365//365: Day 248 – Ninja Gaiden Shadow (GB) [PP]

There are a handful of side scrolling Game Boy titles that can be considered a “side stroller” for their leisurely character movement and scrolling speeds. Titles such as The Castlevania Adventures became a thoroughly painful title due to its inability to move or jump in a speed other than elderly. Ninja Gaiden Shadow on the Game Boy has a similar issue, which can be considered crippling for an agile Ryu Hayabasa. The pace is significantly slowed down, with both enemies and Ryu alike reduced to the speeds of a tortoise. For a Game Boy title, the backgrounds hold a moderate amount of detail, though each level doesn’t distinguish its self much from the last. As you progress, you’ll encounter a bit more enemy diversity, though they’ll never push you to the great lengths that the NES brethren would. It plays more like a ninja game than a Ninja Gaiden game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if you shut off the part of your brain that realizes you’re playing a pretty butchered down Ninja Gaiden title. One thing Shadow does have is a strong audio performance, with sound effects that are pretty standard for the handheld, but with some of the most well composed musical pieces a Game Boy has produced. While not deplorable by any means, Ninja Gaiden Shadow fails to deliver the same action and difficulty of the NES titles, but manages to still be a playable title, albeit a slow motion experience that has some charm.

Not pictured -- the slow as a snail in molasses speed in which you move.

Rating: 5.3