Return of the Ninja (Game Boy Color)

 So, all I knew about this game going into it was that it was supposedly a spiritual successor to Shadow of the Ninja, which is a great game from the late eighties/early nineties ninja platformer craze, and also that it got a licensed reprint in 2020. But the licensed reprint completely went under my radar, and since I don't think it's a game I've ever heard anyone talk about, I assume it went under everyone else's radar, too. But my assumptions based on the above were that it'd be more of that old-style action, maybe with some more modern "quality of life" additions.

 

What I got was a mix of old and new, and while I was right on the "old" part being the aforementioned ninja-themed platformers, the "new" part was actually something more akin to a 2D interpretation of Tenchu Stealth Assassins. Human enemies will patrol back and forth on their little bit of territory, and only attack if they spot you, and you can actually sneak in and stab them from behind (though there's no cool little pixel animation Tenchu-style executions, unfortunately). So there is actually some stealth in this ninja platformer, something missing from the older games from whence it claims lineage.

 

The Tenchu influence doesn't stop at the stealth kills, either! After the first stage, you're told about various pieces of ninja equipment, that can be found littered around the next few stages. There's stuff for jumping higher, digging underground, clinging to ceilings, gliding, and more. Stages two to five can be tackled in any order and revisited after completion. Furthermore, if you find equipment and finish a stage, you keep it. But if you die, you lose all the equipment you've got (but completed stages stay that way). So I'm sure with a lot of experimentation, you could figure out the optimal order to complete the stages. Assuming you don't die, which is unlikely, as you can only take four hits, and health items are rare drops from enemies.

 

It's a shame they went with this kind of scavenger hunt structure, as I think the game would have been a lot better if you had access to your complete moveset at all times, and the stages themselves were designed around that. Generally, I just don't like this kind of progression in action games that restricts the player's control options. (I'm not a big fan of ability progression in action games generally, but especially when it's like this.)(Of course, I have to point out that there are always exceptions, or I'll get a bunch of "what about" comments in certain places.) A third and final piece of influence from Tenchu is that you're graded at the end of each stage on how stealthy you were, and rather than being given new weapons and stuff as rewards like in Tenchu, you're given cute little pixel art ninja trading cards! They don't actually do anything except have cool pictures and facts on them, which only serves to make them more charming!

 

But getting past the stuff I don't like about the game, I'll move onto what is easily its best aspect: the way it looks. I'm not sure how well this will come across in still screenshots, but this game looks amazing, and is definitely one of the best-looking games on the Game Boy Color. The colour palettes are all excellently chosen, the sprites are all full of character, and there's an amazing sense of place and atmosphere in every stage. The haunted woods are spooky, the caves are dank and cold, the big ship is full of life, and so on. The haunted woods especially make me think there's a lot of untapped potential for horror games on the Game Boy Color, with skilled enough developers.

 

Return of the Ninja is a game that's definitely worth giving a try. The only explanations I can come up with as to why it flew under the radar on release are that 2D platformers were seen as old hat at the time, and also maybe 2001 was a little late for getting anyone interested in a Game Boy Color game. But still, it's a game that really shows off the potential of the system, and it's full of both ideas and charm. But as always: don't give a penny to the ebay scalpers.