Let’s start this off with a sentence of pure truth: Shinobi on 3DS is freaking hard. Developed by Griptonite Games, it is a game that harkens back to older Shinobi games (and stuff like the NES Ninja Gaiden games, if you missed the Shinobi series) and presents a stiff challenge from start to finish. It’s heavily reliant on learning the layout of each level and being able to quickly parry enemy attacks and cut through their defenses. Stages are generally overly long, and with a limited amount of lives, you could be forced to replay a 15-20 minute gameplay segment all over again if you mess up.

However, through all of this, Shinobi remains fair, and that’s what makes it a fantastic game. When you die, it’s usually not cheap. Outside of a few shock moments, most deaths occur because you missed a parry or a jump. The window for executing the crucial parry mechanic is lenient, but still tough to always nail.

Smartly, Griptonite employs a magic system that, when used effectively, is sort of like a temporary win button. The variety of magic attacks can be used once per life (more if you pick up scrolls that give you another usage) and are very helpful if there’s one bottleneck you can’t get past. In addition, the Beginner difficulty setting offers an easier path through the game that the developer themselves actually recommend most players start with.

The story begins in a clichéd fashion as your feudal Japan village is attacked. However, at the end of the first level, you travel to the future, and from there the insanity never really stops. None of it seems to make much sense, but there are pretty 2D drawings in between levels that feature explosions and stuff, so it’s eye-catching.

The structure of the game has more in common with the tough-as-nails NES/Genesis-era action platformers of yore than it does any recent game. The individual levels feel like chapters in Ninja Gaiden. The game can brutally difficult at times, but when you restart a level, it usually means you’re more familiar with the earlier sections, making you feel empowered as you cut up foes with precision.

The bosses are usually more spectacle than challenge, which is good considering the game’s general difficulty. They all follow patterns, and usually as long as you dodge their attacks, you have an opportunity to do a powerful quick-time event to deal a large chunk of damage.

With a challenging main campaign and a plethora of StreetPass/Play Coin challenge stages, Shinobi packs in a lot of content. However, if you don’t want to put the time into it and deal with bouts of frustration, you’re better off avoiding this game. If you want to be challenged in a way that only classic, difficult action-platformers can provide, then check out Griptonite’s love letter to those games.