The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

.

Review:

The Ninja Saviors is an Action-Platformer with the emphasis placed on the action, as players take the role of one of three robotic ninjas and fight a horde of militaristic and futuristic enemies. This game is actually a remaster of a game called The Ninja Warriors that was originally released on Super Nintendo in 1994. This version, released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019, adds in reworked graphics, audio options, game modes like time attack, and a few other new bonus features.

In terms of presentation, The Ninja Saviors is a lovely time capsule of games as they were at the height of the 16-bit era, with some really nice pixel art, inventive character designs, and a nice fast-paced synthesized soundtrack to back it all. Comparing this game to the original, I’ll say that both the graphics and sound are very faithful to the source material, to the point where you could easily be mistaken for thinking the two are the same if you weren’t comparing them side-by-side. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as this game exudes an old-school charm that a full reworking would likely only muck up.

As for the game, this is an example of “Nintendo hard” that this era was notorious for – the game is extremely difficult, and players who don’t learn how to move and fight properly with their chosen character are likely to die over and over again without making any progress. A word of advice – learn how to make good use of the “block” that characters can do by holding down the attack button, as you likely won’t even make it past the level one boss without having a good grasp on its use. However, if you can master the combat here, it can be pretty enjoyable.

While the game’s high challenge is largely due to how exacting it is in making sure players know how to use the move set, and the unending number of enemies the game throws at you, there is one element of the game that ups the challenge and is somewhat less forgivable – characters in this game move extraordinarily slow. Even Kunoichi, the fastest of the starting characters, is still pretty slow, and that makes for moments when you’ll be tempted to dodge out of the way of an attack you can see coming a mile away, only to find that you just don’t have the speed to do so.

Because of its high challenge level, The Ninja Saviors isn’t going to be a game for everyone. However, if you’re looking for a challenging Action-Platformer that’ll test your skills, this one has some good gameplay to offer. I just wish that a part of that challenge wasn’t due to such clunky, slow characters.

tl;dr – The Ninja Saviors is an Action-Platformer that has players fighting hordes of enemies as a robotic ninja. Originally released on SNES, this game has reworked visuals and enhanced features, but still has the same great fighting engine that makes for some fun action for those who are up for a challenge. It’s just a shame that movement in the game is so slow and clunky.

Grade: C+

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