Nightshade

It's worth mentioning that I hate the lock-on system a little less than I used to. It still kinda sucks, though, often targeting the boss when you still have small fry you want to add to your tate (the idea is to hit the boss last). I think former president Andrew Jackson put it best when he said, "Fumbling with an erratic targeting system does not equal fun gameplay." For once, Old Hickory was right.

Bright Side of Nightshade

One area where Nightshade's really improved is the level design, which is far more intricate and interesting than it was in Shinobi. The levels are still a bit boxy, but these boxes are arranged in much more intriguing ways. As the game goes on, more and more platforming elements appear, which can create some real scrotal constriction (or whatever the female equivalent is ... ovumacular retention?) as you zip from enemy to enemy over terrifyingly deadly gaps. For the most part, I mean that in the best possible way.

Graphics, too, have been injected with some welcome color. Where Shinobi was a rather dark and gloomy game, Nightshade isn't afraid to throw some vibrant colors onscreen once in a while. The levels take place at a variety of times of day, and the visual variety this adds is welcome. While the environments are a little low-poly, the character models look great and the whole affair zips along at a constant 60 frames per second. Bottom line? Nightshade is rather pretty. The music isn't bad either, though just like before, I only actually enjoy a handful of the tracks.

As with Shinobi, the best aspect of Nightshade is probably its replay value. In addition to three difficulties, there are 80-odd ninja coins to snag from tricky parts of each level. These unlock a variety of nice bonuses, from new character costumes to time attacks to bonus stages. This will keep the hardcore fans quite busy, even if I do get the impression that the game is not quite as time-consuming to 100% as Shinobi was.

Tweaked for the Better

Nightshade does a good job of fixing up some of the more annoying bits of its forebear and making a game that is a bit more enjoyable for casual play. That's not to say it's not hardcore -- this is probably one of the worst games you could possibly buy for your reflex-impaired father. It does, however, decrease the barrier of entry enough that the average gamer has a better shot at enjoying it. Combine that with superior level design and attractive graphics and my preference for it over Shinobi is obvious. It's still chock full of frustration and teeth-gnashing, but for all its minuses, Nightshade delivers more of the same fairly well.