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Suffers from repetitive backrounds and gameplay

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Nightshade, Sega's new Shinobi spin-off for PS2, isn't quite the classic fans have been hoping for. Besides the newly added kick button and chakra projectile attacks, the gameplay remains very similar to Shinobi. The story now focuses on Hibana, a female ninja whose mission is to retrieve pieces of the soul-hungry Akujiki sword. With the absence of the energy draining sword in hand, the difficulty is slightly reduced and the player is now free to advance through the levels at their own pace. However, the levels designs, the enemies, and the story is a bit ho-hum this time around. After having to slice through meaningless wave after wave of hellspawn insects on repetitive backrounds, boredom quickly sets in. I hate to say it, but the whole package smacks of a game system that has reached it's limits...maybe the PS2 doesn't have much life left in it. Whatever the case, gamers looking for an action platformer should think twice before purchasing Nightshade. Unless you are a hardcore fan of Shinobi, I recommend checking out Ninja Gaiden or Onimusha 3 instead.

Hack-n-slash ....... nothing more

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This kind of games are what the PS2 don't need, Im a RPG guy so maybe this may see a little harsh ...... Really i don't care

Lets start with the basics, the game its about a ninja that works for the japanese goverment, here name is Hibana, she is very nimble, smart and good fighter (she is perfect in every sense) and the goverment order her to stop an evil race from another dimension and the game unfolds itself upon the fact that the evil race boss was Hibanas former master.

Ok now with the game, the tutorial its a little bit stupid (even for a tutorial) it shows you that you jump with th X buton (yeah, that lame) but its a good way to learn how to do the tricks.

Theres a cool thing in this game, its the Tate, basically when you kill an enemy a 20 sec timer starts to run, if you kill another enemy the timer fills again and so on and so on, each enemy that you kill this way give you twice the amount of points and when you killed all the monsters on the screen Hibana strikes a cool pose and usually mocks of her fallen enemies. The first 50 tates are cool but when you kill 3 monsters in a row she strikes the pose, mocks of the enemies and starts a new row it begans to be anoying

Fun factor = Play it when you dont have anything to play or you are just bored, stop playing when you are hungry or got yourself another cool game like Final Fantasy or Shin megammi tensei

Playability = The camera could be anoying at times but the in-game adventure gives you the feeling of been a ninja (a sexy one), Oh, and theres no re-play value unless you want to beat your scores in each stage

Music = Didnt even know it had.... the music its kind of cool but you just focus on killing monsters so you dond even listen to it, if you want cool music, play guitar hero I, II, III

Sound = You keep hearing the clash of steel (even if you hit a box) and the voice acting wasnt that bad, for better voice acting play Valkyrie profile (Lenneth)

Graphics = The best thing this game has its the shadows Hibana leave every time she dash..... And her Bandana. The enemies are a little .... Well they look like paralyzed monsters, For better graphics play the Metal gear sagas

Dificulty factor = you will die a lot and theres no save points in the middle level, it could be a good test for your playing skills

Habilities to play this game = Quick tumb, Patience (desireble) and dont have a better game to play

Over all = There are better games out there for the PS2, just keep looking

The game isnt that bad but if you could buy another, do so

Almost all of the game is great

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The first stage of this game where you are fighting on the aircraft against the cyborg ninja is horrible. Miraculously, from the second stage on, the graphics look great, the music is great, the maps and enemies are more interesting, and the game is just more fun in general. Did a different team create the first level?

That aside, Nightshade is an action/adventure game similar in control to the PS2 Shinobi. The difficulty is not as high as in Shinobi at the default setting, but this can be increased or decreased in the options. If you want to evaluate this title, I recommend a play through of at least the first 2 levels to see what this game is really all about. I found the aerial maneuvering, special moves, and controls to be very good; at least as good if not better than Shinobi.

Sister Shinobi

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Nightshade is basically a sequel or more like a spinoff from the previous shinobi game 2 years ago. although the graphics,character designs and music are simular the gameplay itself has improved and far less frustrating than it's predescessor. your character can perform mid-air sword attacks and even combos.the stages vary from fighting atop of stelth bombers,rooftops,a convoy of exploding trucks and more.
the objective within the storyline takes you on a quest to recover all the pieces of the akuji sword (the cursed sword that drains the life from it's welder, as previously noted in SHINOBI)
and bring a former master now traitor to justice.
this game is a must for SHINOBI fans, but also serves as an "appetizer" till NINJA GAIDEN (a shinobi cookie cutter game albiet a very good one)appears on the X-BOX.

why this game is so cool

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 12
Date: February 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I think this game is cool because it has the best story in a ninga game.

the end!!!!!!!!!

