Ninja Five-O

"More old school than Ninja Gaiden"

Where did this game come from? It is simply amazing. Konami has been on a serious winning streak lately, but this is just really cool. So far, it is the sleeper hit of 2K3 in my opinion. This game is based off of many old school games you can find on the NES and other older systems. You can take one part Metal Gear, One part Shinobi, and one part Bionic Commando. Needless to say, this game should be pretty fun for the gamers who grew up on those games.

You play as a police Ninja who has 6 missions to beat which span over 20 stages. Each mission has 4 stages, and you beat them progressively, gaining points as you go along. It's basically an old game where you try to beat your previous score as the game takes less than 2 hours to beat.

Graphically this game is pretty impressive. The main characters Ninja motions are pretty cool as well as shurikens. Musically the game is pretty impressive, and the sound effects are decent as well.

Gameplay is where this game is just soars. The motion of your ninja is very smooth. He goes wherever you want him. You also have many moves at your disposal. You can throw shurikens which can gain levels as you collect certain items. You have a double combo technique that is you basic attack, and a cool spiral attack when you are in the air. You can crawl and slide as well depending on what you need for your current situation.

The best thing about gameplay is you grappling hook. Most ninjas have a trusty grappling hook at their side, but this one is very cool. Using this hook, you can swing to the level above you, climb walls, drop in on enemies, climb, repel, and swing from ceilings. Needless to say it is very useful.

Now, in each mission you can choose to just run through it, hacking and slashing each little badguy you came across, or you can do it the way you are supposed to. You must remember that this IS a ninja game. Stealth is an option here, and you get more points for stealth kills. Stealth can be done by hiding behind boxes, or dropping in on you enemy who doesn't suspect you. There are also hostages to rescue. They are being held at gun point, so you have to attack the kidnappers while they are out from shooting at you, and basic shurikens don't work. Each level has a boss fight which is unique from the others. And while most badguys you run across are just thugs, you do get into ninja duels which can be pretty fun even though they only take one hit to kill.

I highly recommend this game to anybody, even if you haven't heard of it. People who were around for the 8-bit days will REALLY appreciate this game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/03, Updated 05/29/03