Natsume and Tecmo? (Ninja Gaiden Shadow)

[Ed Oscuro]

1up.com postulates that the Game Boy title "Ninja Gaiden Shadow" was originally a Shadow of the Ninja series title. Gamefaqs shows otherwise.

I was recently "informed" by a well-meaning poster elsewhere that "both companies merged."

Who's right - 1up or GameFAQs? Or is something else going on?

[jerkov]

I've definitely heard that this was a Shadow of the Ninja game, NOT an original Ninja Gaiden game developed by Tecmo. Take that for what it's worth, because I can't remember exactly where I heard it (it was not from 1up.com, I can tell you that much).

[soniko_karuto]

eventhough it's cool, i can't believe that they had that killer soundtrack for the gb.

ok, at least i liked it.

[GaijinPunch]

I know dick about the Gameboy, or any of it's games. But, I did some hunting:

Kage & Ninja Ryuukenden GB

Points:
-Ninja Ryuukenden GB (NRGB) was devloped by Tecmo, released in 1991
-Not like "other" NR games
-It looks just like Natsume's "Kage"
-Story is very similar to Natsume's Kage
-One could say they stuck graphics/sound from Kage into Ninja Ryuukenden

Not sure if that helps, but apparently they're two seperate games, and NRGB was in fact developed/published by Tecmo.

Something to note. 1up.com's postulation is based on pre-publication events. Namely, of Tecmo buying something and slapping the Ninja Ryuukenden name on it - even if they did, it was still published by them, w/ their name (and their games name) on it. What it was developed as and published as are two different things.

[suppafly]

Natsume kicks ass. I´d sell my soul if they released a "Shadow of the Ninja" sequel for GBA!

[Neo-Jorge]

1up.com postulates that the Game Boy title "Ninja Gaiden Shadow" was originally a Shadow of the Ninja series title. Gamefaqs shows otherwise.

I was recently "informed" by a well-meaning poster elsewhere that "both companies merged."

Who's right - 1up or GameFAQs? Or is something else going on?

I dont ever remember hearing about both those companies merging together, I do know that natsume was formed by a few of the ex tecmo programers that happened to work on the original team ninja.


Thanks

[8-Bit Master]

I think that the original title for Ninja Gaiden Shadow was "Blue Shadow", and it was going to be a Shadow of the Ninja game. I've never heard of a company merger though.

Maybe they just bought the code for the game from Natsume so they could make it a Ninja Gaiden game?

[TheRedEye]

Thanks

'welcome.

[theoakwoody]

Blue Shadow is the Euro moniker for Shadow of the ninja. You know how you couldn't use the term ninja in Europe without getting arrested and flogged? That's why it wasn't TMNT it was Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. They can be mutants but they damn sure better not be ninjas. Ninja Gaiden along with many other games fell victim to this censorship. Sorry I couldn't add anything to the original question but I've heard that Tecmo basically took Shadows and pasted their ninja in the game, named it Ninja Gaiden Shadows and voila, instant classic.

[max 330 mega]

i started a thread a few weeks ago about shadow of the ninja, and everyone said that ninja gaiden for gameboy was just shadow of the ninja with a name change.

[Graham Mitchell]

It says in one of the gamefaqs reviews for Ninja Gaiden Shadow that the main boss's name is Emperor Garuda. Isn't that the name of the last boss in SotN?

[Ed Oscuro]

It says in one of the gamefaqs reviews for Ninja Gaiden Shadow that the main boss's name is Emperor Garuda. Isn't that the name of the last boss in SotN?

Yes! As per the 1up link.

[GaijinPunch]

It says in one of the gamefaqs reviews for Ninja Gaiden Shadow that the main boss's name is Emperor Garuda. Isn't that the name of the last boss in SotN?

Yes! As per the 1up link.

And as per the link yours truly provided.

You know how you couldn't use the term ninja in Europe without getting arrested and flogged?

Huh?

[soniko_karuto]

It says in one of the gamefaqs reviews for Ninja Gaiden Shadow that the main boss's name is Emperor Garuda. Isn't that the name of the last boss in SotN?

Yes! As per the 1up link.

wanst emperor garuda also on the conquest of the cristal palace?

[Ed Oscuro]

You know how you couldn't use the term ninja in Europe without getting arrested and flogged?

Huh?

Germans and their no-violent-words legislation, as I've always understood it.

By the way, no idea on that Crystal Palace game, sorry :(

[Graham Mitchell]

go to www.encyclopedia-obscura.com and find the "Ninja" article. I don't think Per Arne discusses exactly WHY there was legislation against the word ninja, but he does bring it up, and I remember having a tad bit of insight on that matter after reading it. Plus it's just a cool website.

Enjoy!

[Lord Contaminous]

I did notice Ninja Gaiden Shadow's music sounded Natsume-ish. I got a ear for a game company's sountracks for hearing their PCM's.

[Graham Mitchell]

I did notice Ninja Gaiden Shadow's music sounded Natsume-ish. I got a ear for a game company's sountracks for hearing their PCM's.

Yeah, and did anybody notice that Natsume soundtracks sound a lot like Konami's from the NES days?

[Lord Contaminous]

Oh yeah.

Abadox (the game rips off some parallax of Life Force/Salamander)

S.C.A.T.

And Natsume's pause sound is one tone off of being accurate of the Konami pause sound.

[Graham Mitchell]

Oh yeah.

Abadox (the game rips off some parallax of Life Force/Salamander)

S.C.A.T.

And Natsume's pause sound is one tone off of being accurate of the Konami pause sound.

I think that might be a clue that whoever was doing the sound at Konami either started working for Natsume as well or left Konami altogether. This kind of thing happens and you'd never realize it. For example, the same guy that wrote Time Pilot and Gyruss for Konami quit the company, and was then hired by Capcom only to come up with games such as 1942, Ghosts 'N' Goblins, Trojan, and I think even Commando (though I'm not sure.)