Ninja Gaiden Shadow

The Good
Ninja Gaiden Shadow is an action side-scroller developed by Natsume exclusively for the Game Boy.
It is the self proclaimed prequel to the classic NES/FC Ninja Gaiden / Ninja Ryukenden trilogy by Tecmo (just the publisher here).
This is the licensed Game Boy "edit" of a Natsume game: Shadow of the Ninja.
Apparently Tecmo and Natsume agreed to alter that game - a work in progress at the time - to better fit as a new entry in the profitable Ninja Gaiden franchise.
Still there are many remnants of the original form of this game: the title of course, some movement mechanics, the robot enemies and the whole futuristic look (especially in the early levels, by late stages everything seems more fitting within the Gaiden Universe).

What makes a Ninja Gaiden game?
First of all I'd say it's the mobility of the character, and the pacing of the gameplay: this, as stupid as it sounds, makes you feel like a ninja.

The Game Boy - as we know - always had some issues with the speed of things, and here is no different, it doesn't feel perfect, it's a tiny bit slow, but it's not that bad...
Ryu Hayabusa - our protagonist - can hang onto railings, move upwards through platforms, and we even have a grappling hook mechanic. Though there are also some big compromises.
Gone is the variety in Ninja Arts of the originals, now you only have the Fire Wheel attack that you can charge up to five times.
And the series' distinctive wall climbing move is no more; all of which is excused in the game's official manual by explaining that... this is a prequel, set in 1985 and dealing with Ryu's "training years" and so he "had not yet polished his skills" (which is laughable and cute: love it!)

Second aspect - to go along with the gameplay - is the music.
For the most part the score is new - outside things like the Boss theme and Gaiden "Act Intro" and two arranged themes for stages.
It was made by Hiroyuki Iwatsuki - Natsume's classic era composer - and he definitely knew a thing or two about this up-beat techno style the Gaiden series is known for.
Natsume's own Ninja game had that same style (and so does Shatterhand and the SNES Ninja Warriors).
Here? Absolutely! It really impresses what he managed to do within the limits of the system.

Finally, the insane difficulty. In fact the original trilogy is considered among the hardest NES games ever made.
Here it's not remotely close to that.
You have a life bar so you can receive multiple hits.
Most enemies die with one hit; and also the slow pacing - and no timer - allows you to be very patient and think about the better way to deal with each section, each enemy (so you feel that you are outsmarting them).
So, the difficulty is just about right, on the easy side in the early levels, with some moments of fair challenge by the end...
But in a system where so many games are ruined with impossible difficulty I'd say this is a plus.

The graphics are beautiful. This is classic era Game Boy (not the late years) and still they do marvels with backgrounds, and levels, sprites, animations, bosses and the series' characteristic anime-like cutscenes. Everything shows love and care for the detail.
The levels are long and varied and at times well designed to make good use of your platforming skills.
The bosses - that absolutely belong to the Ninja Ryukenden Japanese universe - are unique and interesting fights, with well thought out mechanics.

The Bad
(...)

The Bottom Line
Ninja Gaiden Shadow is a masterpiece, not in the sense that would do anything revolutionary, but everything the developers set themselves to do, they did it to perfection.
The purist among the Gaiden fans will miss some of the moves, the fast gameplay and the difficulty of the originals; but if you are not an extremist you'll probably come to appreciate this one for what it is: a 1991 portable wonder.

The Good
At its core Shadow Warriors is a fairly standard side-scrolling action game. The difference between it and so many others like it, is the simple fact that it's done right. I especially think that the game manages to be entertaining and but still remain challenging. That is to say you don't have to concentrate fully while playing, you can also relax a bit. There's no point in the game where you will suffer from the typical developer scenario: "Oh, this game's gettin' too easy, we better throw in a ridiculously hard passage now." Instead, the difficulty has a logic progression to it, one that doesn't annoy the hell out of you, but rather pushes you on to progress. Likewise, the level design keeps you focused by changing the scenery with small sequences. It also adds up the cool factor! There's stuff that will make you feel as if you're in a ninja movie, like grabbing a hold of a crane and being lifted up.

