Ninja Five-O | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Hudson Soft |
Publisher(s) | Konami |
Director(s) | Gen Suzuki |
Producer(s) | Hitoshi Kimoto |
Designer(s) | Gen Suzuki |
Programmer(s) |
|
Artist(s) | Osamu Ōe |
Composer(s) |
|
Platform(s) | Game Boy Advance |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action, platform |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ninja Five-O, known in the PAL region as Ninja Cop, is an action platform video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Konami. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in North America and Europe in April 2003. Players take the role of Joe Osugi, a ninja who must stop a terrorist group influenced by mystical masks. It was first announced at "Konami Gamers' Day" in early 2003.
The game received generally positive reviews from video game critics, but it failed to garner sales and is often regarded as one of the most sought-after handheld games.
On February 21, 2024, it was announced that the game would be re-released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. [4]
Ninja Five-O is an action game centered around Joe Osugi, a ninja tasked with stopping a terrorist group influenced by the Mad Masks, masks that give the wearer obscene power. [5] As Osugi, the player must defeat the terrorists and rescue hostages through five missions with three levels and a boss battle. [6] [7]
The game was developed by Hudson Soft. [8] Ninja Five-O was first announced in January 2003 during "Konami Gamers' Day", where they announced along with fifteen other games they would publish in 2003. [9] Despite being developed and published by Japanese video game companies, it was never released in Japan for reasons unknown. [7] The US box art was illustrated by Julie Giles, who designed other Konami packaging such as the Castlevania and Metal Gear franchises. [10] Ninja Five-O was released in North America and Europe in April 2003. [8]
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | 82/100 [11] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Game Informer | 8.25/10 [12] |
GamePro | [13] |
GameSpot | 7.9/10 [14] |
GameSpy | [15] |
GameZone | 8.5/10 [16] |
IGN | 8.5/10 [6] |
Nintendo Power | 4/5 [17] |
Nintendo World Report | 9/10 [18] |
The Cincinnati Enquirer | [19] |
Upon release of the game, Ninja Five-O received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [11] It was chosen as runner-up for "GBA Game of the Month" by IGN for the month of April 2003, behind Golden Sun: The Lost Age . [20]
In a retrospective review from Nintendo Life , Perry Wild praised its level design for having a balance between the platforming and combat aspects in the game. [21]
Ninja Five-O received awards and nominations from several gaming publications. GameSpy named it the third best Game Boy Advance game of 2003, [22] as well as the Best Platform Game for the system. [23] It was also chosen as the "Best Game No One Played" by IGN. [24] IGN later listed it at number 23 in their list of the top 25 Game Boy Advance games of all time. [25] In 2008, CraveOnline featured the game among top 10 Ninja games of all time, calling it "weird, fun, challenging, and a great homage to another awesome ninja game from the 8-bit era, Shadow of the Ninja ". [26] According to GameFan , "Ninja Five-O was one of the biggest sleeper hits of 2003. Given lackluster sales it's unlikely to spawn a sequel, but with everything it got right the first time one can only imagine what might have been." [5]
Ninja Five-O is now seen as one of the most sought-after games for the Game Boy Advance, with IGN listing it as "Extremely Rare". [27] By 2013, Pocket Gamer listed it as one of the most expensive handheld games, noting that a copy of the game was being sold on eBay for £70 while a boxed copy went for £200. [28]
The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2001, and in mainland China as iQue Game Boy Advance on June 8, 2004.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, titled Castlevania in PAL regions, is a 2001 action role-playing game created by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. Published as a launch title in 2001, Circle of the Moon is part of Konami's Castlevania video game series, the premise of which centers on the eternal conflict between the vampire hunters of the Belmont clan and the vampire Dracula. The game sold one million copies worldwide and was acclaimed by critics. The events of its plot were retconned by former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi, a move which was met with some criticism.
The Sims Bustin' Out is a video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and in 2004 for the N-Gage. It is the second title in The Sims console series and the first title not concurrently released on Windows PC.
Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs is a 2003 platform game developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Universal Interactive for the Game Boy Advance. It was the last Spyro game to release under the Universal Interactive label, as the label would be phased out shortly after the game's release. It was also the final Spyro game to be developed by Digital Eclipse, where for the next major handheld entries they would be replaced by Amaze Entertainment.
