Return of the Shadow of the Ninja (and SCAT for good measure)

[WildcatJF]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1331289089409167360

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1331290263503908866

Natsume and Limited Run are teaming up to reproduce the NES cult classic Shadow of the Ninja and its obscure sequel Return of the Ninja, released in 2001 on the Game Boy Color in such a fashion I genuinely didn't remember it existed. A bit costly, but given the original game goes for decent numbers nowadays this seems to be the better way of having a cart in your collection. I'm tempted as Shadow is a title I need to cover on my Femicom article/book series at one point thanks to Kaede, but I hope we see some other titles of theirs down the road make the leap as well.

 

[ShakeWell]

Kohler tweeted today about how Return is now, like, a four-figure game complete, and I got my copy when I still lived in DC (2015, probably?) as a cart-only for like ten bucks on eBay. When did it go bananas?

 

[WildcatJF]

Kohler tweeted today about how Return is now, like, a four-figure game complete, and I got my copy when I still lived in DC (2015, probably?) as a cart-only for like ten bucks on eBay. When did it go bananas?

It must be SOOOO rare. I had Nintendo Power at the time and have no recollection of ever seeing it at all!

 

[Octopus Prime]

I had no idea it even existed; the closest thing to a portable Shadow of the Ninja sequel I knew of was the Gameboy Ninja Gaiden

 

[madhair60]

I like this game better than Ninja Gaiden but then again I suppose I would

 

[Dracula]

Yeah, I had no idea there was a sequel to Shadow! I love this game. I have the Famicom version ("Kage") and I've not been able to beat it yet. That little subset of Natsume action games is one of my favorite things about the FC/NES library.

 

[WildcatJF]

Well, Limited Run isn't done:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1346162106656288780

 

[madhair60]

Yes! I'm hugely into SCAT. It's unfortunate that good SCAT content comes at a premium unless you look overseas. Right, that's that joke over and done with.

 

[Dracula]

I have the Famicom version of SCAT, "Final Mission," and in a strange twist of tradition, it's the one of the two that's unreasonably hard. Final Mission totally lacks the life bar, and in a game where you play a slow-moving floating man with a huge hit box surrounded by bullet-spewing enemies...yeah, it's a little crazy. It took me probably a dozen tries just to clear the first stage. I think SCAT also has some voice clips and stuff that aren't in the FC version.

 

[Zef]

Yes! I'm hugely into SCAT. It's unfortunate that good SCAT content comes at a premium unless you look overseas. Right, that's that joke over and done with.

Honestly, when I first heard of the game (90s announcer voice: "In the pages of NINTENDO POWER!") I still thought of the word as simply the alternative for, "Go away! Shoo!"

Then I spent an embarrassingly long amount of time using it instead of ska.

That embarrassingly long amount of time ended decisively when someone told me the alternate meaning of the word and I've been giving S.C.A.T. the side-eye ever since.

Anyway Nintendo Power actually DID get me very interested in the game (just like it did Burai Fighter, Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Kick Master, Power Blade, and Metal Storm), so I'm quite intrigued by this release.