Shadow of the Ninja Reborn Review (Switch): Mastering the arts

In the 80s and 90s, you could hurl a throwing star and hit numerous games with ninja characters and themes. One of those being standout hit of its time in Shadow of the Ninja. The remake of the arcade style platformer, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn, maintains the originals’ challenging fast-paced style but adds a refreshing overhaul to the mechanics and design. Reborn captures what it means to be a ninja, but was a remake necessary? We don’t need to ask a ninja to find out.

Clan Life

You play as two ninjas Hayate or Kaede, both from the Iga clan. Choosing to either play alone or coop, you’ll run through six stages defeating enemies, collecting experience and items, and fighting larger than life bosses. Navigating through levels sees you jumping on platforms, dodging enemy attacks, and finding new ninja centric items to aid you on your journey. Your standard weapons are the close-ranged katana and long-ranged kusarigama, but you’ll unlock new gear as you explore and complete stages.

The controls are simple in design but can be challenging to master. As is the way of the ninja, it takes patience and skill to understand enemy patterns, level design, and inventory management. Starting a stage, you’ll be equipped with your standard weaponry: the katana and kusarigama. As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain experience that boosts the attack power of your two weapons. The katana will gain the ability to fire a short burst of force ahead of you to hit enemies, while the kusarigama grows in size and forces enemies back from you. The combination of both makes for smooth and fluid gameplay and I felt both were great for clearing normal enemies with ease.

You can only use the katana on the ground, but the kusarigama can be used while you jump and can be aimed in any direction. Jumping is a useful way to get around stages, as you’ll be using platforms and leaping over gaps to get around. However, the jumping mechanic can be frustrating. Oftentimes, a jump will fall short of reaching the opposite side as it doesn’t feel like there is enough power behind it. This can be avoided by using the spin jump option which sees you press a button in the air to float a bit. Still, I feel as a ninja, a jump should have more oomph behind it to get to where you want to go. There is always hoping you’ll reach the other side and run up the wall, but I found myself sliding back down quite a bit more than reaching the top.

This lead to another issue I had. You’ll automatically grab ledges when and if you reach them, but I found myself moving so quickly, that I would either jump into an enemy afterward or push another button that had me let go of the ledge to fall to my death. It’s really a combination of mastering when to go fast and when to slow down.

As you explore, you’ll collect other weaponry to fill your inventory. Things like throwing stars, food, hammers, a giant sword, and plenty more to add to your collection. You’ll unlock the weapons you complete stages with and can use money to purchase them in new game modes.

Each weapon has a unique ability to bring down enemies, larger weapons do more damage, some ranged weapons can automatically target enemies, and food and drink heal you when your health is in the red. Though managing your inventory can be a daunting task, especially if you’re dealing with multiple enemies around you or a boss. You’ll need to hold down a button then sort through your gear by using the control stick. It can take a few seconds to find what you’re looking for which could mean the difference between life and death.

Back to the Shadow

Being a platformer, you’ll likely see the game over screen quite often. Both characters have a limited amount of health and the only way to regain it is by completing a stage or finding food and drinks. Enemy design varies and is linked to the design of the stage your on: machine guns feature heavily in stages with machinery. They’re typically easy to dispatch but can be challenging in larger numbers. Where you’ll find more of a challenge is in Shadow of the Ninja Reborn’s bosses.

Bosses include Missleman, Walking-Tank, and demon emperor Garuda. Each one features its own arena and move set that you must figure out in order to defeat them. By watching their movements and attack patterns, you’ll be able to come up with a strategy to find a weak spot. This design made me feel like a master ninja patiently watching the enemy to determine my next move. Stages are meant to be completed rather quickly as enemies can take down your health before you get to the boss. Whereas bosses are meant to be approached more methodically.

You’ll use any and all ninja equipment you collect throughout each stage. However, if you die, you lose all items and must find them again as you adventure. So if you’re hoping to fight a boss with a certain item, you’ll need to be careful when navigating stages.

The Path of the Ninja

There are several ways to play Shadow of the Ninja Reborn. Arcade Mode includes a normal and hard difficulty, Time Attack Mode sees you race through stages racing against the clock to beat your best time, and Online Mode has you compete against other players around the world. It’s a fun challenge to beat a stage and then go back to see if you can beat your previous time. This allows for multiple play styles and approaches to completing the game and becoming the best ninja you can be.

I did encounter one bothersome glitch when it comes to loading up your save. Each time you die, you have the option to continue or head back to the main screen. If Choosing to start again from the main menu sends you to where you left off. However, each time I did so, my game loaded a previous save at an earlier defeated boss. For instance, I ended my game on the fifth boss but loaded back to the second boss on multiple loads.

I’ve got to mention the soundtrack and sound design for Shadow of the Ninja Reborn. The song selection is masterfully crafted and the overall audio experience pulls you into the pixelated world.

Final Verdict

ININ Games and Tengo Project’s Shadow of the Ninja Reborn doesn’t feel like a remake of an old game. It’s a whole new experience that pays loving tribute to the 1991 release. The original team came back to develop a modern version of a classic that feels like a brand new game in the ninja genre. The art style is appealing, the music is top-notch, and the mechanics, while sluggish and tedious, work well. I enjoyed my time with Shadow of the Ninja Reborn and will go back to playing it again and again when I’m looking for a quick hit of ninja inspired action.

Shadow of the Ninja Reborn was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch with a code provided by the team. It is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC and was released on August 29, 2024 at $19.99.

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