Time for some classic 8-bit ninja action now with Shadow of the Ninja Reborn. A vintage NES title given a massive overhaul by developer Tengo Project and publisher United Games Entertainment.

“After 34 years in the shadows, prepare to see this legendary action adventure in a new light! Looking and playing better than ever before, Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is Tengo Project’s remake of a cult classic, that the fans have been waiting for.”

Confession time, I have never played the original NES game – so I can’t offer a reliable comparison to that 1990 slice of gaming history. I did take a quick look at the reception it got back then, and the reviews are favourable. Apparently, Nintendo Power magazine claimed that the original Shadow of the Ninja was the first game to feature a male and female team in 1991 (page 96). Really? Just off the top of my head, Gauntlet from 1985 had playable male and female characters in a team, and I’m pretty sure that was not the first either. Yes, I am correcting a now-defunct gaming magazine that printed incorrect info in 1991.

Anyway, back to my review. While I never played the original game, I can tell you how bloody great this remake is. I’m going to guess that the core gameplay has not been tinkered with too much because Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is hard – proper old-school levels of difficulty hard. It still feels like a NES game from 1990. However, it doesn’t look like, one. Visually, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn keeps things retro-looking, but in glorious HD. It has a more 16-bit SNES style over the 8-bit NES original. There’s a lot going on with little details that the NES could only dream of doing. The stages are vibrant and varied, the boss fights are big and brutal. Then there’s the audio, the music has been remade, remixed and remastered by the legendary Iku Mizutani – and it is glorious.

The gameplay (as mentioned) is old-school hard, but given a bit of a modern-day edge. There are two difficulty levels to try. Normal is quite challenging and hard is… well it’s hard. You can play as one of the two ninjas in solo, or team up with a friend for some co-op play. The action is fast and frantic as you hack, slash and ninja your way through the stages. Pick up a variety of weapons (though I found selecting the one that I wanted a bit too fiddly) and use them against the many enemies and really great bosses.

Somewhere around £18 is how much Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is going to cost you (available now on everything) and I think that’s a fair price for such a brilliant remake. This is a short game, six stages split into various areas. And it won’t take you more than a couple hours to get to the end when playing on normal. But, I feel there’s a lot of replay value to be had here. Whether you want to try to finish this on hard, or team up and play some co-op… or just play through the game again solo (I do). Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is just so damn fun to play and a great piece of retro action, with a modern lick of paint. I really enjoyed this and can see myself coming back to it again and again. There is a demo available if you want to try before you buy.