All Star Baseball 2004 is a baseball video game developed by Acclaim Studios Austin and Acclaim Studios Manchester and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 2003. It features Derek Jeter on the cover.
Konami Krazy Racers is a kart racing video game published and developed by Konami for the Game Boy Advance handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America and some PAL regions. It was also re-released for Wii U Virtual Console on October 15, 2015 in Europe. It was a launch game for the system. Konami Krazy Racers makes use of a variety of characters and concepts from several of Konami's franchises, including Castlevania, Metal Gear, and Gradius. It plays similarly to the Mario Kart series, with eight characters per circuit and offensive/defensive items placed at predetermined points in the tracks.
WTA Tour Tennis, known in Japan as WTA Tour Tennis Pocket for Game Boy Advance, and WTA Tour Tennis Pro Evolution for GameCube and Xbox, and in Europe as Pro Tennis WTA Tour, is a tennis video game published and developed by Konami in 2001-2002.
The Revenge of Shinobi is a video game for the Game Boy Advance, developed by 3d6 Games and published by THQ. It was released on November 19, 2002.
Gradius Advance is a horizontally scrolling shooter handheld video game developed by Mobile21 and published by Konami in 2001. It was released later in the same month in the United States as Gradius Galaxies and in 2002 in Japan as Gradius Generation. It is the only Gradius title available for the Game Boy Advance. The game's plot is set between Gradius III and Gradius Gaiden. Bacterion was developing a powerful weapon to use against the planet Gradius, but it was destroyed. A few years later it crashed on a planet and the planet gradually changed into a mechanical fortress. The planet Gradius then sent the Vic Viper to stop it.
Disney Sports Basketball is a pair of 2002 sports video games released by Konami, one for the GameCube, and the other for the Game Boy Advance.
Disney Sports Football, known in Japan as Disney Sports: American Football, is a pair of 2002 sports video games released in 2002 by Konami for the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.
Disney Sports Soccer, known as Disney Sports Football in Europe, is a pair of 2002 sports video games released by Konami, one for the GameCube, and the other for the Game Boy Advance.
Drome Racers is a Lego racing video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Electronic Arts and Lego Interactive. It was released in 2002, for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows, and later ported to GameCube. A spin-off was also released for Game Boy Advance, which was published by THQ. It is the third Lego racing game, released a year after Lego Racers 2, which was also developed by Attention to Detail.
Freekstyle is a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. There are four levels of gameplay: the circuit, a quick race, freestyle, and free run.
Pinobee: Wings of Adventure, known in Japan as Pinobee no Daibōken or Pinobee: Quest of Heart, is a platformer for the Game Boy Advance, developed by Artoon and published by Hudson Soft. The game was released as a launch title for the system, on March 21, 2001 in Japan and June 11, 2001 in North America. A version was developed for PlayStation in 2002, simply titled Pinobee outside Japan.
Car Battler Joe is a 2001 vehicular combat game developed by Ancient and published by Natsume Inc. for the Game Boy Advance. The game involves using cars to fight opponents in action-styled battles, with role-playing video game game mechanics. It combined vehicular combat game with action role-playing elements in a similar manner to Autoduel from 1985.
Star X is a rail shooter video game developed by Graphic State and published by BAM! Entertainment for the Game Boy Advance handheld video game console. It was first released in North America on April 15, 2002, and later was released in the PAL regions on May 17, 2002.
ESPN X Games Skateboarding is a video game developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. The PlayStation 2 version was released in North America on August 14, 2001, in Japan on September 20, 2001, and in Europe on January 25, 2002, while the Game Boy Advance version was released in North America on September 12, 2001, in Japan on October 25, and in Europe on November 16. A release was planned in Australia, but was ultimately canceled. The game was released as part of Konami's ESPN The Games brand.
Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray is an extreme sports video game developed by Shaba Games, Small Rockets and Beenox, and published by Activision under the Activision O2 label and Aspyr for Game Boy Advance, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in 2003. It features wakeboarder Shaun Murray.
Namco Museum is a 2001 video game compilation developed by Mass Media and published by Namco for the Game Boy Advance. It contains ports of five of their classic arcade games, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian.