When comparing Shadow of the Ninja vs Nightshade, the Slant community recommends Shadow of the Ninja for most people. In the question“What are the best obscure NES games?” Shadow of the Ninja is ranked 2nd while Nightshade is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Shadow of the Ninja is:
The game features 2 player simultaneous co-op (much like Contra) where both players go through the stages to defeat bad guys with their Ninja skills. Seeing that other Ninja games for the NES like Ninja Gaiden did not have any co-op, this games makes a great choice for Ninja co-op action on the NES.
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Pros
Pro Great co-op
The game features 2 player simultaneous co-op (much like Contra) where both players go through the stages to defeat bad guys with their Ninja skills. Seeing that other Ninja games for the NES like Ninja Gaiden did not have any co-op, this games makes a great choice for Ninja co-op action on the NES.
Pro High amount of polish
An NES game released later in the consoles life cycle, Shadow of the Ninja has a high amount of polish that pushes the boundaries of the console. The graphics are quite solid with animated backgrounds such as rain as well as worthwhile level design and enemy design. The sound in the game is done quite well too with a great soundtrack and good sound effects. All of this adds up to a game that really shines looks and design.
Pro Useful charge move
There is a weapon charge move in the game which allows the player to hold down the attack button in order to attack all enemies on the screen. This is really useful in stressful situations where there are too many enemies to handle or are close to death.
Pro Morality system
For being such an old game to see the framework of a morality system used is quite interesting and actually a really nice mechanic. Depending on how you behave in the game (helping people or choosing to not help people) means that your likeness meter will go up. The more this meter goes up the more certain things get unlocked in the game, which gives more access and allows the player to move forward in the story.
Pro Open world gameplay
For a NES game to feature something like an open world game is quite an accomplishment. The city in the game can take up to half an hour to explore and allows the character to pick and choose what they do. Want to save people from getting mugged, feel free, you can also just let the mugging continue. Want to explore a library, you can do that too. While of course the open world aspects will seem limiting by today's standards, just the fact that an 8 bit game accomplished this is something to behold.
Pro Fun humor
The game has quite a bit of dialog, and this dialog often has corny and amusing jokes in it. It is lighthearted but still done well in a sense that it doesn't go too over the top. For those that are fans of corny humor, this game should appeal.
Cons
Con Weapons are limited
Any weapon pickup in the game is limited to just that weapon, which will have to be used until you run out or pick up a different weapon. So that makes for little customization on that front.
Con Difficult game
There are no extra lives and only 5 continues in the game, this becomes trouble as the game is tough. There are enemies that will run at you constantly in order to knock you off a platform, or into other enemies, on top of this the enemies take multiple hits to kill. While not an impossible game, it is tough and can be frustrating. When playing in co-op mode, those 5 continues are shared, which can make the game tougher at the same time of making it easier due to the second players help.
Con Menu system and item management is clunky
The menu system can be tough to navigate as it is many boxes inside of boxes, on top of this the item management can also be a pain due to the clunky menus and how many items one needs to manage. While much can be forgiven due to the age of this game and how little was possible in 8bit, it still can be frustrating.
Con Can be difficult to figure out what to do
There is zero hand holding in this game meaning it will take a tone of trial and error in order to figure out where to go and what to do. This can also cause some frustration though is any single element to the game is being missed and may take a strategy guide online in order to get unstuck.