G.G Series: The Hidden Ninja Kagemaru

Genre: Arcade / Platformer / Stealth

Players: 1

.

Review:

The Hidden Ninja Kagemaru is an Arcade-style Platformer with strong Stealth elements released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2015, as well as being made available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. This game has players taking the role of a ninja trying to sneak past various warriors to grab all of the scrolls in the level.

The presentation in this game uses retro-style 2D visuals backed by repetitive music with a melody seemingly inspired by the Feudal Japanese time this game presumably takes place in (note: this same music was previously used in G.G Series Ninja Karakuri Den. It’s nothing especially noteworthy, but it works well enough for the game).

When it comes to the gameplay, this game’s Stealth elements are pushed front and center, as players don’t really have any way to confront enemies save for single-use items that are in short supply. Unfortunately, these stealth elements are extremely unforgiving, with players losing a life and restarting the level if an enemy touches them once, and often with slim margins of error for scooting past enemies. What’s more, your supply of items is only sporadically refilled by pickups, despite that many levels outright require these items to complete.

Because of this, I cannot recommend The Hidden Ninja Kagemaru. While there are some elements of this game’s presentation that are charming, overall this game’s absurdly high difficulty will likely make most players lose interest soon after starting it.

tl;dr – The Hidden Ninja Kagemaru is an Arcade-style Platformer with strong Stealth elements that puts players in the role of a ninja trying to sneak past enemies and grab all the scrolls in each area. Unfortunately, this game’s extremely unforgiving gameplay will make it far too difficult for most players to appreciate.

Grade: C-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}