I don't really any complaints about the graphics, except for the fact that Ryu is perhaps not as strikingly distinct as say, Mario or Kirby -- and then there's his running animation. Likewise, the bosses are not really that original or memorable either, but it's not really anything I care that much about. Then there's the excellent music! Since this game was originally suppose to be a stand alone title, but was then picked up and launched as a part of the Ninja Gaiden series, the music is basically a selection of various ported songs from the NES series. But it's all the good ones! And they've certainly not lost any of their catchiness or rock'n'destroy feel.

I gotta say I absolutely dig the ninja theme! It's early 90s in a great, nostalgic way...for me at least. Watch the intro and you'll see what I mean!

Finally, "There's despair in the skyscraper" is one hell of a line!

The Bad
I guess the major gripe I have is that there's no level password screen or some such. The first 2 levels (and subsequent bosses) are especially easy to get down, and may become a bit labourous to complete in order to reach the harder levels. It's a common problem for many Game Boy games.

The Bottom Line
Shadow Warriors is a great example of how a classic-era Game Boy game should be.

The Good
"Ninja Gaiden Shadow" really is a Gameboy classic. This game (released in 1991) is a great little portable adventure, and upholds the legendary quality that the Ninja Gaiden series is renowned for. Of course, you play as the ninja Ryu Hayabusa, and it is your mission to play through each "Stage" at the end of which stands a powerful boss-character. The setting is "U.S.A. 1985" - it only when a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty is shown in monochrome glory that we figure out that this thing is set in New York. After a confusing narrative from an "evil messenger", we are introduced to our hero, and are ready to start the game.

There are no options to this title, you just have to press Start and we are thrown directly into "Stage 1". Ryu's moves are controlled with Button A (strikes your sword), Button B (a flip-jump), Up+A (special-move) and Up+B (a hook-shot device). You can see that he's not overly-equipped, but as this is a Gameboy game, and that's quite a repertoire. It's worth noting that the controls in this game are spot-on. His sword's reach is perfectly balanced for challenging strikes, and his jump is smooth and fluid. The special move, a kind of screen-high fire-blast is fine for taking out annoying drones and weak enemies, but practically useless against bosses. The hook-shot is used for attaching to special platforms that Ryu can then hand-climb across - in fact, one of the bosses requires you to skillfully wield this device.

Graphically, this game is outstanding. The clever use of the limited pallet is a treat to see. The attention to detail is apparent from the first level, and things don't slack off towards the end either. There is always an interesting and suitable background, as well as a functional and un-cluttered foreground - it seems they understood the Gameboys tendency of visual-blur, and programmed around this somewhat. The sprites are fine and detailed, and the animation is as good as you could expect. The bosses stand-out well also - they are always twice as high and pretty damn intimidating, (seeing as you only have a sword to take them down with).

Sonically, this game is well-done. The sound-effects are suitable - the "schink" of the sword is the one that I remember most. Also, the various industrial and city-scapes that you play through have some varied sounds, while the missiles and lasers that fire at you sound fine too. The music is very upbeat and synthy; is reminiscent of arcade beat-em-ups from this era, (think "Double Dragon"). The opportunity to have a Japanese influence on the soundtrack was passed-up by the composer(s) though.

The Bad
After all of that, Ninja Gaiden Shadow's biggest flaw is in it's ridiculously short length. There are five stages, and when you've played through once or twice, I can't imagine thirty-minutes going by before you see the end sequence (which is fairly disappointing I might add). The level design itself is great, and you are challenged decently to get through each one, but the shortness of them would only make you feel quite ripped-off, even by 1991's standards. Perhaps this was a memory limitation, but I find that hard to believe. Other titles have crammed much more content into these carts, with arguably more complicated programming and visuals; (I can thing of "Donkey Kong Land" for one). It could easily be twice as long and would not feel as if it were outstaying it's welcome. Tecmo might have underestimated the quality of their own product here!

The Bottom Line
"Ninja Gaiden Shadow" is a great little jewel in the Gameboy's monumental back-catalog. It really is worth a play-through just to see what Ryu Hayabusa has evolved from. Try it out, if you don't like it, at least it won't take you long...