninja gear to assist you on future playthroughs, and finally, FINALLY, making enough headway to take down the final boss and successfully beating the game.
There are two difficulty modes in Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn--normal and hard. The first is the base difficulty, suggested to beginners and standard players alike. The latter presents more enemies, advanced attack patterns for said enemies, and just a more arduous journey--which the base difficulty of normal is no cakewalk to begin with! Co-op play is also offered for two players locally, which serves as a nice way to lessen the difficulty burden, but unless you can find a co-op partner who can put up with the level of challenge on display, then you'll probably be going it alone.
That said, here comes the troublesome part of Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn--and it's a bit of a doozy: the controls. While hacking and slashing feel wonderful and are done well, it's other mechanics that don't hold up so well. This includes climbing, which makes it so simple tasks like clinging to pipes were efforts in frustration as my ninja would either climb to the other side of the pipe to take damage or drop out completely from the pipe, also taking damage from the fall into the abyss. Then, there's wall climbing, which is all too aggravating and requires double tapping the A button when on a wall to scale it. It's quite clunky and finnicky, offering nowhere near the precision and grace required for some of the later stages' platforming challenges.
Last but not least, the ninja gear you stumble upon that I touched on earlier is a bit cumbersome to switch between. Rather than being able to cycle through all your options with the unused rear triggers, instead you are forced to hold the ninja gear button and press left and right on the D-Pad to cycle through your options. It's rather challenging in the heat of battle to madly switch to the proper ninja gear you want. It made for situations where I'd die and get a game over, right before being able to select a healing ninja gear, for example.
Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn looks divine with its upgraded visuals. The spritework is tremendous, offering immensely and painstakingly detailed characters, and the biggest charmer here is that of enemies, especially those large ones like the yellow robotic bully that loves to fire flames from its flamethrower. The backgrounds and environments are no slouch either--and that's an understatement. Everything oozes atmosphere and the aesthetics are stellar. The soundtrack has gotten a boost and improvement too, and the tunes feature the guidance of the original composer, Iku Mizutani, delivering a lovely 80s/90s hard rock sound to it.
Depending on your level of patience and perseverance, Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn may be a tough ask to consider playing. This is a massively difficult game, which sometimes isn't helped by the clunky climbing controls or the on-the-fly ninja gear switching. It's also a short game to experience all of the content available, but most players will not exactly be able to breeze through it to see it all in a fast fashion. If you're willing to put in the effort and contend with the level of challenge offered, Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn is a remarkable 2D action platformer that properly transitions the NES original to a new era.
[SPC Says: B-]
A copy of Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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