Review: Shadow of the Ninja Reborn

Natsume dreams come true. Death dreams, that is.

Blue Shadow. That’s the name of this game. Blue Shadow Reborn. Doesn’t matter that they’re trying to retcon it into Shadow of the Ninja Reborn, I’m not accepting that. I’m not accepting a lot of things. Following Wild Guns Reloaded, Pocky & Rocky Reshrined and The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, Tengo Project have unleashed their fourth (and final?) game, and that is Blue Shadow Reborn, a remake of the cult 1990 NES platform action game from Natsume, and all the vibes that go with it. Except now there’s also a sexy lady ninja with a big auld bottom. I believe her to be “thicc”, in the same respect as I believe myself to be thick in the sense that I’m too stupid to make any meaningful progress through Blue Shadow Reborn without dying over and over again to its absolute plethora of things that want to kill you.

It’s trite to say this in a review, but I’m not above it. This game is hard. It is very hard and very frustrating and I don’t especially like it very much as a result. I don’t mind a challenge, but something about this game’s unforgiving nature and slightly awkward control just… it bothers me. It riles up my bacon-flavoured blood. Don’t get me wrong, the handling of your character here is very, very measured. The developers knew exactly what they were doing and how they wanted the ninja to move. Like a more free-flowing Castlevania, you’ve got to be precise with your jumps as you can’t do much to influence the ninja’s direction once you’re in the air. When it flows, it feels good, it feels fun. You slash with your sword, ping all over the place with your hookshot ala Zelda, and have an array of Ninja tools at your disposal via a Dark Souls style cycling menu that you activate in-game, in real time. And I’m genuinely sorry, but I find it infuriating. That Ninja kit, I mean. Your health restores are on there, and selecting them requires you to press RB (I played on PC, with an Xbox Series controller) and fiddle around left and right with the D-Pad, hoping you’ll land on what you need. I can see the idea of adding some stakes and tension akin to the aforementioned From Software masterpiece, but here I feel that it simply doesn’t work.

Adding to my irritation was the sheer tenacity of most enemies. Playing on Normal mode, as I did, I was pleased to still discover a meaty challenge but less than delighted with the means by which some of that challenge manifested. Your opponents, in general, have too much health. They take too long to die, or have some sort of transformation or adaptation upon hit that makes them pointlessly more dangerous. I find myself thinking… alright, I get it. You designed the hell out of this game. It’s another Tengo Project labour of love. I respect that! I think there are gamers out there who will find Blue Shadow Reborn to be absolutely excellent in every regard, but I just can’t count myself as one of them.

It looks the part for sure, though it sacrifices the darker style of the original game for a much more pastel-coloured world with a smoother, softer look that renders some of the mechanical enemies more comical than threatening. That’s fine, though, as it’s resolutely beautifully drawn throughout, with an outstanding score that rearranges the already brilliant NES tunes to hugely enjoyable effect. As I already said, this is a labour of love with just a few niggling issues – mostly in the controls – which push me away from recommending it unconditionally. That said, there is a demo, so you’ll be able to check it out for yourself. Just be very aware that this is a methodical, slow-paced and bleedin’ difficult game that might occasionally infuriate you as it did me. There’s a jump in Stage 2 that I still can’t even begin to figure out how to clear consistently. I lost more lives on this one jump than anywhere else in the game. This leads me to believe I missed something, maybe some crucial mechanic, but no. I checked, and no. It’s just that difficult and that demanding even that early on. Bringing in a second player made it even harder, if anything. So yes, this is a game that is clearly excellent… if you’re the sort of sicko who fiends for games like this. I myself am not that sort of sicko. I am a coward. I am a baby. Enjoy infamy, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn.