Another all-time classic is being brought back for the modern video game market. Shadow of the Ninja is back, and is being rebranded as KAGE: Shadow of the Ninja, as a full remake of the Nintendo Entertainment System title. The title is being developed jointly by Nastumi Atari and Tengo Project and will launch sometime in Spring 2024 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/Series S, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam. It will also offer support for several languages, including English, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
In the game, players will have a choice between two ninjas, Hayate and Kaede, both of whom have their own special abilities. In fact, the title is also encouraged to be played with two players, as both ninjas will have to work together onscreen in order to progress. As this is a remaster, the title is presented in a 2D side-scrolling action adventure format. In addition, Dynamic Production, the art studio that contributed to the original release, is back for the remaster and essentially kept the key art and illustrations intact for this new iteration. Lastly, the game will be playable at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2023 which takes place this September.
For those who don’t know, the original Shadow of the Ninja launched in August 1990 for the NES in its native Japan. North America wouldn’t see it until December of that year, while Europe had to wait until July 1991. The title was well received upon release, being considered one of the better options in the extremely massive NES game library. It was re-released several times by Nintendo through their Virtual Console market on the Nintendo Wii, the Nintendo 3DS, the Wii U, and most recently the Nintendo Switch.