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8 Bit Horse is a website dedicated exclusively to 2D video games for all systems, old and new.

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We delve into the design lessons learned from classic 2D video games.

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Our picks of the most memorable games from the previous decade.

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Our list of notable 2D video games.

Showing posts with label Hudson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hudson. Show all posts

Ninja Five-O

A game by Hudson Soft for GBA, originally released in 2003.

CONTEXT
Ninja Five-O was developed by Hudson Soft, and published by Konami in 2003. Hudson was once a standalone developer and publisher, which saw its heyday in the NES and Turbographx-16 era. But in 2001, Konami became its majority stakeholder.

Ninja Five-O flopped when it hit the market. This could be due in part to its fairly atrocious box art, or the name of the game, which referenced a 70’s television show that was likely unfamiliar to the GBA-playing public of 2003. The “O” in Ninja Five-O is the letter “O”, not the number zero (0), as it is often misrepresented (including the back of the game box). The European version fared a bit better with the name Ninja Cop, but the cover art wasn’t much of an improvement.