Ninja Five-O, also known as Ninja Cop in some regions, is a side scrolling action game developed by Hudson Soft, a company that has since been acquired by Konami, and stars specialist officer Joe Osugi. Joe has been tasked with taking down dangerous thugs and gangs, and things quickly get more intense from there. The goal of each stage is taking down enemies, rescuing hostages and getting to the exit, but the process of doing so is a bit more involved than you might think.
Ninja games frequently get compared to other games and Ninja Five-O can be seen as a hybrid of previous classics, including Sega’s Shinobi and Capcom’s Bionic Commando, but with some more unique elements thrown into the mix. Like in Bionic Commando, there is a grapple mechanic that will let you swing around the stages. This can take a little bit of time to get used to, but the controls are very responsive and you will be a pro in no time. Meanwhile, your attacks are a mix of ranged and melee and initially feel very similar to Shinobi, but soon introduces new ideas that shake things up.
One thing to be aware of is that Ninja Five-O is not an easy game in any way, and you can easily get overwhelmed. You need to learn to strategize well on how to take down enemies, and using stealth is essential at times. Watch your health though, as health refills are not common here and you can get killed quickly.
Combat is handled well overall, and enemies will respond to your actions by parrying your attacks, causing you to need to think carefully about how you approach. Of course, you can also collect the weapon upgrades hidden throughout each stage that transform your Shuriken into a much more lethal fireball attack, while two upgrades will grant you a very powerful laser beam. Be careful though, as taking damage causes your weapon to be downgraded again, and this can halt your momentum completely.
As mentioned above, the level goals are all about taking out enemies and rescuing hostages, but the stages are non-linear and you will need to find the right tool to move on in the stage, such as keys to progress. Fortunately, enemies do not respawn, so you will not be constantly dealing with threats, but rather having to deal with learning the levels. The level design is handled very well overall, and the enemy placement never feels like the game is being unfair. The boss fights at the end of the missions are also a standout, as the four Ninja Masters have incredibly creative battles that are both fun and very challenging.
Ninja Five-O is a short game, but it emphasizes replaying to try and accomplish everything, engage in high score chasing, and trying out the time trials mode. This re-release has a number of neat features added, such as a rewind feature that will alleviate many of the difficulty concern. Both Ninja Five-O and the PAL Ninja Cop version are included, and there is a bit of bonus material to explore.
Overall, Ninja Five-O is a great game and while it initially did not sell too well particularly, we can hope that this new release does better. Hudson Soft did not truly push the Game Boy Advance visually with the game, but the visuals are serviceable and the music is well done. This is a game that fans of classic Ninja games like Shadow Dancer will greatly appreciate and new fans may find interesting. Let the Ninja action live on!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
