The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors Critic Reviews

If you’ve never played the original games, or you’re just a fan of beat ‘em ups in general, I’d absolutely suggest picking up The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors on the platform of your choice. I played through on the Nintendo Switch, which has been an excellent platform for the game, but I’d imagine you’d be fine from a performance perspective on PS4 too. It’s a real gem of a game that’s long been overlooked and is certainly worth your time.

The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors’ highly-aggressive play style makes all other beat ‘em ups seem slow by comparison.

You can never really go back – the game is still there, but the magic of that time mixes the memory up to something more intoxicating than it really was. Go back to the SNES Ninja Warriors now and it’s still fun, but it’s stuck in the square box of a 4:3 screen, the animation doesn’t stand out like it did and one-player-only looks weak alongside the other Final Fight tribute acts of the day. But when you see The Ninja Saviors, it’s somehow exactly what you remember: huge, lush backdrops, silk animation, and tight, mob-levelling ninja moves. It’s like being a kid again, and stands as yet another essential Switch release you really should own.

Altogether, Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is an exemplary update to the 1994 original. Both the new and returning characters have impressive move-sets. Discovering how to implement these techniques is very rewarding. The eight stages aren't especially creative, but they all have strong fundamentals. If players want a spot on the online leaderboards, then they have to take as little damage as possible, and accurately gauge threats. While it is fun to mash on hapless grunts, targeting elites is the only way to survive. This is one beat em' up gem that you don't want to miss.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a refreshing take on a classic game. Its fast paced action and beat ‘em up styles feels like a natural fit on the Nintendo Switch. With its updated graphics, audio, and game modes, it makes this game perfect for a quick fix for action and chaos.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors often feels like a tribute to the sidescrolling beat'em-ups of the 1980s and 1990s and it does a remarkably good job at that. With its cast of very distinct characters, a marvelous audio atmosphere and high quality animations, this remake and/or sequel will be unquestionably appreciated by beat'em-up fans (and beyond) and is easily one of the best games of its genre on the Nintendo Switch.

The Ninja Warriors: Return of the Warriors is for those who love classic arcade or console games. Those players are fine with titles being a bit short, since the replayability comes through in getting better with the game or replaying with friends in tow. It certainly helps that everything from the expanded move set to the character differences and presentation is top-tier, 16-bit stuff and rather straightforward, except for the final boss. As long as you're coming in with a mindset of defeating the game more than once, you'll have a great time with this low-key classic.

The Ninja Saviors – Return of the Warriors should be considered a must-have for fans of side-scrolling beat ’em ups. It has some flaws, but it’s still a standout title in the genre that remains fun to play thanks to the updates that have been made. It’s just a shame that some of its later bosses feel a bit cheap, especially when playing as certain characters. Those with patience, persistence, or indeed, skill, will overlook this issue, however, and simply have a brilliant time flooring mobs of goons.

A fantastic blast from the past that remasters a long-forgotten classic that should now be recognised as one of the best scrolling beat ‘em-ups ever.

If you’re like me and cherish the bygone times of risking that last coin to gain distance, or adore the memories of pummelling thugs with an explosion of 2D sprites complete with ’90s coin-op sound, then you really can’t go wrong with The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors. It’s a prime example of what Capcom should have done with Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers and should be referenced by anyone else trying to resurrect their own past passion project. Even the small touch of adding multiplayer to the game for the first time expands the fun factor and attention to detail that the SNES version probably wasn’t technically capable of. It’s good to see the Taito logo back on gaming systems. It’s even better to see a rehash of a remake done right.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a surprisingly dense beat-em-up that is lots of fun to play, and the old school aesthetic does it wonders.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors brings back a classic game with new content, but as entertaining and fun as before. This time we can also play accompanied by a second player and compete to be the fastest in each level.

With a modern take on side-scrolling beat-'em-up graphics and a fun set of gameplay ideas, this remake of the classic '80s brawler will take you down a fun nostalgia trip.

The Ninja Saviors is a blast from the past, and shows to newcomers what the fuss was about twenty years ago in both the arcades and the console market: pure, unadulterated fun for one or two players, as if it was September of 1994.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a solid enhancement to its original arcade counterpart and SNES port.

Natsume shows, once again, its mastery updating 16 bits classics, now with a beat'em up that remains amazing and entertaining as the first time... For some players maybe it falls short in length and leaves you wanting more: the 8 levels can be completed in less than 2 hours. Even with that, it's very fun and another hit for those that love couch coop.

Ninja Saviors - Return of the Warrior is a precious walk down memory lane. For players that did not play the original Ninja Warriors title on SNES, the nostalgia effect may not garner the same interest as with others that remember the original title. Still, The Ninja Saviors - Return of the Warrior still applies some present day additions that may keep beat'em up fans interested for many nun-chuck swinging hours.

If you miss SNES’ beat ‘em ups, well, this is your lucky day. The Ninja Saviors is a great action game, and yet another example of this genre that seems to be coming back.

I never had the pleasure of playing The Ninja Warriors in the arcade or on SNES. I did, however, spend more than a few summer nights with a handful of quarters in a bowling alley arcade, giving my all to beat Magneto in Konami’s X-Men. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors perfectly conjures up those memories with a wonderful soundtrack, gorgeous graphics and tight controls. It’s not a terribly long experience, and some will find it a bit too easy, but it’s a wonderful experience regardless, whether played solo, or with a friend. While arcades have become few and far between, it’s nice to know the spirit of those classic games continues to live on.

The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is that kind of slice of classic cake that brings with it the pros and cons of a bygone era, but at least it’s the kind of game that makes you lust for the nostalgia-tinted days of funnelling coins into an arcade stand and engaging in some cathartic mayhem. Easy to pick up action, retrotastic visuals and a chance to feel like a hero with a power fantasy that works delightfully well on the Nintendo Switch.