Konami's Rare GBA Classic Lives Again

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

Gameplay is fast to be taught 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 potential is definitely the sport’s most enjoyable component, as you’ll be able to actually get momentum and swing round areas. Levels revolve round rescuing hostages, which forces you to watch out as you’ll be able to unintentionally 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 entire 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 hearth at you, and a vampire that appears straight out of Castlevania. These moments be 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 should you 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 exhausting problem that unlocks and a time trial mode that provides some replay worth (you’ll must beat exhausting for the Platinum trophy). A further good contact is that the PAL model of the sport — referred to as Ninja Cop — can be out there 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, 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 sport that has aged in addition to Ninja 5-O has.

Ninja 5-O Evaluate: Remaining Verdict

Ninja 5-O was an important sport when it was launched in 2003 and it stays one at this time. Fortunately, this underrated Konami traditional is now broadly out there and might be skilled by all. It’s one in all Hudson Comfortable’s hidden gems and this can be a pretty port of it that has some cool options and quality-of-life upgrades.