On a few occasions, the soundtrack grabbed my attention and I found myself really digging it, to the point that I died a few times when getting into the groove. Giant tanks, flying mechs, an underwater Mekadragon, a turret-controlling AI security program, and more threaten the heroic ninja! Each one immediately got me excited, and then frustrated, and then elated as I finally overcame them. Equal parts cool factor and intimidating. Some of the most stand-out designs are found in the stellar boss fights. There’s also the option to play with scanlines which can really add to the nostalgia factor. Only once did I ever mistake a background element for a safe-to-land platform and thinking about it probably had more to do with me panicking and not paying attention than a design flaw, but it did happen.

Level designs feature ruined cities, subway lines, sub-tunnel systems, skylines, spirit temples, all while including some very smart shortcuts. Cutscenes that capture key moments and characters are simply cool. There’s clearly a mastery on display here. Visually, Cyber Shadow shows off the potential flair of pixel art. Shortly after that, the gameplay immediately felt solid and responsive. I distinctly remember only being able to get through the first few levels of Ninja Gaiden games due to their notorious difficulty despite that, I’ve got a fondness for them because who wouldn’t want to be a ninja, especially in the 90s? Will I suffer the same fate as 90s child Joe or will I come out victorious?Ī few things stood out to me upon first starting Cyber Shadow: the visuals and the music. Cyber Shadow promises to capture the spirit of classic Ninja Gaiden on the NES while having challenging gameplay combined with smarter level design, and perhaps slightly kinder enemy placement. This is the story of Cyber Shadow, developed solely by Aarne “MekaSkull” Hunziker and backed and published by Yacht Club Games. Moving forward, when Yacht Club Games decides to attach their name to something, I will make the safe bet and trust they know what they are doing. They captured the nostalgia of classic retro platformers while including decades of quality of life improvements. Shovel Knight knocked it out of the park and continued to do so with every additional campaign added to the Treasure Trove. When it comes to indie developers, Yacht Club Games is the poster child of dreams coming true.

Cyber shadow monkey race