Return of the Ninja
Return of the Ninja is a platform game with stealth elements developed by Act Japan and published by Natsume Inc. For the Game Boy Color in 2001 as a spiritual successor to 1990's Shadow of the Ninja.
Return of the Ninja
- Date
- 2001
- Genre
- hack and slash
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Documentary summary
Return of the Ninja is a platform game with stealth elements developed by Act Japan and published by Natsume Inc. For the Game Boy Color in 2001 as a spiritual successor to 1990's Shadow of the Ninja.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q22019737 · wikipedia · Return of the Ninja
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Developer — Act Japan • Publisher — Natsume Inc. • Designer — Tarō Sasahara • Producer — Naoki Eriguchi Hiro Maekawa • Artist — Reiko Hirota Kōichi Mashimo Masanori Kitsuta • Composer — Kiyoshi Kusatsu Yoshio Watanabe • Programmer — Kunihiro Takahashi Takanori Kuwana • Genre — Platform, stealth • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Game Boy Color
Gameplay
Gameplay
The player takes role of a ninja (either the male Tsukikage and or the female Saiyuri), using the D-pad to move and the buttons to jump and attack. Various special items called Shinobi Tools need be collected to master the five arts of ninjutsu (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Heaven) and proceed through the game. Guards may alert the others and can be avoided. The player's rank at the end of each stage is determined by how fast the level was completed and how many times the protagonist has been spotted by human enemies, and cards can be awarded to the player.
History of the object
Dated record
History of the object
The full dated record · 2 entries
2001
Return of the Ninja published.
2001
Return of the Ninja is recorded as published in 2001.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Named but not plotted · 1
Return of the Ninja is associated with Japan.
Country
Reception
Return of the Ninja received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Retro Gamer highlighted it as one of the most memorable games about Japanese warriors. Nintendo Power gave it an average review nearly four months before the game was released.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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