Kunoichi Strikes Into Shinobi Action

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well Sega has finally decided to add a kunoichi to the Shinobi line-up roster. The sequel to the PS2 Shinobi, stars a female ninja by the name of Hibana who is practically assigned to rid the streets of Japan from corruption (majority of the game's plot takes place in Tokyo). Later on in the adventure, the heroine is faced with the luggage of the entire fate of the world resting in her hands. Like the ps2 Shinobi, a majority of skill relies heavily on derailing from building to building hacking and slashing practically whatever moves at you (actually the player is also able to destroy non-moving objects such as tables and boxes for SPECIAL items). PS2 Shinobi was criticized for having bad camera angles and super frustrating battle sequences. Though Sega managed to tone down the level of confusion within battle, the sequel still has the stiff feeling of it's counter-part as if it's unfinished in some areas. Here are list of major Pro's and Neg's Nightshade contains:

PRO'S

-Nonstop moving ninja action. Fans of sidescrollers will be pleased to know that Nightshade is a face-paced moving action game all the way.
-Splendid Dialogue. The voice acting in Nightshade is excellent to say the least impressive. Hibana's voice is especially well acted.
-Excellent Soundtrack. The uptempo music helps maintain the fast-paced action of the game and keep the player moving.
-Unlockable Secrets. Nightshade has a ton of unlockables to obatin by completing stages and collecting coins to use to purchase hidden characters, pictures to add to the game gallery, etc., adding replay value. In fact, the player is allowed to replay a stage if they choose in order to try and retrace their footsteps to some coins to which they may have missed prior to completing that stage.
-Combo Chain Animations. The addition Sega implemented with the way Hibana stands and taunts after juggling a handfull of enemies as they spew to shreds is amazing. This feature is especially neat when executed in the air.

NEG'S
-Superfrustrating boss encounters. Instead of standard one on one battles when fighting bosses, the player is not only forced to focus on that boss, but is also forced to handle off a indefinite amount of regular enemies as well. This especially gets frustrating when encountered by a tough boss.
-Low Enemy Variety. Most of the game is spent fighting off the same flying machine gunners and rocket launcer shooters. Making the latter parts of the game feel very repetitive and tedious. If only a larger variety of different types of enemies were implemented....
-Poor Target System. The target system isn't very effective since it mainly focuses on one enemy at a time rather than several, unless being used to throw a shuriken from a distance at an enemy. This feature is mainly useful on boss encounters.
-Annoying Camera Angles. Though the player can rotate the camera when and how they choose, at some times it seems as though the camera just doesn't want to stay put in the area/angle to which the player triggers it, wandering to an angle to which the player doesn't desire it to be. Especially frustrating in boss encounters, resulting in numerous deaths.
-Mediocre Graphics. While not necessarily bad, the graphics are nowhere near PS2 standards, and could and should be MUCH better. The shadowings are also sub-bar as well, with just a simple dark circle remaining under characters and objects.

Nightshade is a great action game. A needed breath of fresh air to the elusive variety of ninja action games for the ps2. It's just not as polished and hyped up to what it was said and expected to be. By no means a failure. Worth giving a try.

Way Better than Shinobi

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: February 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Shinobi split the ninja-lovin' world cleanly in twain: the haters who reviled it for being too hard and the lovers who attained sacred oneness with their PS2 controllers, proclaiming the gameplay a work of unique genius and professing that the others just didn't "get" what developer Overworks was trying to do. Here, now, is Nightshade, her touch hoping to heal. Nightshade puts you in control of a female ninja named Hibana, who is on a mission to recover the shards of the shattered soul-sucking blade Akujiki (the one that nearly killed poor Hotsuma in Shinobi). Despite the fact that there's a new character taking the lead, the structure is pretty much the same as Shinobi's. The unique-once-you-figured-it-out gameplay of Nightshade's predecessor has been left entirely intact: dashing is still important, and linking together attacks plays a huge part in battle as every successive enemy you kill in a row adds to your attack power (a key technique for some of the later levels). There are no puzzles to solve or shops to visit; fighting and finesse are the whole crux of the game. A number of things have been done to make the gameplay simpler for those who were instantly frustrated by Shinobi's. The blade doesn't suck your life out if you don't perform killer combo attacks. A handy little timer also shows you how much time is left before the combo chain "breaks" and you go back to square one. There aren't nearly as many overly treacherous, evilly placed gaps; incorrectly performing a midair combo no longer means instant death and frustration. Even when you do die, you can retry indefinitely at more frequent intervals. By no means does this make Nightshade an "easy" game; it's still a challenge (some bosses, especially) and quite rewarding if you're particularly skilled at the combat system, but if you beat Shinobi, this will seem like a training mission. The graphics in Nightshade are stronger than those in Shinobi with more varied character and enemy designs, and levels that don't rely so heavily on right angles and hallways. The enemies and structures still consist of rather simple polygons, but the game moves quickly enough that you'll barely have time to take close stock of your surroundings. Well-crafted CG sequences, decent voice acting, and sound effects round out things nicely.
The control scheme is sublimely genius, letting you perform midair attacks and dash around foes with poetic ease. The manual camera is still a bit too loose, though, and leaping and running against walls isn't as reliable as you'd like it to be. Nightshade is a strong follow-up to a clever game that was a bit too nuanced for its own public profile's sake. No, the hardcore Shinobi fans may never see their skills so rigorously tested again, but it's still good to see a misunderstood idea given another chance to prove its worth.

