Multiplayer Game Reviews

Glowing trails behind Tekeshi's eyes, somewhat realistic rope physics, and vintage pixel-art backgrounds add to the intrigue of Final Ninja.

Final Ninja is an action Flash game in which you take control of Takeshi, the Final Ninja.

When the story begins, Takeshi has been in hiding for ten years after he has forsaken his life as a Ninja. His old master, Akuma, has been hunting him down this entire time, and has finally found him. Takeshi realizes it’s time to put the suit back on and get himself some sweet ninja action while ending Akuma’s reign of Ninja Master terror.

The classic wall hop has been a staple of action games since the early days.

Final Ninja looks and feels like a vintage game from the Sega Genesis era. While this may be a complaint for some people, I personally love it. I see it as a throwback to the era in which I first started gaming. Games were simply fun back then. Paper-thin plots and awkward graphics didn’t matter so much as the carefully crafted gameplay.

Controlling Takeshi is pretty simple. It follows the WASD button scheme (you can also use the arrow keys) and mouse click will cause the protagonist to toss throwing stars. Holding down the left mouse button will fire a grappling hook and rope. Like in the Prince of Persia games, you can cling to walls and launch yourself in the other direction, making scaling steep surfaces a breeze. The only real complaint I have with this setup is that using the mouse to fire the grappling hook feels a bit more awkward at times than it should.

This was a game in which I found myself impressed by some of the smaller details. One of the first things I tested for was to see how the rope works. When you hit the edge of a cliff, the rope acts exactly as it should, partially wrapping around the obstruction and causing the circumference of Takeshi’s trajectory to decrease. While this is a minor detail, it made me happy to see that the developers didn’t take an easier route by not fine-tuning these rope physics.

Another thing that impressed me was the glowing trail that always lingers behind Takeshi’s eyes. This is completely unnecessary, but it looks really cool.

While Final Ninja may not be a breakthrough in gaming, or even incredibly unique, it fills a niche that has unfortunately been left empty for over a decade. If you loved the Sega Genesis, you will thoroughly enjoy this fun little ninja game.

Electricity is dangerous. Even the Final Ninja has respect for its power.

Final Ninja
Gameplay:   Technical:	A 2d platformer with a lot of sweet ninja action.

Game: Final Ninja | Developer: Nitrome