Hagane

"A wonderful sleeper hit"

I sometimes wonder how this game slipped through the cracks. It has vivid graphics, tight controls, awesome gameplay, and ninjas. What more could you want in an action game?
Graphics-10/10
The graphics reign so high over every other pixel based title out there. The backgrounds, characters, and weapons all look spectacular for the system.
Story-3/10
This game has a really weird story that really has nothing to do with the game.What do you expect after looking at the opening movie? But really, a game this great doesn't need a story like an rpg needs one. The ending is pretty cool too. Instead of the cliche hero gets girl crap, the samurai/ninja/robot sees that his job is done and turns himself off, and as the credits roll you watch him become a mossy fossil.
Sound-9/10
The japanese sounding music is excellent and goes well with the enviorment of the game. The SFX are also great. Every time you slash an enemy or throw your kunai, crisp, distinctive sounds accompany it.
Gameplay-10/10
The great graphics and nice music are good, but the real part of Hagane that shines is the awesome gameplay. The game is a basic side-scroller, where you can alternate between 4 basic weapons, and in a tight situation, use a ninjutsu attack to clear the enemies on the screen. Nothing complicated really. Also, by using L and R, you can use martial arts attacks by holding L or R down until a certain point to use different attacks. Altogether, you will need all of your attacks to defeat the huge bosses and difficult later levels. The difficulty is insane the first time you play through. It is nearly impossible to beat it without save state, in my humble opinion. The final boss made me scream at the computer screen and smash a plastic cup because it was so hard. Another cool aspect is that you can flip of walls and throw a few stars in mid air just in time to whip out your sword and slash the evil robot-soldier right as you hit the ground. This gives it a unique ninja feel that all other ninja games haven't really captured*coughshinobicough*. All in all, the stellar gameplay is more than enough to hunt it down on Ebay, even if your not a ninja fan or an action fan.
OVERALL-10/10
This nearly perfect side-scroller is a diamond in the rough of SNES action games that will probably never get the respect and recognition it deserves.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/03, Updated 06/28/03