Tengo Project
Image: ININ Games

As we gear up for the release of Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn, a remake of Natsume's classic NES action platformer, today we can exclusively reveal a new behind-the-scenes look at the development story behind the reimagined version.

As put together by publisher ININ Games, the mini-documentary (below) is a 13-minute exploration of Shadow of the Ninja's history featuring interviews with the original developers. It examines both the 8-bit original — known as Blue Shadow in Europe and KAGE in Japan — and the process of bringing the 1990 co-op side-scroller back and modernising it with a 16-bit-style visual makeover.

The veteran developers featured in the video now make up Tengo Project, the team behind such excellent modern remakes as Wild Guns Reloaded, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, and Pocky & Rocky: Reshrined. Senior chief engineer Toshiyasu Miyabe, planner and artist Shunichi Taniguchi, and composer and programmer Hiroyuki Iwatsuki talk about their work leading up to KAGE and the journey since then that's led them to return to the celebrated NES game 35 years later. Also featured is Dennis Mendel, head of bizdev at ININ Games, along with discussion of composer Iku Mizutani's contributions to this new version.

It's absolutely worth a watch, so check it out here:

Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn is launching on Switch (and PlayStation, Xbox, and PC) on 29th August — that's tomorrow at the time of writing. Keep an eye out for our verdict soon and let us know below if you're looking forward to returning to the game's dystopian vision of 2029.