It's Shinobi, the god father of all modern ninjas (not the bad kind). Good game, brings me back to my childhood and hanging out at the arcades. Shinobi-san, may I swing that sword at the training dummy please?

What you'll find here is an old school game that is challenging at times but still addictive and fun. No, the graphics have not been updated, but for those of us who grew up when this game was brand new, they don't have to be.

This is a HARD game. Anyone willing to play it "just for fun" will be seriously disappointed. Shadow Dancer is a good game, but it is an arcade game that came back from another time where punishing difficulty was common amongst games. If you can overcome this issue (even easier since quicksave/quickload are available) then you'll have a fine arcade side-scroller that really deserves its reputation.

Ah, Shinobi! I love this series. Gorgeous "oldschool" game for all the older arcade maniac.

If you are a fan of the NES Ninja Gaiden games but felt that the were much too hard, then this would be the ideal game for you. That is not to say that it isn't plenty hard in its own righ... I died several times throughout the game due to those insane jumping red ninjas. If you get the game, make 100% sure you watch out for them as them seemingly come out of nowhere. A big plus to this game is the ability to save anytime... anywhere (a save feature wasn't even included in the original Genesis/Megadrive version of the game). The one thing that ate at me though was the fact that there was no controller support. I mean this was originally a console game that obviously relied on a controller, so why not give the option to use one (this can be rectified by using a program like Joy2Key or XPadder... but you really shouldn't have to in the first place)?

Overall I would recommend it though if you are looking for a good, strategic side scrolling platformer. 4/5 stars

In this game you takes the role of a ninja who must thwart a terrorist plot with the help of his canine companion. It's a good game with four round and will sure bring you some good memories. Run fine on windows 7 for me and it give you some time of fun.

Works great on Windows 7 x64, and I got it for free during a promotion, so that also is a plus. Funny thing, even the installer is bigger than the game's data. :) The game now features a manual save system, which helps a lot, if you ever want to continue playing from where you left off. Probably its just a nostalgic feeling, but this game is a very good classic platformer. :)

Shadow Dancer has Side Scrolling Arcade written all over it. The story line is typically sketchy for this type of game and involves some vaguely defined evil that has taken over the world. All it is however is an excuse to grab you're katana and shurikens, call you're dog and go kick some ninja ass. Yes that's right I said dog. While the main character is the very familiar ninja Shinobi, he now brought his dog along for the battle. By holding down the attack button you can sick him on one of you're enemies distracting them long enough for you to move in for the kill. Just don't try it on an enemy that's blocking or you're faithful sidekick will be cut down to size, literally.

The graphics are above average and very detailed in their animation. There's loads of enemies attacking from all side and they all have unique attacks and animations. Shinobi himself is very impressive. While you can chuck shurikens to dispose of most of the enemies if you move in close you can deal them a fatal blow with you're katana. Jumping and attacking near an enemy results in a kick. The aim is to wander around the levels rescuing hostages. Once the required amount of hostages has been found and rescued you wander over to the exit and then it's on to the next one. There are five levels each with three sub-levels so the game isn't very long, again showing it's arcadish origins. Another bad point is that it only takes one hit for you to die and some of the motherships are downright nasty. While it is certainly a fun game to play you're still left feeling like there should have been more to it. This is especially frustrating as the graphics and animation is of such a high caliber. Arcade fans will probably love it though. The areas that you play through are also quite good and you start off from the city streets, progress to the Statue of Liberty and later some caves.

There are some nice touches like the ability to jump from the foreground to the background to avoid or attack some enemies.One level also has the background tearing in half during a earthquake and rocks falling from the sky. Besides you're katana and shurikens you can also find an powerup that increases the shurikens strength and turns it into blue energy bolts. Another feature is the ability to use you're super ninja powers. This can only be used once per level, but is devastating in power. There are a few different ones and these range from a tornado that clears the screen, meteors that clear the area or fire columns that lay waste to the enemies. Using it on the bosses only result in them losing one or two blocks of power though. After each level is an bonus level where you get to test you're skill by shooting as many ninjas as you can. This is done while free falling from a building and you'll get a reward depending on how many you hit. For Shinobi fans and arcade game lovers this game is a delight, but for the rest of us it's just another short arcade game with above average graphics.

A decent classic platform game, this game now supports manual save help you can continue moment when you quit. This is classic game so graphic is outdated. This game is quite hard with me, if you can beat Contra on SNES with 3 lives, then you will have no problem with it.