SHADOW
DANCERNinja (side)scroll
Fight your way through hordes of ninja robots
in Ninja Gaiden lookalike Cyber Shadow
We’re suckers for games that are
unashamedly made to scratch that
8-bit nostalgia itch, and we can’t wait
to get our hands on this latest side-
scrolling ninja action game. It’s being
developed by just one person, Aarne
‘Mekaskull’ Hunziker, as Mechanical
Head Studios, and published by Yacht
Club Games – the same studio behind
the brilliantly popular Shovel Knight.
In Cyber Shadow you get to run
around hacking and slashing your
way to victory and solving puzzles as
Shadow, a cybernetically enhanced
ninja. You’re on a mission to save
your clan members and uncover the
truth behind why the world has been
taken over by synthetic lifeforms that
have left everything in ruin. You willcome across over a dozen different
bosses that you’ll need to take out,
while obtaining a whole bunch of
upgrades and abilities to increase
Shadow’s power.
According to the game’s website,
when in talks with Yacht Club Games,
Mekaskull described Cyber Shadow
as “an NES-style game that had the
level design principles of Mario, the
skills and action of Ninja Gaiden, the
enemy designs of Contra, and the dark
visual aesthetic of Batman”. We think
he’s done a pretty good job to create
a wonderful combination of all those
different influences. QNo date has been given yet, but
we’re hoping for a release this year.014 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE