Did you ever play the underrated NES platformer Shadow of the Ninja? It was a well-loved 1990 game from Natsume, a clear take on Ninja Gaiden–and in fact, a planned Game Boy version later became Ninja Gaiden Shadow. In this sidescrolling combat platformer, you choose one of two ninja warriors (Lord Hayate and Lady Kaede) who have identical movesets, and work through five levels (consisting of several stages) of a futuristic New York City trying to take down an evil dictator, Emperor Garuda. The game could be played with two players simultaneously, which was an impressive feat at the time (though doing so caused frame stuttering). It was released on the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U Virtual Consoles and apparently Switch NSO.

Now, in the Year of Our Lord 2024, developer Tengo Project has revised this forgotten gem in high definition, maintaining the original’s simultaneous co-op while adding to the player’s movesets and making the game itself much harder. Harder, I daresay, than it needs to be.

The first thing you’ll notice is that Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is breathtakingly gorgeous. It’s all 2D spritework here without a 3D model in sight. The environments are diverse and impressive, and all of the enemies–which become increasingly mechanical as the game progresses–are detailed and beautifully animated. There’s never a dull moment, as Reborn excels in nonstop action–sometimes to its own detriment.

Our ninja heroes have an expanded moveset in this remake: they can swing a sword and fling a kusarigama (chain spear) at distant foes, do a limited wall run and wall-jump (which I never got the hang of), a floating jump, and an energy-draining super attack. Hayate & Kaede will find containers all over the place which contain subweapons and items like kunai, clubs, food, etc. You can store up to seven at a time, then hold the R button and use left and right to select one. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t pause while you’re rifling through your inventory, so picking the right weapon for the job isn’t always opportune.

You’ll die a lot, and I do mean a lot. Reborn is a supremely difficult game, and it pays to memorize stage layouts. You’ll be surrounded by enemies at all times and/or environmental hazards, to the point where it’s occasionally overwhelming. Dying means you have to start at the beginning of whatever stage you’re in, or the boss room. Bosses are unexpectedly easy compared to the gauntlet you must endure to get to their doorstep, but are, in all cases, quite fun and pattern-based. I was especially fond of a series of increasingly-large armor samurais, eventually culminating in a creature that reminded me of Sigma’s final form in Mega Man X6. Boss battles are also great places to use your super attacks, provided you have some health to spare or healing items in reserve.

Reborn unfortunately has a dearth of game types: there is Arcade Mode, which must be finished in one sitting (quite the undertaking). Or at least that’s what it seems like, because it doesn’t appear to auto-save between levels, and “continuing” means starting at the first level. Finishing levels in Arcade Mode opens them up in Time Attack, which is exactly what it sounds like, with the added wrinkle that you can buy specific subweapons from gold gathered in Arcade Mode to start the level with. What subweapons are available to purchase seems to depend on what you had on hand when finishing a given Arcade Mode level.

My biggest issue with Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is that it’s punishingly difficult. If the nonstop combat doesn’t kill you, the questionable platforming will. Our heroes’ wall maneuvers are tricky to pull off effectively, much less in a hurry, and I often found myself dying because I pressed the wrong combination of buttons when moving between platforms. There are too many instances of trying to clear gaps with extremely low ceilings or being saved only by deploying the short-range floating jump. I would've preferred a double jump. There’s a section towards the end of level 5 that made me turn to my wife and say, “I really hate this game.” Doing a downward attack while holding the button causes Hayate and/or Kaede to stand on their sword, but I’m not sure why you’d do this, as it doesn’t make your next jump any higher. I was hoping that would help me clear level 5, but nope!

There are certainly sections of Reborn that made me question how much fun I was actually having, but in truth I was largely enjoying myself. I wish Arcade Mode had a better and/or better explained save system, and it’s entirely too easy to get overwhelmed with enemies and environmental hazards, but if tough as nails combat platformers are your thing, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn is a good time. And it’s just so pretty.