Back in the '80s and '90s, you couldn't move for side-scrolling action platformers packed with ninjas. Shinobi. Shadow Dancer. Bad Dudes. Taking inspiration from Hollywood's late-'80s obsession with all things ninja, these titles became arcade smash hits and captivated a whole generation of players.
Ninjas in 2020, though? Not so much. They're still around, but they're nowhere near as popular, which is why Shadow Gangs has really caught our attention – it's arguably as close as we're going to get to a new Shinobi game these days, and seems to understand precisely what made those older coin-op hits so appealing.
Oh, and one of the game's big-bads is a dead-ringer for Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, which seems like a pretty good bonus to us. Shadow Gangs comes to Switch on January 7th, 2021.
Comments 31
You had me at Freddie Mercury. Take my money already!
this ish looks so dam dope reminds me on when i was 10 year old going and playing in all the bodeegas and pizza shops of the bronx of nyc.
There's something...off...about the graphics. But it looks fun and I appreciate how they're not even trying to hide what inspired them.
Best tag line ever drew me in straight away.
A literal interpretation of Freddie's song "Mr Bad Guy.'
It looks okayish. Dunno what it is but something doesn't quite click with me. I will need to see reviews before I consider it.
Looks decent and the ninja's wear some skin tight bodysuits... not mad about it.
It's my original character. EDDIE SATURN!
I was interested until I saw the photos. It seems disjointed somehow.
I'm guessing it's physical since it's not in the eshop section? If so I think I'll get this.
This was in development on PC for years. It changed a lot in that time, for the better imo. I'm really pleased to see it make its way beyond PC to consoles where it seems like a perfect fit. At the right price, I can see it doing very well.
Everytime time he beats you ( another bites the dust ) sound clip should play. Then he changes outfit to ( I want to be free ) and hovers up the dead player.
I don't understand the comments about there being something "off", because I think it looks and sounds great, and it immediately triggered me, so far as I'm concerned, bring it on!
Shinobi clone? Color me curious. Not feeling the gun usage though.
Love Shinobi so this is a definite buy for me. Looks fun!
Is this the real life?
Is that Mai in one of the captions?
@Mach_Rider agree, the graphics are more Amiga 500 than arcade
I dislike queen, but I like awesome games. Looks good xxx
@HamatoYoshi Indeed. It definitely has that look to it.
Well, I absolutely love side scrollers and beat-em-ups and it's fantastic that people are making new ones, but this looks sh#t! It should have been done in pixel art. The modern hand drawn style coupled with low frame animation just makes this look like a flash game.
It looks a bit average bar the description of the boss.
I wonder if SEGA got any royalties for what looks like the same exact gameplay. Just the side-scrolling stages could make it about as different as Rolling Thunder, but the bonus stages bring it much closer to being a copycat.
The face on the final boss is a dead ringer for Freddie Mercury while the body looks like it belongs to Wolfgang Krauser from Fatal Fury. That reminds me of Dan from Street Fighter who has Ryo Sakazaki's body and Robert Garcia's head.
This game certainly looks interesting, but I hope they add some more frames of animation to make it look less jerky.
I love the Shinobi trilogy, I hope this one ends up being good.
Artstyle looks ugly but the gameplay looks fine.
blinks slowly Umm...what?
Nice, I do love me a new Shinobi game but this knockoff will do.
@Shadowmoon522
Haha, definitely D
Going to buy that just for Freddy.
Played it on PC. Its def a Shinobi clone and a well made one but its harder. Maybe i'm just not used to it though. And yeah something feels off. Its american not japanese
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