Shadow of the Ninja

Shadow of the Ninja
Also known as: Blue Shadow (EU), Yami no Shigotonen Kage (JP) Developer: Natsume Publishers: Natsume (JP/US), Taito (EU) Platform: NES Released in JP: August 10, 1990 Released in US: December 1990 Released in EU: July 25, 1991 This game has a hidden sound test. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences.

Shadow of the Ninja is basically Natsume's take on Ninja Gaiden... except this game features co-op!

Level Select

At the "players" prompt of the title screen, press A (×4), B (×4), A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B and listen for a sound. Then, hold the combination of buttons shown in the table below and press Start on Controller 1.

Stage	Controller 1	Controller 2
1-1
1-2		B
1-3		A
1-4		A+B
2-1	B
2-2	B	B
2-3	B	A
3-1	B	A+B
3-2	A
3-3	A	B
4-1	A	A
4-2	A	A+B
4-3	A+B
5-1	A+B	B
5-2	A+B	A

Music Test

At the "players" prompt of the title screen, press A (×4), B (×4), A, B, A, B, A, B, A, B and listen for a sound. Then, hold A + B on both controllers and press Start on Controller 1.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

US	Europe	Japan

The European version lacks a ninja-related title entirely, due to contemporary UK censorship laws that forbade children's media from referencing ninja (see: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles). This was a rather half-hearted change, though, as the intro text still refers to the characters as "Ninja".

You can start the game without having to wait for the intro cutscene to start in the Japanese version. The logo preceding the title screen was changed from Natsume's to Taito's in the European version.