Sleeper of the Week: Ninja Five-O (GBA)
Well, in keeping with looking at recent sleepers, here’s one that a lot of people missed for the Game Boy Advance. The GBA is the only platform that classic 2D games are really being produced for and as it turns out, just because of the platform they’re on people are ignoring them. One of the better neo-classics to fall by the wayside is Ninja Five-O for the GBA. Made by Konami, Ninja Five-O sports some of the ugliest cover art seen in recent years this side of Shenmue 2 for Xbox, and a huge smattering of cliché quotes on the back. However, beneath the deceptively pathetic exterior lies the pulsing heart of a true gamer’s game.
The game is only six stages long, but the missions are challenging and broken up into 20 segments. The game autosaves after each segment and trust me when I say you’ll appreciate it! You play Joe Osugi, a ninja who decided his skills could be better put to use as a detective. I’d mention more of the plot, but there isn’t much to be told, and most of it is more pathetic than that. What does matter is the gameplay. Expect one of the most difficult platformers you’ve played in a good long while from Ninja Five-O. Hard only barely scratches the surface of how challenging this game is.
The controls are very accurate, which is good as extreme accuracy is required to make progress in the game. Enemies are fast and cheap, and you’ll end up losing a good many lives perfecting your skills. In addition to standard ninja shurikens and a sword (which you can only use very close in, Joe has magic ninja techniques and a spiffy Bionic Commando-style grappling hook. You’ll need to master the use of this grappling hook or you don’t have a chance in hell of making significant progress. Basically the game is a combination of Rolling Thunder and Bionic Commando, taking the best from each to make a great game. In addition to fighting, you must rescue hostages to foil the evil terrorists. I’m still not sure quite why the terrorists employ so many ninjas, but I felt it was better not to ask.
Ultimately, what we have is a very difficult platformer. Infinite lives aren’t so cheap in this game, as you’ll need them to make any progress. This is one of those rare games that likes to give you a low blow to the groin and then makes you want to come back for more. You’ll be frustrated. You’ll jump up and down. You may throw things in anger. But then, you’ll come back and play. I guarantee it. It’s that addictive. Konami made quite an old school gem with Ninja Five-O. The difficulty is a bit unbalanced, the story is a bit thin, and even the music gets a bit stale after a while. But down beneath that, you have the heart of classic gaming. The same feel that we all got playing all those hard as nails NES and SNES classics in a convenient portable package. This is one game that’s more than worth picking up.
Unfortunately, Ninja Five-O seems to have had an extremely low print run. I personally had trouble finding a copy when I bought mine last year. It didn’t sell well, and many stores didn’t stock it. If they did, they usually only had one copy or so. You’ll be hard-pressed to find this one without a bit of digging, and when you do, don’t be afraid to pay a good $25-30 for it, even used. If you like action platformers and don’t mind a bit of a challenge, then this is absolutely the game for you. Don’t miss out!
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I hope everyone is finding at least one or two games they've never played before! This one surprised me when I( got it...was WAY better than I anticipated.
This game rocks!
This game rocks! It really gives me a shinobi vibe whenever I'm playing it. Though personally, I found the grappling hook tough to control...though it's probably just me. I'm really glad I managed to track this one down while I could!
