➤ A too classic ninja 🎮

We always knew that the guys at Tribute Games liked old-school games, the fact that anyone else could have figured out by playing titles like Wizorb, an interesting pinball game with RPG elements, or Mercenary Kings, an ode to the good old days. passed in the company of Metal Slug. With Ninja Senki DX, however, they have perhaps gone a little further: actually the title had already been released in 2010 but to celebrate the fifth anniversary and the arrival of the game on the fixed and portable console PlayStation, Jonathan Lavigne (creator of Ninka Senki and co-founder of Tribute Games), has taken over his ninja viola making some changes here and there. Let's find out all in this review!

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the game, Ninja Senki arrives on consoles in a deluxe version

On the previous episodes...

For those who haven't played the original title and don't know what to expect from Ninja Senki DX, we can mention a slightly more famous game to make you understand better: Does Mega Man tell you anything? Ninja Senki DX is an old school 2D jump and shoot style platformer. The story revolves around the revenge of Hayate, the protagonist, in search of justice after the death of the beloved princess Kinuhime, vaporized in the first three seconds of the game.

From here the adventure of the young ninja starts: in the game screen we will display the life bar, composed of three 5 balls (each shot is a lost ball of course), score, stopwatch with countdown, number of coins collected and enemies to defeat for each area. Within the levels, a total of 16, there are some checkpoins and every two stages you will meet a boss to beat. Hayate can perform a jump higher than normal by holding down the jump button or get to a double jump with a double press, being ninja then there is a shower of shuriken, the only weapon at our disposal; during the game no upgrades, bonus weapons or costumes will be granted, the game starts and ends in exactly the same way. Small exception the lives at our disposal: you start with two lives (three attempts in total) and you can earn additional ones only through the score, which will grow based on the coins collected and the enemies killed, as long as you have all the HP points full; otherwise the life points will be regenerated and you will lose the extra 1-up. The controls on the PC are not very convincing: to move left and right in the scenarios, A and D are used but to shoot and jump J and K are used respectively, a key solution that is too close and that can put the player in serious difficulty. player during the most excited moments. In any case, the game also supports console pad commands, a solution we adopted for our test (specifically using an Xbox 360 pad). The feedback, on the other hand, is excellent, the game is fast, at times frenetic but never confused, Hayate is very fast in throwing the shurikens but freezes completely for a few seconds after being hit by an enemy (even making a very small jump back ... and in case you are near a precipice ... well, you understand).

Old game, new modes

The game therefore does not differ at all from a classic 8-bit for NES, with all the strengths and weaknesses that derive from a choice of this type: the artistic sector is obvious but not trivial, given that each level has a color palette capable of enhancing the character of the stage and even the enemies, inspired by Japanese folklore, are extremely successful. The level scheme is solid and well studied, indeed in some cases too much since from the very first level it is possible to run into enemies hidden in blind corners of the screen or fall miserably from a ledge if you miscalculate the distances of the jumps. In this sense Ninja Senki DX is a very punishing game and absolutely not suitable for non-patient players; the additions made in the anniversary version, then, further raise the bar even if taking it very comfortably, the game is completed in just over an hour.

If this was the base game, what was added in this DX version? First of all, a totally rearranged soundtrack for the occasion, which we particularly appreciated, as well as other and much more substantial news. In addition to three different endings, the classic and hardcore mode, in which there are no intermediate checkpoints in the levels and the possibility of continuing penalizes the player's score, there is an unprecedented Challenge mode, in which we will have to finish the sixteen levels of the game by facing new challenges but with less time available, and two secret modes. For the purpose of the review it is necessary to inform the readers of what it is but if you do not want spoilers jump directly to the comment! The two secret modes are called Boss Rush and Ronin: the first is a "speed run" of all the bosses of the game while the second will allow you to replay the main adventure but with a new character, a Ronin in fact, equipped with a very fast katana.

Comment

Tested version PC Windows Digital Delivery Steam, PlayStation Store Price 4,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.5

Readers (1)

7.0

Your vote

Ninja Senki DX itself is not a bad game, quite the opposite, but this deluxe version adds nothing memorable to what has been done so far. The flaw of the game is that it is too classic: assuming an absurd experiment and asking someone who does not have some videogame culture, it is really difficult to distinguish this product from a title from thirty years ago. Obviously it was a choice of the developer and therefore we gladly accept it, but proposing a re-release with some additions after five years is a bit redundant and only the price makes us say that yes, if you liked the title original you would do well to buy it back.