![]() To this end there’s leaderboards for every stage so that you can constantly push to become the quickest ninja to ever ninja. It’s built around that idea, and hopes that you’ll be willing to come back to each stage and try to get a bit quicker, a bit better. Shadow Blade is at its best when you’re charging through the levels faster than your brain can keep up, reacting to each and ever new threat purely on instinct. Crumbling platforms, deadly lasers, kamikaze bots, snipers, rocket launchers and the fact that you can only take a single hit before dying all serve to keep you constantly moving and assessing the level, and there’s an incredibly satisfying rhythm to the action and stage design which drags you in and refuses to let go. You can slow down and approach each situation with a bit more caution, perhaps using stealth attacks to take down enemies or even opting to bypass them altogether, but at that point the game becomes far less fun to play. Although on the surface Shadow Blade is a action-platformer, the truth is that it’s actually a speedrunner in disguise, naturally pushing you toward tackling each stage as quickly and effectively as you can. Meanwhile a grading system awards you a rank based on your speed, amount of deaths and how many of the collectibles you managed to grab along the way. Unsurprisingly timing and quick reactions are key to making it through alive. It all gets tied together by flowing level design which quickly draws you into smooth rhythm. Finally your handy air/land dash can not only be used for clearing big distances but can also be combined with the attack button. By sneaking up on an enemy you can deliver a swift takedown, plus you can also perform a slightly over-powered air attack that you can bounce out of and repeat on the next nearby enemy. As a ninja you’ve naturally got some offensive tools for dealing with the myriad of foes who’ll get in your way, too, including a throwable shuriken which regenerates over time, a standard sword attack and even a brutal chain-spear combination that can yank foes toward you. Quite frankly numerous other developer’s could do with playing Shadow Blade and taking notes on how to do a slick control system. ![]() It’s quite honestly flawless in its response times and precision tap the button and it happens on-screen with nary a delay to worry about. All of these moves are ably delivered through a slick and responsive control system that ensures your platforming failures always feel like your fault rather than the game’s – you weren’t quick enough, you weren’t smart enough, you just weren’t good enough. Your tiny ninja of pent up fury is capable of running, jumping, double jumping, wall-running, wall-sliding, wall-jumping and dashing both on land and in the air. In his 2D side-scrolling action-platformer your goal is a simple one make it to the end as quickly and efficiently as you can. ![]() It’s not like you really need the encouragement to keep playing, though, since the gameplay is more than capable of holding your attention on its own. Still, the plot manages to keep prodding you along through the numerous stages and does have a hokey charm to it, depending on your tolerance level for cheesiness. I still can’t decide which it is, but I sincerely hope it’s the former. The game seems to hang around in the no-mans land between being a deliberate spoof of classic martial arts flicks where the dialogue and acting were often terrible, and actually being deadly serious about the whole thing. Speaking of the story it is instantly forgettable dross that follows a ninja attempting to locate and rescue his captured Sensei before becoming involved in a larger plot involving three different clans, all told via the medium of some rather nicely drawn comic-book style pages and questionable voice-overs that frequently sound cheesy and phoned-in, not helped by shoddy dialogue. After checking the game out I was compelled to abandon my own presumptions and give it a whirl. Sometimes, however, a mobile port comes along and somehow manages to surprise me, as was the case with this Shadow Blade: Reload, which has made the transition from its hand-held origins (where it was simply known as Shadow Blade) to PC with some new features, including a story. Usually when I discover a game is actually a mobile port my immediate reaction is to loudly scream, “NOPE!” at my computer screen, possibly while spraying tea across the room, and then try to wipe all knowledge of said game’s existence from my memory with the use of copious amounts of alcohol. ![]()
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