Nathan Blades looks at the polarising RPG for PS3 & 360.
Jason Rose brings us a buyers' guide to smartphones available this Christmas.
Nathan Blades covers some console and industry-defining titles for the Sony PlayStation
Nathan Blades burns rubber in Mario kart 7.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles When you step back and think about it, the entire premise of this show was pretty ridiculous from the get-go. I mean, they’re teenage, mutant, ninja turtles. Think about that for a second. They like pizza, are named after great renaissance artists, and have learned the ways of the ninja from a rat in a dressing gown. None of this stopped the show or the arcade game being awesome though. The less said about the infamously unforgiving NES game, the better.
Kay Faraday The sidekick of Miles Edgeworth in Ace Attorney Investigations, Kay Faraday is a thief who helps Edgeworth on his quest for justice. And also happens to be a ninja, though certainly not in dress sense, where the word of the day is “keys”. Despite the issues of a thief helping a prosecutor, the two get on surprisingly well.
Koga Maybe I talk about Pokémon too much? Or maybe we just needed more relateable ninjas. Regardless, Koga (and in Gold and Silver, his daughter Janine) is the Poison-type gym leader from Fuschia City in the Red, Blue and Yellow versions of Pokémon. In true ninja fashion, his gym contains invisible walls, and can be tricky to navigate without some know-how.
N From the hugely popular Flash title N (later released on consoles as well) we have the title character, also called N. In this surprisingly difficult and unforgiving platformer (in later levels at least) you have to collect coins and reach the exit within a time limit. When hazards include missiles and lasers, it can get pretty tough.
Sheik For those who’ve not played Ocarina of Time (and if so, how’s that cave on Mars doing?), and who are looking forward to the June re-release, I’m not going to give you the true identify of Sheik, the mysterious character who appears once Link enters the adult world. All that’s evident is that Sheik is pretty helpful, and clearly wants Ganondorf gone as much as you do.
Ibuki The rogues gallery that makes up the Street Fighter series doesn't really contain many faces who you'd actually expect to see in a real street fight, and a teenage ninja definitely subscribes to that list. First appearing in Street Fighter III, Ibuki makes use of fleetness of foot and a seemingly endless supply of throwing knives to keep her opponent guessing. She also appears in Super Street Fighter IV (Backed by an incredible theme song); pick her if you're tiring of run-of-the-mill Hadoukens.
Goemon This one's a slightly retro pick. Back in the days where having a mascot character in your video games was near mandatory, Konami set aside Simon Belmont and Solid Snake for for Goemon, a character so brightly coloured and goofy, you'd be hard-pressed to call him a ninja at all. The SNES game The Legend of the Mystical Ninja was a fusion of side-scrolling and Beat-Em-Up action, while a later N64 sequel took more cues from Legend of Zelda. Both are incredibly off the wall with their sense of humour, and easy to pick up and play.
Shadow Man The Mega Man series is incredibly long-standing, but has lost its steam in recent years. Capcom has re-invented the series multiple times, each with their own strengths and fans, but few stand against the nostalgic might of the classic NES games. In a series devoted to robots, the question of "What possibly could be cooler than a ninja" by introducing Shadow Man in Mega Man 3, a robot ninja. Incredible. He was a hard fight in his début game, and fan popularity has had him included in a lot of Mega Man spinoffs since then.
Kisuke Have you heard of Muramasa: the Demon Blade? No? I don't blame you, it was a low-key release over in the UK. In fact, GAME refused to stock copies; sceptical of an unknown franchise selling well. It's a shame, as Muramasa is one of the prettiest games for Wii - a side scrolling hack-and-slash done entirely in 2D artwork, and a style firmly lodged in mythological Japan. Kisuke is one of the two protagonists, alongside Momohime, a lady samurai. In classic ninja style, Kisuke is of few words, cutting swathes through enemy ninjas and assorted ghosts and demons using three swords at once. Combat is easy - even for beginners - effortlessly taking down an ambush is satisfying and looks beautiful.
Ryu Hayabusa Ninja Gaiden is really difficult. It doesn't matter which game of the series I'm talking about, from the NES to the 360, every game Ryu Hayabusa has starred in is a test of gaming patience and stress levels. Ryu as a character is only barely fleshed out; he does all his talking with his weapons. The displays of acrobatic violence you can perform against foes (including animated giant statues and dragons) are impressive, but poor Ryu is built like wet cardboard. But in a way, his many inevitable deaths are not his fault, but the player's. The blood is on your hands, people.
I draw the majority of my knowledge of fourteenth/fifteenth Italian Renaissance painters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And what about Yoshimitsu in Tekken?
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