NatsumeAtari and ININ have announced that the next retro revival from Tengo Project will be Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn. This is described as a “completely new production” but is based on the 1990 NES game, Shadow of the Ninja, also known as Blue Shadow in Europe and Yami no Shigotonin Kage in Japan. It’s set for release in Spring 2024.
Tengo Project is the studio behind Wild Guns Reloaded and last year’s Pocky & Rocky Reshrined. Both are based on rather obscure retro games in their own right, but both are absolutely stellar.
I must admit that I haven’t yet played Shadow of the Ninja, but it’s on the Switch Online NES channel, so why the hell not? However, it has been on my radar for years now. It’s well remembered for being a rad ninja platformer, but more importantly, because it had a two-player coop. That multiplayer will be retained for Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn, as it brings back Hayate and Kaeda.
Perhaps, more importantly, is that they’re also bringing in Iku Mizutani to compose the soundtrack. Not only was Mizutani the original composer on the 1990 version, but he also created the soundtrack to 1991’s Shatterhand and the PC-88 version of Snatcher.
Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC sometime in Spring 2024.
