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. Should you’re not acquainted, it’s an especially uncommon Recreation Boy Advance recreation that could be a actually stable motion platformer within the vein of Shinobi and Shadow of the Ninja (which not too long ago obtained its personal PS5 model). Now rather more reasonably priced with trendy trappings, corresponding to save states and the flexibility to rewind, it’s a worthwhile port of a traditional Konami recreation that deserved to be seen by extra gamers.

Gameplay is fast to study because it’s a Recreation Boy Advance title and solely makes use of just a few buttons. You may throw shuriken, use your sword to slice at foes, and even use a grappling hook. The grappling skill is well the sport’s most enjoyable ingredient, 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 infrequently 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 power you to place all your ninja strikes collectively and use the grappling hook to get out of the way in which. There’s a enjoyable selection starting from a kabuki-clad warrior, an enormous frog that spits fireplace at you, and a vampire that appears straight out of Castlevania. These moments make sure that 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 for those who make a deadly mistake)..

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

There are additionally some good bonus additions to this port, as there’s a music participant that means that you can take heed to all 12 of the totally different tracks. There’s additionally a museum, which options the sport’s field artwork, authentic instruction guide, art work 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 recreation that has aged in addition to Ninja 5-O has.

Ninja 5-O Evaluation: Closing Verdict

Ninja 5-O was an awesome recreation when it was launched in 2003 and it stays one at the moment. Fortunately, this underrated Konami traditional is now extensively out there and might be skilled by all. It’s considered one of Hudson Delicate’s hidden gems and this can be a beautiful port of it that has some cool options and quality-of-life upgrades.

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