The Nintendo Switch is home to truly remarkable titles if you look hard enough though one recurring trend is the return of old-school arcade games. Titles, such as the Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection bring the newer generations of players today into the founding ideas of action and arcade video games. Peering into these time capsules is fantastic, experiencing older principles in game design, but also respecting the ideas and mechanics that have laid the groundwork for the games we enjoy today. In 1987, Taito released an arcade classic, known as The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, and thanks to ININ Games and Natsume Atari, the classic returns better than ever for the Nintendo Switch.
When an evil warlord takes over a massive city and its people, a resistance is formed to fight back. The enemy is an authoritarian, ruthlessly using armed force on the innocents, but he is constantly met with conflict from the resistance. Facing desperation and potential defeat, the Resistance launches the authorization of specialized android ninjas, built from the ground up for combat and featuring cutting edge technology. The androids are deployed to take the fight to the enemy, overthrow a dictatorship, and save the nation.
The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a 2D side-scrolling brawler, where players will choose from one of initially three android ninjas, and battle across several stages. Each ninja is super-powered and has a different range of attacks and special abilities. The objective is to clear each stage, wipe out enemies, and build a high score. Of course, this a mammoth fight and the key objective is survival.
Across several vast stages, players fight against seemingly endless waves of soldiers and robots, culminating in a boss fight at the end of each stage. At the beginning of the game, players can choose from one of several characters. Kunoichi, who is featured prominently on the cover of the game, is a swift android, designed for close attacks with her Kunai and Katana. Kamaitachi is an incredibly mobile android that uses his built-in blades to slay his targets. Ninja is a slow but robust and powerful android, with strong grapple attacks and a fearsome metallic nunchaku. Two new characters are added into the fray as well once certain criteria are met. Yaksha is a female android, who uses her flexible limbs for sudden unpredictable attacks. Raiden is essentially a walking tank with two transformation modes that allow for extreme firepower against the evil army.
Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is old-fashioned arcade fun that feels both familiar and brand new. From the outset, Return of the Warriors hits you with a star-studded introduction, immersing players into a long-forgotten feeling. The world is in danger, a city has fallen, and only you, the player, can save it. Taito, the original developers of The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, brought back it’s own development team to remaster the game, and from the introduction movie to the actual gameplay, every single pixel is lovingly recrafted and breathtaking to behold, especially for long-time players that can recall the original release. The arcade side-scrolling action feels familiar for someone like me who has played so many modern action games but also refreshingly new as the fast-paced action of Return of the Warriors calls back to a time of skill, wit, and repeat gameplay to truly conquer the endless hordes of enemies. The action is fast, furious, and gorgeously detailed, with the classic sounds that TAITO games are known for and a bevy of details exploding on-screen. When facing larger bosses, the battle is intense.
One of the defining gameplay elements in Return of the Warriors is a special bar at the bottom of the HUD that displays the battery levels for players. This meter is managed and used for flashy special attacks. To make matters even more fun, a second player can play alongside player one, a first for The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors. This makes fighting the enemy hordes that much more entertaining, accessible, and fun! Overall, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a sharp and highly entertaining thrill ride.
There are a few drawbacks to the madness and action-packed thrill of Return of the Warriors and that is its length, as well as the lack of a tutorial. I understand that this is an arcade game and as such is designed to be short and direct, though I wasn’t made aware of the special attacks functionality of the game until I started mashing buttons. A quick tutorial would have been appreciated. Additionally, I feel that having more content would have been beneficial, whether it was the SNES versions of The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors or perhaps another arcade game snuck into the overall package, such as Darius Burst. However, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is an arcade game and the goal is to get a high score, unlock new characters, and have a great (but ultimately short-lived) time doing it. To that end, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors greatly succeeds.
Return of the Warriors is short but enjoyable fun that is great for die-hard players who lived through the arcade days, as well as a great opportunity for players looking for a different action experience. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors has been lovingly ported to the Nintendo Switch, with an exceptional degree of sharp controls and great arcade action. Sharpen your blades and charge your batteries, you’ve got a nation to save?
More information about The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors can be found on the official website and the game is available on PS4 as well as Switch. A digital Switch copy was provided for the purpose of review.
