Konami’s Uncommon GBA Basic Lives Once more

As somebody with a love for retro gaming and handheld oddities, Konami porting Ninja 5-O to trendy consoles was music to my ears. For those who’re not acquainted, it’s an especially uncommon Sport Boy Advance sport that may be a actually strong motion platformer within the vein of Shinobi and Shadow of the Ninja (which lately received its personal PS5 model). Now way more inexpensive with trendy trappings, similar to save states and the power to rewind, it’s a worthwhile port of a basic Konami sport that deserved to be seen by extra gamers.

Gameplay is fast to study because it’s a Sport Boy Advance title and solely makes use of a number of buttons. You may throw shuriken, use your sword to slice at foes, and even use a grappling hook. The grappling means is definitely the sport’s most enjoyable factor, as you’ll be able to actually get momentum and swing round areas. Phases revolve round rescuing hostages, which forces you to watch out as you’ll be able to by chance kill them and sometimes discover keys to unlock new components of the extent.

The boss fights that cap off every space are the place the sport actually shines as they’ll pressure you to place your whole ninja strikes collectively and use the grappling hook to get out of the best way. There’s a enjoyable selection starting from a kabuki-clad warrior, a large frog that spits fireplace at you, and a vampire that appears straight out of Castlevania. These moments be certain the sport ends with a bang and the ultimate boss struggle is kind of an intense one (though made simpler since you’ll be able to rewind when you make a deadly mistake)..

If there’s one disappointment it’s that the sport is kind of brief. You’ll roll credit in round three hours. Fortunately, there’s a onerous issue that unlocks and a time trial mode that provides some replay worth (you’ll must beat onerous for the Platinum trophy). A further good contact is that the PAL model of the sport — generally known as Ninja Cop — can also be accessible to play.

There are additionally some good bonus additions to this port, as there’s a music participant that lets you hearken to all 12 of the totally different tracks. There’s additionally a museum, which options the sport’s field artwork, unique instruction guide, paintings for the sport, and a few cool animation sketches for the sport’s opening. It’s good to see some further effort put in, particularly for a sport that has aged in addition to Ninja 5-O has.

Ninja 5-O Assessment: Closing Verdict

Ninja 5-O was a fantastic sport when it was launched in 2003 and it stays one immediately. Fortunately, this underrated Konami basic is now extensively accessible and may be skilled by all. It’s one in every of Hudson Comfortable’s hidden gems and it is a beautiful port of it that has some cool options and quality-of-life upgrades.

Disclosure: The writer supplied a PlayStation 5 copy for our Ninja 5-O evaluate. Reviewed on model 1.000.100.