I prefer SHINOBI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: October 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I admit that this game improved many thing that Shinobi should have, like: more fun (I liked the train stage), better graphics, better positions after killing and more difficulty.

Shinobi is better (for me) because the character look's SOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cape like SPAWN, dressing dark green, gloves made of shurikens, four cool dark eyes and the movie sequences were SOOO great!!!!!!!!

The girl in NIGHSHADE look's lame compared to Shinobi, so I guess this game is no THAT cool after all, and besides there are daylight missions witch it's not cool for ninjas.
If you like improve fun sequels then this game is for you but if you are looking for fun and cool characters then this game suck's!!!!!

P.S: Stay with Shinobi if you want cool fun and cool character!

Adios!!!

Action Fans Rejoice!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Nightshade is a good follow up to the PS2 shinobi. The controls transfer almost completely intact save improved charge attacks (for some characters), no sword timer (not really an improvement, one character *might* still have such a timer), the addition of a kick button and several new moves that go with it, and a chakra gauge (again, for some characters only). Despite these changes, Nightshade offers up the same tate-ing type gravity defying action that will keep your thumbs blistered and your reflexes at the very tip of human capability.

The game also improves strongly on level design in several ways and varies from improved backgrounds to slightly less frusturating jumping puzzles to simply things such as where enemies are placed throughout the level. In some places, air-tate-ing enemies offers a faster route through for the skilled player, for example. Furthermore, every level has several checkpoints that you can continue from, making it easier to progress piecemeal through a level rather than being required to perform flawlessly. For the most part the platforming "pitfall" style action is toned down considerably in the first part of the game, though "cheap" deaths will occur by the dozen in some of the later stages.

Boss battles are considerably less challenging than they were in Shinobi (particularly in the easier difficulties) simply because the new charge or "chakra" attacks allow you to Tate bosses with utter ease (chakra attacks are performed by simply holding down the attack button and releasing after a short charge). The chakra attack allows you to land the devastating final blow in a tate attack while being a considerable distance away from the opponent, making it very easy to make that final hit.

Character design is also well done. The new Kuinichi, Hibana, sports a costume that is sleek and futuristic while respectful of Joe Mugashi's oldschool Red on White look from the classic Genesis Shinobi titles. Her moves are sleek and her overall game-presence is almost as daunting as Hotsuma's was in Shinobi (almost).

Unfortuanately, if you tally story and dialogue in the total score of this game (which I have only done for the general public, such things don't really matter in a game like this), it would likely come out with a few problems.

Hibana's dialogue can be particularly annoying and redundant at times, which is a pity considering the voice acting is quite good. She seems much more disjointed from the affair than Hotsuma was in Shinobi. The story is pretty much recycled from Shinobi and centers around Akujiki again, so don't look for any grand surprises. The themes of Revenge, chivalry, and justice do serve the game well as they did in Shinobi.

Also, the absence of the dreaded sword timer (many people hated it), for better or for worse, definetely has had an effect on gameplay. There is no longer a direct need to Tate (survival), you simply do it for the highest score or for finesse. While this is fine in itself, it's less likely that finesse will prompt you to go for that challenging air tate on the final stage than the fact that you have little heath and are about to run out on your sword timer. I feel the absence of the sword timer reduces the sense of urgency throughout the game which directly impacts how some of the levels are played and thus how challenging some of those levels are, which of course, depending on personal preference, is for better or for worse. (As mentioned, some characters still have such a timer....)

And like Shinobi, this game is HARD (notice the caps). For some that will be a very good thing, to those who lack discipline, well, perhaps not. It still has a tinge of oldschool gameplay via luck and simple but clear purpose, to annihilate your foes in a very straightforward fashion.

The music consists largely of a Techno/Rhythmic-like score. Opinions vary as to whether it's better than Shinobi's though it's definetely different and seems to fit the game's pace better.

Overall, there's a lot in this game to love. It doesn't really do anything revolutionary, but the top-notch gameplay and character design are simply to die for. An excellent follow-up (I won't say sequel) to Shinobi in almost every regard, it plays every bit as well and in some ways even better.

Great Sequel to Shinobi

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you liked Shinobi, You'll like this game.

If you DIDN'T like Shinobi only beacuse of difficulty... You will LOVE this game.

Basically it follows the same formula as Shinobi, with an even more modern/futuristic feel (good or bad, depending on your taste). Kick button has been added, but it's much more then just for variety: it's actually a big change to the gameplay. With some enemies, you have to use the kick to knock off thier armor, before you can put the sword to them. I think it's a great feature that adds extra depth to Shinobi fighting system. The environments are also more "jump-friendly" which means less of "I-thought-there-was-a-platform-there" scenarios. Bosses are much easier then Shinobi, as is the whole game. Don't get me wrong, you'll still die a lot, but not as much as in Shinobi.

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