Video Game Review - Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn

Ninjas are still cool ,right?

It seems to be a recurring theme in this console generation with developers bringing long-forgotten retro titles to modern audiences - Zool, G-Darius, Cotton, and Cyber Citizen Shockman spring to mind. A big part of this retro-revival is to allow current gamers to experience those hits and forgotten gems from the gaming past, and for us older generation to enjoy a slice of our gaming history. Regarding gaming, across the 80s and 90s, a big bulk of video games consisted of side-scrolling beat’em ups. Titles such as Streets of Rage reigned supreme on home consoles, arcades were full of various “side-scrollers” blasting out their 8-bit soundtracks in aid of getting you pocket money. So it comes as no surprise that the side-scrolling beat’em up genre is the one that sees the most ports to modern consoles. 

Shadow of the Ninja started its life as an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) that was first released in Japan back in 1990. As the game aged, it was soon ported to European and Australian markets and has since seen itself re-released on the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch. Fast forward to 2024 and developer NatsumeAtari Inc. and publisher ININ Games have brought a newer version of the classic ninja beat’em up to market: Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn. 

Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn presents itself as a remaster, however, it’s a full-on remake of the classic game. The 8-bit style of the original has been replaced with full-on 3-D environments and plenty of highly detailed enemies to fight. The gameplay consists of choosing a ninja - Hayate or Kaede - and battling across the dystopian sci-fi world. 

The game itself is as you’d expect from any other side-scroller. Each stage is littered with various limited-use power-ups to collect, with a lot of enemies to use them against. There’s a heck of a lot of platforming shenanigans with most stages being a labyrinth of platforms, moving obstacles and bottomless pits. Naturally any good retro title was filled with boss battles and Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn is no different. Here the classic formula is slightly remixed for plenty of boss battles that don’t rely on simply mashing the attack button. Instead you’ll have to contend with knowing when to attack while simultaneously using the environment to avoid incoming attacks. 

You really have to be top of your game when it comes to Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn as it’s an absurdly difficult game to master. I’d like to say that I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to side-scrolling beat’em up, yet for a great deal of my time here I struggled. Even on the normal difficulty setting, the adventure is a punishing one. You really need to have godlike reflexes to survive each area, and even with the paltry amount of lives available, it’s still not enough. Enemies come think and fast with each basic attack being enough to see you get taken out within a few hits. It’s also here where the titles' shortcomings start to show. 

Being a “remake” you’d expect the title to have all the modern elements of a 2024 video game. However, while Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn looks like a modern video game, it plays like its original. Movement is extremely janky and doesn’t take advantage of the 360° movement allowed by the DuelSense controller. Jumping and attacking roots your character to the spot which makes boss fights a lot longer than they need to be. I get that these style of games were like this, but we’re not in 1992 anymore. Likewise there’s zero option to save wherever you choose and a complete lack of in-game checkpoints. Seeing the game over screen takes you back to the start of the current stage which gets very frustrating, especially if you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get back to where your progress ended. The lack of modern comforts not only shows how far gaming has come, it doesn’t make particularly enjoyable experience. 

Overall Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn is a title that’s only going to appeal to a certain audience. It’s decadently old-school title which doesn’t stray far from its predecessor. It’s punishing difficulty and lack of modern comforts makes for frustrating gaming sessions which takes away the beauty of the games presentation. That being said, if you’re an old-school gamer then there’s a lot here that will appeal to that sense of nostalgia. However this isn’t enough to justify more than one play through. 

Rating: 5/10 

Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn is available now and can be purchased from the PlayStation Store. 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

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