The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors | Nintendo Switch | Review

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While some of us at PTC Towers were only wee lads back in the 1990s, the decade's pedigree can't be denied its role in propelling console gaming to the heights it has reached today, spawning influential games left and right.

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​​by James
Michael
​Parry

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​@james_parry

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​Developer: ININ/Taito
Publisher: Strictly Limited Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 
Players: 1-2

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One of my all time favourites, the Streets of Rage series - which will soon return for a belated fourth outing - was among those to popularise the beat-'em-up genre back in those days on the Sega MegaDrive (or Genesis, if you must). 

But where does The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors come in, we hear you cry? Well, it seems clear its original incarnation, Ninja Warriors on the SNES, was influenced by that very franchise, and those similarities continue through to its latest incarnation. 

Unfortunately, even for a asking price of £16.99, discounted on release (or £25.99 boxed later this month), this release offers only a brief stint of excitement over its eight stages (each ending with a customary, overpowered boss), clocking in at just an hour or two of face-slashing action.

Of course, there are ninjas involved, which immediately makes it better, but even during its short tenure enemies become overly repetitive quickly, with early level bosses being doubled up and introduced as foils a couple of levels from the end, and the screen often being filled with pairs of identical enemies determined to take you down.
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​Standard baddies go down in a single hit, making them often more of an inconvenience, whereas the aforementioned bosses suddenly ramp up the difficulty at every turn, with only a couple employing interesting tactics and none having any real semblance of character.

Though you have three playable ninjas to choose from, each has the same screen-wiping special attack and a handful of moves to deal damage with. The designs are cool enough but there's little to make the play styles feel different compared to the variety seen in, say, Streets of Rage 2.

There’s a two-player co-op mode on offer, but only accessible locally, and you can also begin to feel like a bit of a spare part if you're a newbie and your co-pilot is a veteran. You can opt for a harder difficulty if you do find yourselves sailing through, which opens up two new characters to try out, but bizarrely only in solo play...

In typical arcade fashion, you're offered only one life and therefore a single try to get through the game without being taken down. If you decide to continue after dying you'll get going again from a fairly recent screen, but the game stops counting your time, and with no in-game scoring system to speak of there's now just pride to play for.

If a nostalgia hit is what you're looking for, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors could scratch an itch. It’s a well-made if slightly one-note adventure that won't kill a huge amount of time.

Pros

• Technically sound and well ported
• A few interesting enemy encounters
• Ninjas!

Cons
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• Incredibly short
• Overpriced for what you get
• Fairly derivative

5/10