How do you remake a cult classic? Change too much and you alienate the hardcore fans of the original, whilst failing to adapt and imrpove ancient mechanics will leave modern audiences cold. Despite having a good stab at it, it’s a conundrum that NatsumeAtari never manage to satisfyingly resolve during the course of their retro 2D slash ‘em up, Shadow of the Ninja- Reborn.
The original Shadow of the Ninja arrived on the NES in Europe way back in 1991. It was a 2D 8-bit side-scrolling platforming ninja ‘em up; one that stood out in a shadowy genre thanks to its hugely enjoyable 2 player co-op, which saw two ninjas leaping, dashing, and lobbing shuriken with wanton abandon. Now, thirty-something years since its EU debut, Shadow of the Ninja has been reborn under the watchful eye of Tengo Project. Meanwhile, original creatives Dynamic Productions and Iku Mizutani have returned to handle character illustrations and music respectively. And their involvement has paid off, as the presentation of Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is absolutely spot on. Graphically, whilst still a humungous improvement on the original’s 8-bit visuals, Reborn retain its predecessor’s distinctive pixel-coated retro-charm.
Character models are so chunky you can almost chew ‘em; huge mechs clunk into battle, oiled-up beefcakes flex their biceps before charging into battle, whilst gun-toting robo-mercs unleash bullet hell every moment they can get. It’s so charming, so bonkers, it’s like the 90’s never went away! The sprites of returning ninjas Hayate and Kaede are delightful too. Their range of animations are beguiling, and they both look cool slicing through hordes of minions – even if Kaede has, once again, seemingly forgotten to wear any pants. The music is – of course, considering Mizutani’s return – grin-inducing guitar-wailing brilliance. Whilst the environments themselves ooze with incidental details; lightning flashes, thunder brews, and rain pours. The atmosphere that Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn gives off is palpable, who needs polygons huh?
Local co-up is present, correct, and as fun as ever. So, why doesn’t Shadow of the Ninja Reborn deliver on all of its promise? For me, it is too respectful of the original game. The 90’s era levels have been re-produced with likely too much diligence; often becoming a teeth-gnashing grind of pixel-perfect leaps, endless bad-guys, and a peculiar pre-occupation of making it hard to tell if a surface can be clung to or not. My skilled ninja warrior would often hilariously bounce off a wall rather than attach to it, even though visually the wall looked virtually identical to the other’s I had been clambering on.
Controls are unnecessarily fussy too. Climbing is messy, with Hayate and Kaede rarely behaving themselves and dying unnecessarily because of it. Whilst only being able to access one collected power-up at a time fails to add any of the intended strategy, just frustration as you drink a health-potion rather than lobbing that bomb. There’s also a definite input lag, which, when combined with some old-school difficulty levels, can create some near unscalable difficulty spikes. So much so in fact, that my regular local co-up pal soon bounced off the arduous challenge, forcing me to go it alone through what proved be an interminable slog, despite the inclusion of occasional – and much welcome – check points.
Whilst the correct balance of homage and reinvention when it comes to a remake will always be subjective, I can’t help but feel that Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is too devoted to its predecessor. If you want that old-school uber-challenging retro experience, warts and all, then you’ll love what you find here, for the rest of us, a few more modern design sensibilities would prove a welcome respite.