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Lost Classics: Shadow of the Ninja (NES)
by William Talley, filed in Games, Lost Classics on Aug.27, 2009
What if the old-school NES Ninja Gaiden games were two players? Well, they would have played a lot like Natsume’s NES game Shadow of the Ninja. Taking control of either Hayate or Kaede (or both in 2 player mode), your goal is to stop an evil emperor named Garuda, who has taken over New York City in the year 2029 A.D. You’ll travel through 5 stages, each broken into several different subsections. The two ninjas have minor gameplay differences, and they can collect powerups and weapons. Although they can’t climb on walls like in Ninja Gaiden, they can hang on railings. While it may not have been anything players haven’t seen before, Shadow of the Ninja was an excellent game, and you could enjoy it with a friend too. Hopefully Natsum will try to get this game on Virtual Console, as fans of Ninja Gaiden will enjoy it.
Fun Fact: Speaking of Ninja Gaiden, the Game Boy entry of the series, Ninja Gaiden Shadow, was originally intended to be a Game Boy release of this game. Tecmo bought the rights to it from Natsume, and re-christened it into a Ninja Gaiden game, hence the game having a similar plot and gameplay to Shadow of the Ninja, along with some continuity questions.
When Devil May Cry debuted on the Playstation 2 years ago, it gave a new face to the action genre while providing an old-school vibe. It was like nothing gamers had ever seen before, but at the same time, you got a feeling of nostalgia just like you did when you played Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden back on the Nintendo. Devil May Cry helped set the trend of the action genre for years to come. Its fast paced action, upgradable abilities, and combo-heavy combat system helped lay a blueprint for games like Ninja Gaiden and God of War. The series almost went under due to a lackluster second entry, but a third game redeemed the series, even if it was brutally difficult. Now DMC goes next gen, and also makes its first appearance on the Xbox 360. Although DMC 4 treads familiar territory, it manages to provide a few surprises of its own, not the least of which is an all new playable character.
Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.
Before there was Lord of the Rings (the films, not the books) or Harry Potter, there was Willow. Co-produced by George Lucas and Ron Howard, and starring Warwick Davis (who had previously played as one of the Ewoks in Star Wars Episode VI) and Val Kilmer (long before he played his part in the destruction of the Batman film franchise in the mid 90s), Willow told the tale of a dwarf’s quest to rescue a baby from an evil sorceress queen. George had high hopes of Willow becoming Lucas’s fantasy equivalent to Star Wars, but it met low numbers at the box office and mixed reviews from critics. However, enough fans liked it enough for the film to gain cult status, and Capcom was fond enough of the property to release a pair of games based on Willow, one for the NES and the other for arcade.